Building Happiness Skills at Cove School

t Cove School, the mission is clear: to help every student grow not only academically but also socially and emotionally. When staff began incorporating Proof Positive’s skills of happiness into their daily practice, the impact was immediate, both for the students and for the educators themselves.

Theresa, a social worker at Cove, describes how seamlessly these skills fit into her work: “My social work practice uses a strengths-based approach, so it’s been natural to implement Proof Positive’s skills into my small group lessons. I started with the PERMA+ Snapshot wellbeing survey, which gives a picture of how you’re doing in the six elements: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Mattering, Accomplishments, and Health.” Students can use the pictures and words to evaluate their wellbeing.

The skills of happiness provide Theresa and her students a shared language. Students could identify each other’s strengths, a practice that helped to deepen relationships between the students. She recalls leading a lesson called “kindness circle,” adapted from Proof Positive’s Strength Spotting skill. Students turned to one another, naming and noticing character strengths. Each recipient had to listen, say thank you, and pass the kindness on to someone else. The exercise was not only accessible to all of the students but also joyful.

The ripple effects didn’t stop with students. Theresa teamed up with other colleagues to pilot a program for staff wellbeing, introducing skills of happiness gradually so staff could practice them personally before sharing them with students. During a professional development day, they trained 30–40 staff members including teachers, occupational therapists, and speech-language pathologists, on the skills of Character Strengths, PERMA+ Snapshot, What Went Well, and Strength Spotting. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Staff not only saw how to apply the skills at school but also in their personal lives. One team member went home that night and used Strength Spotting at home with a spouse. A high school teacher shared that they loved Strength Spotting, while others emphasized how simple and accessible the practices were.

As Theresa reflects: “It’s been a joy to teach the skills of happiness to students and staff because everyone likes to feel good and to be recognized for what they’re good at.”

Thanks to their leadership, Cove School is living proof that when positive psychology becomes part of everyday practice, the entire community benefits.