Rosemont, IL – Oct. 18, 2018 – Finnish education technology company Mightifier is launching its positive school culture program to elementary schools across the U.S. through its partnership with Sunburst Digital. Mightifier is part of Sunburst’s SafeSchools brand, an initiative designed to support urgent priorities in social and emotional learning (SEL), mental health, and school safety.
Co-created with Finnish teachers, school leaders, and students, Mightifier is based on research in the fields of positive psychology, effective peer-to-peer feedback, and character building. Students master active empathy while giving positive feedback to one another based on 27 research-backed character strengths, including teamwork, self-regulation, social intelligence, honesty, and compassion. Teachers are able to embed SEL across the curriculum with CASEL-aligned lesson plans. Wellness surveys and data dashboards provide actionable insights for educators and school leaders around social isolation and school climate indicators.
The program has been shown to improve students’ social skills while promoting growth-mindset thinking and decreasing bullying and disruptive classroom management issues. Educators using Mightifier have reported achieving behavioral management benefits including group cohesion, improved classroom atmosphere and collaboration, reduced conflicts, and increased capacity to teach.
The Finnish approach to education values holistic learning.
"In Finland, we've wanted to equip the next generation with the critical skills needed in the future. Positive school culture has a big role in teaching broad-based competencies, including life skills. Schools emphasize students' wellbeing and we also take bullying very seriously. Under Finnish law, all educators, also in early education, are legally responsible for taking action if bullying occurs." - Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, Minister of Education, Finland.
“Research has shown us that children who have a strong sense of belonging at school perform better and are more satisfied with life,” adds Mervi Pänkäläinen, Mightifier’s Founder and CEO. “We created Mightifier together with Finnish educators to combat harmful social isolation, while identifying at-risk students and mitigating future potential behavioral or school safety issues.”
“When it comes to job skills for the future, we know how important it is that young people develop emotional intelligence and collaboration skills. Mightifier is a critical piece of the puzzle for schools focusing on STEM and technical fluency. We’re thrilled that our schools can now access a program built on Finland’s leadership in both education and wellness.” - Ken Leonard, CEO Sunburst.
Mightifier is now available from Sunburst at: https://www.safeschools.sunburst.com/mightifier
About Mightifier: Award winning Mightifier is an active empathy program to develop positive school culture. It's based on positive psychology research and has been co-created together with Finnish educators and students. Outside Finland, the program has been raising attention especially in the Asian market. Mightifier has been selected as one of the best Ideas from Europe and has represented Finland in the Global Finals of Creative Business Cup and Nordic EdTech Award competitions in 2017. Previously it has also received the prestigious Webby and Red Dot Design Awards.
About Sunburst: Sunburst has connected educators with technology and digital content solutions for three decades. Sunburst sells, supports, and provides curriculum services directly to schools, with Sunburst solutions found in more than 95% of US school districts. The Sunburst team helps schools and partner education companies drive innovation together. Sunburst works with schools to deeply understand their needs and then matches schools with the best educational tools to achieve their aims, supporting them in adopting these technologies. The Sunburst SafeSchools initiative focuses on a curated set of school safety and social emotional learning programs that align with major countrywide initiatives in order to promote healthy, positive, and secure school communities.
