Positivity in a Box

By Siri Doddapaneni

A finished Positivity in a Box kit that is 1 of 300 being shipped to Nebraskan schools

Across 18 chapters, JuSTEMagine has been touching the lives of numerous students through their non-profit, considerate, and ingenious organization. Founded in 2019, JuSTEMagine has partnered with many organizations to collaborate on different projects to reach kids around the nation, working on creative ventures from SEL to Spanish lessons to STEM kit assembly. However, the most recent hands-on, in-person collaboration event in Omaha, was a partnership between JuSTEMagine and SPARKPositivity, an organization that provides after-school programs for students to be exposed to social and emotional learning. SPARKPositivity initiates the growth of SEL in our schools, reaching over 1,000 students with their essential programs. The JuSTEMagine SEL group is working on many outreach ideas with SPARKPositivity, including one of their recent projects, Positivity in a Box. Positivity in a Box was an idea developed by SPARKPositivty to bring social emotional learning into more schools. The box consists of ten activities specially designed to help students understand ten important values and traits, such as compassion, responsibility, and teamwork.

Volunteers packaging the cupcake wrapper ornament activity

Volunteers from around the city offered assistance in the actual assembly of the kits, which was held at Skinner Magnet Center on December 14, 2021. The team met outside the school and after all the supplies were delivered and organized inside, then proceeded to divide everyone into teams to work on each section of the Positivity in a Box curriculum ranging from reindeer hot chocolate bags, pipe cleaner insects, and DIY ornaments.

The volunteers were able to swiftly organize themselves into a functional assembly line, where everyone was able to move at a timely pace to put together the individual aspects. A challenging part for most was being able to match the speed of their coworkers, since the ingredients needed to be restocked frequently, as well as being able to put together 300 copies of each activity! Although, many volunteers bonded with their colleagues, coming up with innovative ways to work and chatting as they did so.

Volunteers working on the assembly of the reindeer hot cocoa bags activity

“I really liked seeing the contents of the kits. They were really creative and will be enjoyed!” said local volunteer Meghna Adduri. Meghna hasn’t been to many hands-on JuSTEMagine events before, and she greatly appreciated the warm atmosphere fostered by Mrs. Teri Rheinheimer, founder of SPARKPositivity, Mrs. Karolyn Roby, the original developer of the project, and the cookies and drinks as well. The familial environment encouraged everyone to keep working, even though many of us had final exams the next day. The hustle slowed to a smooth hum while everyone kept working and rotated stations to keep the process moving.

Even though all the volunteers were intently focused on their tasks, the assembly wasn’t completed by the end of the day, so many returned the next day to finish putting together the box as a whole with its ten individual activities. “The Positivity in a Box project provided 300 students with fun and engaging SEL activities over winter break. Some of the activities included making a birdhouse and creating an ornament from cupcake wrappers, and these activities were designed in large part by JuSTEMagine volunteers. Each activity aligns with CASEL’s SEL core competencies, which are the national educational standards for SEL learning. We hope that the Positivity in a Box project added more joy and fun to students’ winter breaks, as well as helped teach key SEL concepts!” stated Jack Cenovic, co-founder and president of JuSTEMagine.

10 activities in the Positivity in a Box kit

Jack further expressed that the partnership between JuSTEMagine and SPARKPositivity has provided volunteers with a powerful platform to spread social emotional learning and empower Nebraska students through SEL. Positivity in a Box is just one of numerous ways we can push forward the integration of SEL in our communities.

JuSTEMagine and SPARKPositivity will continue to collaborate in the future, and through teamwork and a whole lot of paper cuts, many opportunities for the two to work together to benefit the community appear in the bright future of this partnership.