Monta Vista CharacterLab is back! The first session for the 2025-26 season will be Monday, September 29, at lunchtime in Mr. Bonacorsi’s classroom, D101. CharacterLab is aimed at cross-country athletes, but all athletes and all Monta Vista students are welcome to join these sessions–last season, we had several guests become semi-consistent.
CharacterLab is optional–no one is required to come, while we aim at cross-country athletes, no MVXC athlete is required to come. In fact if you don’t want to come, we would prefer you did not–we want people enthusiastic about learning and personal growth. If you are interested…you are welcome!
Session One will be an Introduction to Grit–a session that Coach Flatow adapted from Angela Duckworth’s first session of her Leading With Grit class at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
What is CharacterLab? We are glad you asked.
The Monta Vista Character Lab
Positive psychology’s critical insight is that eliminating the bad does not automatically create the good. Traditional psychology focuses on addressing weaknesses and illnesses to help those struggling the most. In contrast, positive psychology studies and nurtures the best qualities in people, such as optimism, bravery, relationships, thoughtfulness, gratitude, and happiness. Its goal is to help individuals thrive, not just survive.
The Monta Vista Character Lab is a series of talks for Monta Vista athletes, focusing on how positive psychology can help athletes and teams thrive, both in sports and life. Topics may include:
- How positive psychology differs from self-help advice
- The value of grit
- How finding your ‘we’ can smooth the road to success
- Thinking traps and how to avoid them
- The difference between “meaning” and “mattering”
- The basics of performance psychology
- Effective goal-setting strategies
- Building new habits
- Active-constructive responding to good news
- Classifying and using character strengths and virtues
Our goal is for each talk to leave you with thought-provoking ideas, a deeper understanding of positive psychology, and practical insights to enhance your life. We want all Monta Vista athletes to thrive!
Your Instructor: Coach Kirk Flatow
Coach Flatow has coached cross-country and track & field at Monta Vista since 2011. During this time, the teams have won two Central Coast Section championships, competed in the State championships five times, and won 15 league championships. He has also coached track at Johns Hopkins University, and coached marathoning for Team in Training/The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Before his coaching career, Coach Flatow was a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, co-founding one company that was later sold, taking another company public, and managing divisions of up to 500 people at Tessera/Experi, Flextronics, and Harmonic Lightwaves.
Coach Flatow completed a Master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2024, 40 years after earning an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1985. His undergraduate degree is from Santa Clara University. Additionally, he holds a level 5 (elite level) certification from the International Association of Athletic Federations and the highest certification (Level 3) from USA Track and Field, and he coached the distance team at Johns Hopkins University while completing his master’s degree at UPenn.