The Kindness Tree at Wolf Meadow Elementary
By Kimberly BurdThis article was written by Kimberly Burd, Social-Emotional Learning teacher and P2 Lead at Wolf Meadow Elementary in Cabarrus County Schools, North Carolina. Kimberly has spent 23 years in education and is in her second year at Wolf Meadow, a K–5 school in Concord and one of more than 20 elementary schools in a district that adopted The Positivity Project (P2) across every campus in 2022.
Wolf Meadow Elementary uses The Positivity Project (P2) to build character across our school, and celebrating our students is simply part of what we do. Each month, our P2 Team recognizes Character Strength Winners and Kindness Award recipients as classes enter the cafeteria. It’s a moment to notice the positive choices students are making every day. Whether it’s including a classmate, helping a friend, or showing love and respect to others, these actions matter in our school community.
P2 is built on 24 character strengths, and includes strengths like perseverance, gratitude, and self-control. Teachers work through those strengths with short daily lessons in our school, which means students hear the same vocabulary in every classroom across grades. Each month, our Character Strength Winners are the students noticed for putting those strengths into practice, and they receive a certificate naming the strength. The Kindness Award is a separate recognition. We announce both winners at the same time.
Our school is one of more than 20 elementary schools in Cabarrus County Schools. The district brought P2 to its campuses in 2022, giving more than thousands of students from PreK through 12th grade the same set of words for talking about character. What that looks like day to day is up to each school. We do it a little differently, and it’s taken form in our recognition awards.
Recognition at the Cafeteria Doors
The winners being announced happens at lunch, as classes come into the cafeteria. Nobody gets pulled out of instruction, and there is no assembly to schedule. Students from every grade are in the room, so a second grader watches a fifth grader get called up, and a fifth grader watches a kindergartner get the same cheer.
Called Up “Price Is Right” Style
One of the highlights is calling students up “Price Is Right” style while the whole cafeteria claps and cheers them on. You’ll see lots of smiles, a few surprised faces, and plenty of crossed fingers from students hoping to hear their own name or a friend’s. When a name gets read, that student walks up to a room full of people clapping for them.
Photos on the Kindness Tree
After being recognized, students take a photo in our “I in KIND” mural or with their monthly character strength certificate. Their pictures are then added to our Kindness Tree mural so their success is celebrated and visible to everyone. It also sends a clear message to other students that they can earn this recognition too.
The tree fills in as the year goes on. By spring, there are photos from every month, and students stop to look for classmates they know. The faces come from every grade in the building.
Why Students Keep Reaching for It
This monthly tradition has become something both students and staff genuinely enjoy. It brings positive energy to the students and helps build a culture where kindness and character are noticed and valued. When our students see their peers recognized, they’re encouraged to do the same. The students on that wall are the ones sitting at the next table.
Over time, these small moments help build our school community, where our students feel recognized, encouraged, and proud of who they are becoming.
A Tradition We Plan to Keep
The 24 character strengths give us the language, and our monthly recognition gives students a reason to look for those strengths in each other. Students who came to Wolf Meadow in kindergarten will have watched this happen every month for six years by the time they leave for middle school, and the students they cheered for in the cafeteria are the same ones they will see in the years after that.