Giving Kids the WINGS to Fly

Giving Kids the WINGS to Fly The Center for Success and WINGS: Making an Impact One Child At A Time

OCTOBER, 2021

Soaring with SEL

Overcoming Challenges

With locations in and around Detroit, Michigan, the Center for Success has made it its mission to unite literacy and community to empower students in the journey of education. The organization serves hundreds of students through after-school, virtual, and summer programs throughout the year.

Prior to the pandemic, all Center for Success staff gained valuable skills and knowledge through in-person and virtual WINGS workshops and through the WINGS Learning Center, an online resource that provides SEL training courses, resources and tools for educators and staff, and fun lessons and activities to incorporate into academic subject areas or program time.

“SEL teaches kids how to recognize their

In late February 2020, Center for Success program directors were getting ready to set in motion programming they had developed for inperson learning when the pandemic swiftly called for a change of plans. The global health crisis upended the lives of parents, staff, and kids— highlighting the increased need for SEL skills to foster emotional well-being and community.

Center directors encountered obstacles that required more than just new safety procedures.

What they needed were strategies for learning in very different and sometimes challenging conditions.

Knowing that students need to feel safe and supported before they can focus on academics, the Center for Success reached out to WINGS for assistance in implementing flexible, engaging activities that could be tailored to a virtual or inperson learning experience.

With help from WINGS Partnership Training Specialist Nicole Williams and team, the Center managed to transition traditional programs to an effective virtual model by curating resources that would easily translate in a remote learning environment.

feelings and gives them the language to express their emotions in a safe, supportive environment. SEL helps all ages—kids and adults.”

- Anna Rosevear, Program Director

The Center for Success spent the 2020-21 school year serving students through a virtual program model due to the pandemic. Despite the challenges that came from implementing a new way of learning, with a foundation of SEL practices provided by WINGS, the curriculum gave staff the tools to build effective and resilient programs and gave students the skills and support they needed.

Visit Wings For Kids. http://wingsforkids.org

“We appreciated how WINGS continued to work closely with us during the transition. Nicole (Williams) went above and beyond to offer her assistance and make the program work in whatever fashion would be successful.” - Heidi Miller, Director of Learning

“The Learning Center’s resources are organized and accessible. I appreciate how everything is easy to navigate.” - Anna Rosevear, Program Director

Finding Success Together Despite the lack of in-person interaction between mentors and students, WINGS SEL activities like icebreakers, team-building exercises, and reflection questions (that easily merged with existing Center practices) were able to keep students engaged and connected. Being intentional about incorporating SEL into daily programs allowed Center for Success leaders and mentors to reach the goals they set for the time they spent with students virtually, including:

Building students’ confidence Setting intentions for daily achievement Creating successful mentoring sessions

The positive outcomes from social emotional teaching practices spilled over into the 2021 in-person and virtual summer programs guided by interns and mentors. One virtual summer program was aptly named the “Feel Good Club,” where kids and fellows used social emotional learning techniques to focus on “feel good” activities like yoga and meditation.

WINGS social emotional learning practices has introduced and reinforced SEL as a crucial piece in helping every student thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. Anna Rosevear, Program Director, credits the success of incorporating WINGS curriculum into their programs to the resource-rich, user-friendly WINGS Learning Center.

The Learning Center serves as a full library of SEL knowledge, from engaging online training sessions that ensure competency and confidence for staff, to interactive group activity plans with built-in prompts and discussions to make implementation flexible and adaptable. With these ‘grab-and-go’ resources, the Center for Success team had everything they needed at their fingertips, making planning for each day’s virtual lessons easier.

Looking Forward The partnership between WINGS and the Center for Success has been built on a foundation of collaboration, listening, and learning from one another in pursuit of a united vision. Combining the WINGS philosophy and program elements with the Center for Success’ existing culture and practices is how we’ve created a successful partnership that we look forward to growing and strengthening.

Visit Wings For Kids: http://wingsforkids.org