Ten Minutes of Positivity to Start the Day at Cox Mill Elementary

This article was written by Dan Herrick, the School Counselor at Cox Mill Elementary. Cox Mill is a part of Cabarrus County Schools in North Carolina. Dan is in his second year as the school’s counselor, and films weekly P2 videos with the students.

Over the last couple of years, Cox Mill Elementary has worked to implement The Positivity Project (P2) in every way we can. In all classrooms, we run P2 time in the morning, discussing the word of the week with videos and other activities. Those activities include talking about what the word or phrase means, acting out how it would show up in everyday life, and writing about what that P2 word means to them.

P2 has changed the dynamic within our classrooms and the overall community at Cox Mill. Everywhere you look, there is some mention of the Positivity Project in the hallways and in the classrooms. Being surrounded by positivity creates a culture of positivity and a sense of belonging among children and staff members alike.

Ten to Fifteen Minutes of P2 Every Morning

Walking around the Cox Mill hallways, you get to peer into classrooms and see the bright faces of children ready for the day. In those classrooms, students always start with the morning news and then spend 10 to 15 minutes discussing P2 and the word or phrase of the week. These classrooms have a real sense of community, and starting the day together by talking about positivity is the best way to begin.

Making P2 Videos With Students

Every week I make P2 videos with four students from one classroom, two girls and two boys. During the video, I ask the students to introduce themselves, and then we jump into the P2 Word of the Week. The students give their own definition of the word, and later in the video we act out a scenario where the word would apply in everyday life. If the word is love, we act out a scenario showing what love looks like at school and at home.

Based on teacher feedback, students are excited to learn about the P2 word of the week and the activities that go with it. Students want to be in these videos to appear on our Comet news each week and to spread the power of positivity and what P2 stands for.

Our “Comets With Character” Program

Students are also working hard to be named the P2 boy and girl of the quarter. Comets with Character works like this. One boy and one girl from each classroom are picked by their teacher for displaying exceptional P2  character strengths that quarter. Those chosen from each grade level get a picture with the others chosen from their grade, and it goes up on our Comets with Character bulletin board in the main hallway.

Students really enjoy the recognition they rightfully deserve for being excellent P2 students and classroom leaders. We want to honor students who display positive interactions with their teachers, classmates, and others. Cox Mill wants to show off our student population and how great they are.

Getting Families Involved

Our school psychologist does a great job getting parents involved through weekly newsletters that share the P2 word of the week, along with resources families can use at home to help their child work on a certain character strength. The general view of P2 among our community’s parents is positive.

Working Toward Green Shield

Two years ago, our principal wanted our team to pursue the P2 Green Shield award. The people who took on that task were a brand new team just starting to get to know each other. That group included two new school counselors, one experienced counselor who had been part-time three years earlier, a school psychologist we shared with another school, and a school social worker we also shared with another school.

Between getting to know each other and everything else a new team faces, we came close to the Green Shield award. This year we have the same team as the year prior and a new principal with similar goals. We want this P2 recognition at Cox Mill to pay homage to our former principal, and we want to pursue the honor for our school and our new Cox Mill community.

What P2 Gives Cox Mill

P2 gives our community a sense of pride and a reason to keep getting better at practicing these actions and words of positivity every day. Students who excel at doing so deserve to be recognized.

Without P2 in our everyday lives at school, I think Cox Mill would see fewer positive behaviors and less belonging and community engagement. P2 exposes our students to positivity and community by working as a team to better themselves and celebrate other people’s accomplishments, which is what the Other People Mindset (OPM) is about.

P2 works well in the halls and classrooms of Cox Mill because we are a family, and P2 instills values we want at the center of our school.