Unlocking Resilience: How School Relationships Cultivate Student Optimism

I began my Capstone by exploring human behavior in general before narrowing my focus to the concept of optimism and how it is uniquely shaped by one's surroundings, particularly within a school setting. I read widely in psychology journals and books to understand how optimism and its converse, pessimism, manifest in young people, concluding that the teacher-student relationship is a critical factor since students spend so much time in the classroom. To gather firsthand insights, I designed and held structured focus groups with our primary and middle school faculty. These sessions were incredibly valuable, allowing me to observe how optimism and pessimism actually present themselves in different age groups and to collect real-world examples and existing pedagogical approaches currently being used at Laurel.  My final output was a TED Talk-style presentation that synthesizes my academic knowledge and practical insights. I will share this with educators to underscore the urgent need to prioritize optimism development and provide them with concrete, research-backed strategies for actively cultivating this essential life skill in their students.