Discovery Elementary Showcases Positivity Project’s Impact on Students, School Culture

Educators and school administrators from across Kern County learned about the power of positivity Thursday at the Discovery Elementary School Positivity Project (P2) Showcase. The day-long event featured classroom visits, student and teacher panels, and breakout sessions designed to share experiences, best practices, and helpful resources. The showcase allowed visitors to see firsthand how P2 has impacted the school and beyond.

“We truly wanted to showcase what our students are doing and the positive effects that it’s having on campus,” said Discovery’s Principal Eva Martinez. 

Martinez said she was especially grateful to see so many education professionals from other districts coming in to experience how P2 has worked for Discovery. 

“We’ve got some from Arvin, Standard, Greenfield, RBG, Rosedale, we’ve got teachers, we have some principals, we have some directors here, with everyone able to talk and meet with each other,” Martinez said.

Discovery Elementary was recently recognized as a Green Shield School, an elite award given to schools that go above and beyond in integrating P2 into classrooms, staff culture, and the broader community. Martinez says the recognition inspired the school to host the showcase and share what’s working and how other districts can adopt the same model for their own classrooms.

“Showing the ‘other people matter’ mindset is something that we see affecting our students in a positive way, and we feel that more students around the county could benefit from it,” Martinez added.

P2 is a social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that helps students develop 24 character strengths — such as kindness, teamwork, and perseverance — through short, daily lessons, with each week focused on a different trait. At Discovery, the program is embedded into children’s days and reinforced across the whole school.

“Now our kids know the 24 character traits from elementary to junior high,” said Jasmine Bassilious, Director of Instructional Services for Fruitvale. “We use it on our buses, we use it on the playground, daycare, and after-school program. All of it is aligned.” 

The results have been clear: attendance has improved, discipline issues have declined, and students are communicating more respectfully with staff and one another.

“Our students have a sense of community with our staff members, classified and certificated,” Martinez said. “P2 is a way for us to come together and have a common ground between the students and the staff.”

For educators like Marisol Alvarez, a fifth-grade teacher from Buttonwillow, seeing the program in practice in the classroom was impactful.

“I like it in comparison to what we’ve used in the past, how it’s school-wide, and there are no gaps. All the kids seem to be engaged,” Alvarez said. “It would possibly help our school a lot to get that sense of community.”

Ashlee Bailey and Cathy Cason from Endeavor Elementary (Fruitvale School District), which has already implemented P2, say they used the showcase as a chance to share ideas and best practices with other districts and learn more about how best to implement the program at their own school site. 

“For me, it was how we can take it to the next level,” Bailey said. “The best way you learn is from your peers, and I think you learn from experience, so it’s very nice to see that experience in action.”

Cason says the kids love P2 in her class, and the reward system helps reinforce the core values and raise engagement. 

“We also honor them by giving them certificates on a weekly basis under a certain character trait, so it makes them feel very special,” Cason said. “For me, it’s a feeling that we’re delivering.”

Students from first through fifth grade made their voices heard during the event. They discussed their favorite P2 character strengths and the lessons that resonated with them the most. One student mentioned how they saw teamwork being put into practice during recess. 

“I was so excited, a little nervous having students up there, but they did amazing. They were excited to share, and their families were too,” Martinez said. 

Fruitvale School District leaders hope that by hosting this showcase, more schools will see the value of SEL, not just for academics, but for shaping well-rounded, empathetic young people.

“Academics and instruction, those are important, but we need to be addressing the needs of all of our children,” Bassilious said. “This is a nice way to help them learn about themselves: self-reflection, self-awareness, and all of that experience helps them be better people in the future.”