Organization Description
Since its beginnings in 1996, WINGS has focused exclusively on working with low-income children by providing a safe place to stay after school while teaching skills to succeed in school and life. Grounded in the principles of positive youth development and evidence-based social and emotional learning practices, the WINGS approach nurtures the mindset, skills, and confidence within each child and encourages them to take responsibility for their choices and actions, manage their emotions, and deal with conflict in a healthy way. Youth are challenged to practice these skillsets in a safe and supportive environment where they identify their personal strengths, feel empowered, and are fully engaged in learning. WINGS uses an early, comprehensive approach that provides implicit and explicit teaching by integrating social and emotional learning throughout the program time or school day.
Why We Invested
A twenty year history of rigorous curriculum evaluation and SEL resource development uniquely positions WINGS to fill the gap in social and emotional solutions for schools and organizations across the U.S. WINGS is distinctive from other social and emotional learning efforts because of the ability to inspire action by providing educators with a concrete, yet simple SEL roadmap and resources that can be implemented immediately.
Impact of SCE Support
There is a critical need to reach children with SEL on a large scale and a dire lack of immediately available, practical SEL solutions for schools and youth-serving organizations. SCE’s investment supports WINGS Across America, a multi-faceted initiative that engages schools, out-of-school providers, educators, youth, and caregivers with proven resources to help as many children as possible experience high-quality and effective social and emotional learning, fostering the skills youth need to succeed on an unprecedented scale.
