We Love Student Work!

Student strengths are at the heart of meaningful learning experiences at Spring Valley Academy Middle School. As the 2022–2023 school year began, Thrively teachers and students were actively exploring their strengths and celebrating what makes each learner unique.

As a learner-centered platform, Thrively is committed to helping every student feel known, seen, and valued for their individual strengths.

Through its partnership with Spring Valley Academy Middle School, part of La Mesa-Spring Valley Schools in San Diego, Thrively has supported a schoolwide approach to recognizing and celebrating what students do best.

Discovering Student Strengths at Spring Valley Academy

Under the leadership of Principal Lauren Basteyns, all staff and students completed the Thrively Strengths Assessment to learn more about themselves and build a collective, strengths-based school culture.

The assessment helped students discover positive qualities about themselves through personalized strengths profiles.

Some students received encouraging descriptions such as:

• “You are a truly creative and innovative mind.”
• “You are a self-starter with big goals for yourself.”

These reflections helped set the foundation for the school’s next phase of strengths-based learning.

Bringing Strengths-Based Learning Into the Classroom

After completing the assessment, Spring Valley Academy Middle School began Phase 2 of its Thrively implementation plan.

Once a week, elective classes dedicated time to learning, reflecting, and sharing about their individual strengths.

This phase focused on helping students explore their strengths more deeply and understand why those qualities matter.

Teachers used a specialized facilitation guide that combined Thrively lessons with offline activities designed to build a positive school culture.

These activities included creating personal user guides and personalized strengths posters.

Celebrating Student Strengths Through Creative Posters

One of the highlights of the school’s work was the creation of personalized strengths posters.

These posters gave students an opportunity to express what makes them unique while reflecting on their individual qualities.

The dedicated elective teachers at Spring Valley Academy, including Bernadete Filippone (@msbfili), brought these activities to life through thoughtful classroom implementation.

Their efforts helped students turn their assessment results into creative expressions of their strengths.

Building a School Culture That Celebrates Every Learner

Recognizing what students do well is an important part of creating a learning environment where everyone feels valued.

Spring Valley Academy Middle School’s work demonstrates how strengths-based activities can extend beyond assessments and become part of everyday classroom experiences.

Through reflection, discussion, and creative projects, students have opportunities to better understand themselves and appreciate the strengths of others.

At Thrively, we believe every learner deserves to be known, seen, and valued for their strengths.

We love seeing student work that celebrates what makes every learner unique!

What would your strengths poster look like? Watch the video.

What to Do on Testing Day?

PSAT testing day activities can help schools keep students engaged and learning while other grade levels complete their assessments. For school leaders, planning meaningful activities for non-testing students is an important part of managing testing schedules.

The leadership team at Sweetwater Union School District faced this exact challenge when asking:

“What do we do with our 9th and 12th graders while our 10th and 11th graders are taking the PSAT test?”

The district needed structured activities that could be managed by different staff members as student schedules shifted throughout the day.

With more than four years of partnership with Thrively, Sweetwater Union School District worked with the platform to co-design a solution that could be used across multiple high schools.

How Sweetwater Union School District Planned PSAT Testing Day Activities

On PSAT testing day, 9th and 12th grade students participated in structured activities through Thrively while 10th and 11th grade students completed their assessments.

The activities encouraged students to reflect on three important questions:

• Who am I?
• Where am I going?
• How do I get there?

These questions helped organize the day’s activities around self-awareness, personal strengths, and future goals.

Strengths-Based Activities for 9th Grade Students

Ninth-grade students completed the Thrively Strengths Assessment and reflected on their top three strengths.

The activity encouraged students to explore what makes them unique and develop a better understanding of their individual abilities.

By reflecting on their strengths, students had an opportunity to build self-awareness and consider how their personal qualities could support their learning and development.

Career Exploration Activities for 12th Grade Students

While ninth graders focused on discovering their strengths, 12th-grade students explored their interests and potential career pathways.

Using the Thrively Interest Profiler (RIASEC), students learned more about how their interests connect to different career possibilities.

This activity provided an opportunity for graduating students to reflect on their future goals and consider pathways aligned with their interests.

Encouraging Student Reflection Beyond Testing

At the end of the activities, students completed a journal reflection based on the prompt:

“What I wish my teacher knew…”

This reflection encouraged students to share something about themselves that their teachers might not already know.

For educators, these reflections can provide valuable insights into students’ experiences, interests, and individual needs.

Making Testing Days Meaningful With Thrively

Testing days don’t have to mean lost learning opportunities for students who aren’t taking an assessment.

Sweetwater Union School District demonstrated how structured activities can turn a scheduling challenge into an opportunity for self-discovery, career exploration, and student reflection.

Whether students are discovering their strengths, exploring career pathways, or sharing their thoughts through journals, Thrively helps educators create meaningful learning experiences.

How would your students answer the question, “What I wish my teacher knew?”

Staff Strengths in Poway Unified

Staff strengths are an important part of building a positive and supportive school culture. When educators understand their individual strengths and feel known, valued, and engaged, schools can create stronger connections and more collaborative teams.

Do you know the strengths of your staff?

At Thrively, we believe that recognizing what makes each educator unique is an important step toward building a thriving school community.

Building a School Culture Around Staff Strengths

Creating cognitively diverse teams begins with helping educators understand themselves and one another.

When staff members recognize their strengths and feel appreciated for their contributions, they have more opportunities to work together and support their school communities.

A culture of care begins with caring for those who care for students every day.

By recognizing individual strengths, school leaders can encourage positive staff identity and create environments where teachers feel heard and valued.

How Poway Unified Supports Positive Staff Identity

School leaders in Poway Unified use both online and offline activities through Thrively’s classroom platform to promote positive staff identity.

These activities encourage educators to reflect on their strengths while helping school leaders better understand the individuals who make up their teams.

This approach extends the idea of strengths-based learning beyond students, recognizing that educators also benefit from opportunities to reflect, share, and feel understood.

Building Stronger Connections Between Teachers and Administrators

Educators often encourage students to reflect on the question:

“What I wish my teacher knew.”

But what if school leaders encouraged teachers to share something equally meaningful?

“What I wish my administrators knew…”

Creating space for these conversations can help school leaders better understand their staff members’ experiences, perspectives, and individual strengths.

When teachers feel known and valued, schools can take meaningful steps toward building a more connected and supportive community.

Creating a Strengths-Based School Culture With Thrively

Building a positive school culture begins with recognizing what is strong in every individual.

Through strengths-based reflection and engagement, schools can encourage educators to better understand themselves and one another.

The next time you begin a conversation with a colleague, consider leading with what is strong rather than what is wrong.

Thrively is here to help schools recognize strengths, support educators, and build communities where everyone has an opportunity to thrive.