The societal youth problems of violence, racism, poverty, obesity, and depression have impacted a population of youths within the urban district of Worcester, Massachusetts known as Main South. The coach of a track team there, a Catholic woman whose hobbies include marathon running, leisure reading and theological exploration, combines her passions to create a program that transports small groups of youths out of the city for day trips that include fun runs along scenic trails, followed by silent reading, group discussions and shared meals within a home-like setting. Undergirded by a spirit of playfulness, the author notes the transformational benefits of each program element: distance running, leisure reading, hospitality, and time in nature, toward easing youth problems. Also recognizing a spiritual hunger as complicit in youth problems, “Mama Clark’s” Doctor of Ministry project infuses non-denominational spirituality into an otherwise secular program, toward total wellness of youths, body, mind, and spirit. While long-term change could not be immediately shown, initial responses from participants indicated positive outcomes. Referencing theology, the author suggests that seeds sown can begin to bridge the gap between the problems of youths and a “kingdom” ideal of happy, healthy, and delightful young people, playing on the face of the earth.

Abstract Positive psychology encourages a focus on identifying and promoting wellness in individuals rather than analyzing psychopathology. Although decades of research shows that mental illness is in part environmental and hereditary, little is known about the relationship between parental levels of positive emotions such as gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope, and their children's levels of the same constructs. This study utilized a past, present, and future framework of positive emotions to explore parental and child levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope. This quantitative study analyzed correlations between self-reported levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope among a sample of 153 fourth and fifth grade students and their parents (143 female caregivers, 119 male caregivers). Findings include statistically significant relationships between (a) mother and child gratitude (but not father and child gratitude) and (b) child life satisfaction with both mothers' and fathers' life satisfaction. No relationships emerged between parental hope and child hope. The study has important implications for school psychologists, including sharing with caregivers' the relationships between parental positive emotions and their children' levels of wellness. Future research is needed to investigate the causes of the links identified in the current study, as well as to explore the relationship between parental and child hope.