Kindness Clips and Student Recognition at Janet L. Young Elementary

This article was written by Melissa Tanaleon, P2 Site Coordinator and 3rd grade teacher at Janet L. Young Elementary School in Clovis Unified School District in California. Melissa has used The Positivity Project (P2) for nine years and has coordinated it at her school for six years. Young Elementary was recognized as a Green Shield School for 2024–2025.

At Janet L. Young Elementary, The Positivity Project (P2) is part of our day and our school culture. Our staff is committed to teaching the weekly character strength lessons every day. I have coordinated P2 at our site for six years and have been using it in my own classroom for nine years.

Through P2, students hear consistent language across our campus through reminders, tips, and challenges during our schoolwide morning announcements. Every month we recognize select students who are role models of character through our Care Chip Award. We also use P2 character strength language to help students practice building positive relationships in our Lego Buddies program. Between the daily lessons, the morning announcements, the Care Chip Award, and Lego Buddies, students encounter the same character strength in four different places.

We grow stronger every year we use P2. We highlight positive actions, and students continue to learn how their words and actions affect others. It is exciting to hear students naturally using character-strength language in their conversations as they encourage one another or explain what they are working through.

Kindness Clips in December

One example of P2 in action at our school took place during our December Kindness Week. Teachers created Kindness Clips by decorating clothespins with affirmations and other positive messages, one message per clip. Our administrators were given the mission to discreetly catch students demonstrating kindness and secretly clip a pin on them. Students were surprised and proud to discover they had been recognized.

The clips worked because students did not see them coming. There was no assembly and no announcement of who would be chosen. A student would look down and find one already there, put on by an adult who had been watching for exactly that.

The most meaningful outcome was what followed. Students began creating their own kindness clips and recognizing their peers independently. Kindness became contagious.

According to teacher Nicolette Santos, an organizer of the activity:

Students who received the clips said it was even better than getting a regular good job or thumbs up. A lot of students clipped them to their backpacks so they could be reminded of the good choices they are making every day.

What started as an adult-led activity quickly became a student-driven one, showing that our students are practicing and leading with character strengths rather than only learning about them.

Why We Use P2

We use P2 because we believe our students’ academic success is connected to their personal growth. Students are given the tools to build positive relationships through character strengths like perseverance, humility, and kindness. P2 provides an easy structure and, most importantly, a shared language that fits our school’s culture and expectations. By teaching the P2 character strengths, we are preparing students with skills that will support them in academics and in positive peer relationships.

What P2 Has Built at Young Elementary

P2 matters to Janet L. Young Elementary. When students feel valued and connected, they are more engaged and motivated to be active participants. Implementing the P2 structure has made developing strong character a daily priority. It has helped us build a school culture where kindness is noticed and celebrated.

We were recognized as a Green Shield School for 2024–2025. P2 recognizes schools with that designation for the depth of their implementation, and earning it says something about the daily work our staff has put in.

As proven during Kindness Week, when kindness is modeled and recognized, it spreads like confetti throughout the entire campus.