Paint Branch school motto is “Excellence Through Effort,” but how do those who experience the school on a daily basis feel about this?

The truth is,does everyone truly aspire to this motto? How one does in living up to it often depends on the teachers and how they work with and try to encourage the students. One of these people is Mrs. MaGrath, an Algebra 2 c/d teacher, who says that even with strong effort on her part, kids do not always excel because their effort matters a lot.

She notes, “In math your effort is 10%  of your grade because you have to put effort into your homework, so it’s a tough thing to quantify. But we encourage your maximum effort; of course, that doesn’t totally guarantee excellence.”

With effort as the key part of the motto, it is tough to judge, like Mrs. MaGrath said. Bradley Muma,a senior, feels that the motto is in many people’s hands. He notes that “sometimes teachers help, and students work hard – well not everyone does – but they [teachers] encourage students to put in effort. The school also uses activities and sports to accomplish this.”

Another student, sophomore Jayden Soto, said that he feels that “the motto only applies to students who actually do their work and listen to teachers when they are trying to help.”