THRIVE Newsletter

In alignment with our current Strategic Action Agenda, we will use this space to deepen our collective understanding on the science of hope. Each edition will share insights from the field, highlight stories that showcase the science of hope across our VBCPS community, and share practical strategies we can use now to fuel our professional and personal growth.

In this Edition

• The Science of Hope

• A Personal Hope Practice: Building New Pathways

• Hope in Action: Bayside 6 and The Amazing Shake

• Action for Happiness: Friendly February
  
  

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For more information, contact the Office of Professional Growth and Innovation of Virginia Beach City Public Schools at pgi@vbschools.com or 757.263.6972.

Cathleen Beachboard in her book, The School of Hope says, “Hope allows a person to conceive of and aim for a different future. It gives a person a pathway to reach the potential they have inside. Hope helps us thrive” p.2). The primary components of hope are goals, pathways and agency. The School of Hope breaks those three components down into the three powers: goals are the what power, agency is the willpower, and pathways are the waypower. As we embark on 2024, let’s look more at pathways, or the waypower of Hope.

Dr. Rick Snyder defined pathways as the human ability to generate different ways from the present to a desired future (Snyder’s Hope Theory). Individuals who are able to generate realistic ways to reach their goals are more likely to feel optimistic, energetic, and maybe even happy. In order to reach their goals, people must view themselves as being capable of generating workable routes to those goals. Having multiple pathways can make a goal seem more attainable. This process, which we call pathways thinking, signifies one’s perceived capabilities at generating workable routes to a desired goal. Pathways thinking in any given situation involves being able to generate at least one, and often more, usable route to a desired goal (Snyder’s Hope Theory).

Click here to access The School of Hope by Cathleen Beachboard in the Virtual Reference Library.

Having realistic pathways toward achieving your goals is one of the most important parts of feeling hopeful. Pathways thinking includes having a plan for managing and overcoming any obstacles that show up on these pathways. When you can visualize an end in sight and plan how to get something done you reduce anxiety and increase your chance of success. (Hope Theory: Rainbows in the Mind, by C. R. Snyder). Pathways thinking also takes some creative forethought. “Imagination is the instrument of pathways,” says Dr. Chan Hellman of the Hope Research Center. You need to employ imagination to help you conceive multiple pathways to achieve your goals. What are some obstacles you’re likely to face along the path—and what will you do when you hit them? Mindful Ambition puts it like this:

“When it feels like there’s only one path we can take to reach a goal, it feels like we’re walking a tightrope. One wrong move and we’re toast. But when we know there are countless paths we can take to reach our destination, it's as easy as a Sunday drive. Doesn’t matter if there’s some road construction along the way, because there are plenty of other streets we can take to get there.”

To foster pathways thinking, try this strategy for thinking through potential pathways for a goal you have set for yourself, or with students as they work toward goals they have set for themselves.

This strategy helps you:

• Engage in divergent thinking before you encounter obstacles.

• Take stock of strengths and resources at your disposal.

• Create a sense of comfort and confidence with potential roadblocks.

• Make more sound decisions about what to do next when faced with challenges.

Taking stock of our strengths is valuable to pathways thinking. It allows us to feel more confident when we face obstacles along the way to reaching our goals. “Sometimes we simply forget what we’re good at or isolate that attribute to a single part of our life,” says Beachboard in The School of Hope. Thinking through our strengths and the resources available to us helps us develop potential pathways that are personalized, and can help shift our focus from being problem oriented to solution oriented. (The School of Hope, p. 88). You may not be able to foresee every single challenge, but this strategy provides you with a tangible list of the personal strengths you can call on and resources you can turn to to tackle other obstacles you might face.

The Amazing Shake is a live experiential learning opportunity designed to provide students with an exciting opportunity to demonstrate future-ready skills for success. In preparation for the competition, students learn professional skills such as how to give a proper handshake, how to work a room, how to give a successful interview, and how to remain composed under pressure. In the live competition, students are given creative and unique scenarios in which they must think quickly to complete a task while maintaining composure and demonstrating the skills for success that they have learned. The goal of the Amazing Shake is to prepare students so that they are able to present themselves exceptionally well for opportunities today as well as those that will come in the future.

For our very own Bayside Six Campus, the Amazing Shake Competition was more than just a contest; it was a beacon of hope. As students navigated through the challenges, they built confidence, resilience, and a belief in their own potential. The competition ignited a sense of hope in their hearts and showed them that with the right skills and a growth mindset, they could overcome any obstacle and experience success. It also helps students recognize and develop their strengths and shape goals and pathways for the future.

Kristina Berney, Professional Learning Specialist in PGI, who attended the event as a judge, shared, “I was so impressed by the variety of situations the students were placed in, providing them with multiple opportunities to demonstrate and practice their skills. If students struggled on one task, they could still score highly at others, helping to build a growth mindset and resilience. As a judge, it was powerful to see student agency in action and the variety of responses that students provided for each situation.”

The Amazing Shake Competition at Bayside Sixth Grade Campus was a celebration of growth, learning, and community spirit. Bayside Six would like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to everyone who contributed to making this competition a success, and look forward to witnessing the continued evolution, and the growing hope and success of the incredible students at our Bayside Sixth Grade Campus!

The Friendly February Action for Happiness calendar provides daily actions that encourage friendliness to others and ways to give your relationships a boost.