This article was written by Sherry Leavitt, Community Schools Site Coordinator at Heart River Elementary in Dickinson, North Dakota, part of Dickinson Public Schools. Sherry worked as a substitute teacher in the district for four years before taking on the coordinator role. Heart River is a K–5 school of fewer than 300 students and an early partner school in North Dakota.
At Heart River Elementary in Dickinson, North Dakota, we recently welcomed families and students to an evening centered on connection, learning, and positivity. We wanted to introduce families to The Positivity Project (P2), show how it helps our students and school community, and help families connect with the character strengths their children are learning.
P2 is a character education program for Pre-K–12 students, based on the research of positive psychology. The research identified 24 character strengths that exist in everyone, including kindness, gratitude, perseverance, and bravery. In P2 Partner Schools like ours, students focus on one strength each week with short daily lessons. At our Family Engagement Night, families learned about these strengths together with their children.
Getting Excited for Family Night
To get everyone excited, our principal, Randy Muffley, made a video invitation for families. We also held a raffle with prizes like an electric scooter, a LEGO Hogwarts Castle set, and a 3D printer.
At an assembly before the event, our gym teacher, Nicholas Miller, rode in on the scooter, and the students were very excited.
The Nine P2 Stations
When students arrived with their families, we gave each of them P2 swag. Families then visited the different stations set up around the gym. Each student and their family took part in the activities together.
We also had some wonderful help from Danielle Riesgraf and 22 seventh- and eighth-grade National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) students who ran the stations. These students are always willing to lend a hand at school events, especially when they have the opportunity to teach younger students. It was great to see them helping our elementary students and their families learn about character strengths.
The nine stations set up around the gym for families to enjoy included:
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Build-It-Together
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Family Take-Home Shield
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Family Charades
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Photo Booth
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Gratitude Wall
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Walk in Their Shoes
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Strength Spotting
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Character Strength Matchup
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Kindness Challenge
Some stations were named after character strengths our students learn in P2, such as gratitude (Gratitude Wall) and kindness (Kindness Challenge). Strength Spotting connects to one of P2’s main ideas: all 24 character strengths are found in everyone, and students learn to notice them in themselves and others. The other stations were also great ways for families to see what P2 is all about.
Why We Wanted Families To Show Up
When families come together, it helps build the strong relationships that make our school community unique. Relationships are also at the heart of P2. The main idea of P2, the Other People Mindset, is about how students view and treat those around them, including classmates, teachers, and family. Studies have shown that P2 leads to better student-teacher relationships and a stronger sense of connection for students compared to other groups.
This event let us share that important P2 message with families and encourage conversations at home about kindness, character, and noticing each other’s strengths.
Keeping The Conversation Going at Home
Family night was just one evening (and a great one), but P2 offers ways for families to keep talking about character strengths afterward. P2 for Families shares the weekly character strength students are learning, along with easy prompts for home discussions. The prompts are grouped by grade, so families with children in different grades can discuss character strengths and other information at an age-appropriate level. P2 also provides schools with Family Letters with a short summary of what students are learning.
Families do not need any special preparation to use these resources. Simply asking your child about the week’s strength can start a good conversation at home!
A Big Turnout For a Small School
We had a fantastic turnout, with 207 people attending. For our small school, this was truly special.
We are very thankful to the P2 team for sending the swag we handed out to students. Thank you for helping schools build positive relationships and see the strengths in every child.
Sherry Leavitt
Sherry Leavitt is the Community Schools Site Coordinator for Heart River Elementary, part of Dickinson Public Schools in North Dakota. She came to the role after four years as a substitute teacher in the district. Her work focuses on Heart River's effort to become a North Dakota Full-Service Community School.
