Co-Founder of ‘The Positivity Project’ Visits CUSD Schools

Co-Founder and CEO of “The Positivity Project” Jeff Bryan sits with a Clovis Unified Student last week during a “P2” lesson in class. The Positivity Project is a training tool based on building character amongst students. (Photo credit, CUSD staff)

January 23, 2023: Co-founder and CEO of training program, “The Positivity Project”, Jeff Bryan visited Clovis and Century elementaries last week in order to view his teaching initiative first-hand.

That teaching initiative, “The Positivity Project” or just “P2” for short, is said to “teach positive psychology’s twenty-four character strengths and empower students to build positive relationships.”

Built around the idea of developing an “Other People Matter” mindset, the program teaches character and relationship building skills to empower children to lead lives equipped with important strategies and understandings.

Schools first choose to partner with the Positivity Project and then are handed resources such as a fifteen minute a day lesson.

Some of these lessons include videos, activities, and follow-up questions in order to facilitate classroom discussions.

The Positivity Project believes that their methods work because of their research into child psychology and neuroscience.

They maintain that “what is good in life is as genuine as what is bad,” and that positive psychology is what helps maintain this adage.

Jeff Bryan, co-founder and CEO of the Positivity Project, visited the aforementioned elementary schools and said, “P2 empowers everyone involved with a common language and an understanding of how to build positive relationships. Students are equipped to have conversations about topics that often go unmentioned like bravery, prudence, and open-mindedness…the common pacing calendar allows everyone from the librarian to coaches to campus monitors the ability to reinforce and recognize what is being studied. Parents are included through P2 for Families and can follow along from home with weekly videos and conversation starters.”

Bryan then went on to describe that at both schools, “It was clear that the students understood character strengths because they were using the vocabulary to describe themselves and others.”

Nearly all of the thirty-four elementary schools in Clovis Unified use the resources provided to them by the Positivity Project, as CUSD was the first to pilot the East Coast created program on the West Coast according to CUSD staff.

Bryan, a West Point graduate, has now had more than 800 schools nationwide use the lessons provided to them by the Positivity Project.

“The Positivity Project is one of the most incredible strategies I have witnessed and supported in my 22 years in education,” said Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability, Erin Waer.

Jeff Bryan finished his visit with CUSD with an example of a third grade student who used the Positivity Project when they were away from school, in their own elements.

The student shared that they were almost hit by a moving vehicle while riding on their bicycle, and said that they used the teachings of bravery from one of their lessons in the Positivity Project to remember to be brave in dire situations.

“This was such a powerful example of what we want The Positivity Project to do…Throughout your life, you’ll need to be brave, you’ll need to persevere, you’ll need to be creative…and to hear a 3rd grader thinking about The Positivity Project and [their] character strengths in the middle of a challenging circumstance was incredible.”

135 schools in the Central Valley alone use the Positivity Project, P2 for short, and according to CEO Jeff Bryan, this not only helps students understand their character, but “how to use their character strengths throughout their life.”

More information on the Positivity Project can be found at posproject.org.

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JT is a recent college grad with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He is mainly interested in sports and entertainment but covers a wide array of subjects. He currently writes for the Fresno State Baseball Dugout Club. JT looks forward to continuing his career at the Clovis Roundup and is excited to be working closely with a community that is very proud of its people.