WINGS Afterschool
Helping Kids Soar
WINGS Afterschool is an education program that teaches kids how to behave well, make good decisions, and build healthy relationships. We do this by weaving a comprehensive social emotional learning curriculum into a fresh and fun afterschool program. Kids get the life lessons they need to succeed and be happy, and they get a safe place to call home after school.
We operate afterschool programs in Title I elementary schools. Kids are referred to the program by principals and teachers based on their struggles in school or at home. The program operates at the school site and kids attend three hours per day, five days a week during the school year. There is no cost to attend the program, but full time attendance is required. Kids receive an afterschool snack, help with their homework, dinner, and bus transportation home.
Key Components of WINGS Afterschool
All kids deserve to explore, grow, and believe in themselves. Social emotional skill development lays the foundation for these actions to take hold.
Strong social emotional skills transform the lives of kids by helping them become the best version of themselves. As kids understand themselves and learn how to make smart decisions, they:
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Succeed in school
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Stay on track to graduate high school
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Are better prepared for the workforce
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Become positive and healthy contributors to society
Sequential learning objectives are taught throughout the school year to provide an opportunity to develop five core competencies through practice, reflection, and positive reinforcement. Kids learn about themselves and others through group activities and discussions while developing the capacity for empathy and respect.
Five Core Competencies
Self-awareness is the ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values, understanding how they guide behavior.
What this looks like:
- Can identify emotions
- Possesses accurate self-perception
- Able to recognize personal strengths
- Has self-confidence
- Practices self-efficacy
The ability to regulate emotions and behaviors in different situations and to set and work towards goals.
What this looks like:
- Displays impulse control
- Practices stress management
- Has self-discipline
The ability to make positive choices about behavior and interactions.
What this looks like:
- Can identify problems
- Ability to analyze situations
- Adept at solving problems
- Reflective
The ability to empathize with others.
What this looks like:
- Appreciation of diversity
- Respect for others
- Empathetic
- Perspective-taking
The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate, resist negative social pressure, resolve conflicts constructively, seek and offer help when needed.
What this looks like:
- Can clearly communicate
- Ability to build relationships
- Practices teamwork
Children learn when they have opportunities to learn.
Affluent parents have the ability to invest more money into their kids than financially stressed parents. Wealthier children are twice as likely to play afterschool sports and they are more than twice as likely to be the captains of their sports teams. They are much more likely to do non-sporting activities, like theater, music, or scouting. We call this an opportunity gap. At WINGS, kids have the opportunity to explore new activities and play on a regular basis. Enrichment activities provide access to important experiences our kids might otherwise not receive such as music, dance, sports, photography, and cooking.
Choice Time
Twice a week children participate in extracurricular activities, called Choice Time. As our kids participate in activities like soccer or lacrosse, cooking, art, or music, staff tie-in the weekly lesson and the Words to Live By to reinforce – in real-time – teamwork, participation, creativity, or focus. Community Partners are often brought in to lead Choice Time activities.
Current partners include:
- Abrakadoodle (art)
- Adaku Media (film)
- Atlanta Youth Rugby
- Born II Dance
- Bricks 4 Kidz (S.T.E.M. through LEGO bricks)
- Capoeira Academy
- Chess
- Children’s Theater of Charlotte
- Columbia Children’s Theater
- EduMotion (movement & arts)
- Higher Ground Education
- Jump Bunch (fitness)
- Junior Achievement
- Kidz ‘N’ Kicks (soccer)
- Kids-N-Technology
- Kindermusik of Charleston
- Lango Kids Atlanta (foreign languages for kids)
- Liberty Hill Stem Initiative
- Nexplore (hands-on learning)
- Science Olympiad
- Soccer Shots
- South Atlanta CTA (tennis)
- Spanish Exploration
- The STEAM Generation (science, technology, engineering, art, math)
- Sugar Lou’s Bakery (baking)
- The Art of Esteem
- The Promise Dance Group
- Twin Elite Athletics (cheerleading)
- USTA South Carolina (tennis)
- Well Fitness
- Yes! (Enrich Kids Now)
- Zumba
Field Trips
Field Trips allow our kids to explore new areas of their city and state. The majority of our WINGS kids have not traveled more than 10 miles outside of their neighborhoods. Through grants and discounted rates, we have been able to take our kids to:
- Gibbes Museum of Art
- Wild Blue Ropes
- SEA-LIFE Charlotte Aquarium
- South Carolina Aquarium
want to help?
Our kids love Choice Time and Field Trips but the expenses add up quickly. We’d love to provide additional Choice Time options and Field Trips! If you are interested in underwriting a portion of the cost for Choice Time or Field Trips, please see Support a Special Project for more information, or contact us at donate@wingsforkids.org.
Under-resourced kids often have many odds stacked up against them: trauma, stress, hunger, and an 18-month lag in achievement behind their higher-income counterparts.
These early childhood trends continue into high school, where low-income students drop out at a rate 4.4 times greater than higher-income students. Research shows that effective social and emotional education has the power to strengthen attachment to school and reduce negative behavior, two significant predictors of success.
Academic Center provides both homework assistance and the opportunity to further build social emotional, ELA (English language arts), and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) competencies through hands-on stations stocked with books and games. Academic Center provides a place for kids – with the guidance and reinforcement from staff – to practice self-management skills like focus, self-discipline, and stress management. These teachable moments can plant seeds of confidence or lessen anxieties, creating space for academic learning to happen.
Social emotional learning contributes to academic achievement:
- Increased attachment to school
- 54% more likely to earn a high school diploma
- Twice as likely to attain a college degree
Want to Help?
We need volunteers to provide one-on-one homework help to our students who struggle the most. Don’t have the time? Take a look at our wish list, we’re always in need of academic kits and homework supplies.
Supportive and Engaging Role Models
From day one, we have understood the powerful role college students as mentors play in the lives of WINGS kids. Oftentimes, the children we work with lack adults in their lives that serve as role models of healthy and positive relationships, and many do not know someone, other than the teachers at school, who have gone to college. We also place a premium on recruiting members from the geographic and demographic communities where we operate. By doing so, our role models provide inspiration to do well in school and stay in school. They instill in our kids the belief in possibilities – and the hope for a bright future.
Each of our sites are managed by two full-time WINGS employees and college students who are recruited as part-time mentors, called WINGS Leaders, to small groups of kids in the program. The 130 college students we hire each year are intentional about developing healthy and supportive relationships with kids, as well as modeling respect and kindness in their interactions with peers. WINGS is not just a program, it’s a community where kids and learning thrive.
We invest heavily in recruiting, hiring, and training – especially for the staff who work directly with youth. And, our experience has shown that investing in the training and development of staff pays huge dividends for our children. Each summer the WINGS Afterschool staff complete at least two full weeks of training before the school year starts. Pre-service training includes 80+ hours on topics like Empowering Kids in Poverty, Using Behavior Techniques with Empathy, and Skill Building through Teachable Moments.
Additional training and professional development happens over the course of the year through ongoing training with sessions like Child Development Levels, Kid Play, When Consequences Don’t Work, and Teach by Being a Role Model. Weekly staff meetings also provide time for program leaders to coach their team and provide constructive and positive feedback in a small group setting.
With training staff learn how to internalize and then model the five social emotional skills so they can supportive, engaging, and teach effectively. WINGS Leaders also carry these skills into their work after college.
We believe you can teach more with your attitude and actions than you can with your words alone. In order to effectively teach social and emotional skills, staff must model these skills by using positive body language, making responsible decisions, taking accountability, and encouraging the display of social emotional skills in others. Simply put: staff are role models to each other and to WINGS kids.
When children hear adults naming emotions to describe how they feel, admitting a weakness and asking for help, or not rattling off excuses but instead taking responsibility, they feel valued and respected. When youth see staff taking a moment to breathe, using their manners, working as a team, or taking the time to listen to them without getting distracted, they feel safe and supported. And, these feelings of value and support are not exclusive to our children. When adults model social emotional skills with each other, they learn from one another, feel empowered, are challenged, and are filled with new ideas and opportunities.
Quarterly staff evaluations determine if staff members are in fact positive, encouraging, fair, trusting, empathetic, and good listeners and identifies areas of strengths and weaknesses. Through ongoing feedback and constant coaching, staff continue to learn and grow their own skillset throughout the year, positively impacting their effectiveness as a mentor and role model.
Teachable moments are an essential element of the WINGS culture and happen in real-time, all the time. Staff look for situations where they can reinforce lessons in group or individual settings. When staff capitalize on teachable moments, WINGS youth hear and internalize our Words to Live By – in real-time – helping to develop their social emotional skills in the moment. From trips to the bathroom, walking the hallways, and lining up to transition to the next activity – these moments are rich with opportunities to acknowledge positive behavior, have a meaningful conversation, or assign a task that builds social emotional skills.
A Safe Place to Call Home After School
Juvenile crime peaks after school when more than 11 million youth are alone and unsupervised. WINGS works to provide a safe environment where each child feels they belong. A place where kids don’t worry about making mistakes and getting yelled at. We promote decision-making and uniqueness; we listen and pay attention. Our staff models kindness and fosters a deep sense of purpose and inclusiveness with each child.
A Safe Place to Be Yourself and Have Fun
Through innovation and out-of-the box activities, WINGS feels nothing like the school day. We intentionally create this environment in big and little ways: we sit on the floor in groups, play music, have special handshakes, dance, and sing. Our focus on fun is also why we choose to reinforce and recognize positive behavior instead of reprimanding negative behavior. One of the ways we do this is through tickets. During the week the kids earn tickets for positive behavior. Every Friday, during Wild WINGS the kids get to use their saved tickets to purchase special prizes. Our focus on fun is one way we drive school attendance. If you don’t attend school, you can’t attend WINGS, and our kids definitely don’t want to miss WINGS.
Want to help?
Help us bring the fun in BIG ways – donate special prizes on our Wish List for us to use for awards and prized each Friday.
WINGS Afterschool programs are held on-site at ten Title I elementary schools. Roughly one-third of each school’s students participate in the program.
Heritage Elementary School
2600 Jolly Rd.
College Park, GA 30349
Program Coordinator: Geoff Dean
Email: geoff@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (678) 404-2270
Program Assistant: Tiffany Downer
Email: tiffany@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (770) 880-6927
Bethune Elementary School
5925 Old Carriage Drive
College Park, GA 30349
Program Coordinator: Q Finley
Email: quavadas@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (762) 815-2577
Program Assistant: Jayda Morrison
Email: jayda@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (404) 590-0168
Heritage Academy
3500 Villa Circle Drive
Atlanta, GA 30354
Program Coordinator: Dom Pitts
Email: domonick@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (716) 445-0251
Program Assistant: Sametria Harris
Email: sametria@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (404) 585-7050
William M. Boyd Elementary
1891 Johnson Road NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
Program Coordinator: Sydney Sailor
Email: sydney@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (404) 771-1440
Program Assistant: Ty-kiera Freeman
Email: tykiera@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (404) 240-3257
Harbison West Elementary
257 Crossbow Drive
Columbia, SC 29212
Program Coordinator: Alex Moore
Email: alex@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (803) 216-1406
St. Matthews K8 School
135 Saints Avenue
St. Matthews, SC 29135
Program Coordinator: Keyasia Gathers
Email: keyasia@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (843) 499-2583
St. Stephen Elementary School
1053 Russellville Road
St. Stephen, SC 29479
Program Coordinator: Amber Grayer
Email: amber@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (843) 345-4926
CrossRoads Intermediate
6949 St. Andrews Road
Columbia, SC 29212
Program Coordinator: Sara Scott
Email: sara@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (803) 667-4712
Arthur W. Christopher Community Center
265 Fishburne Street
Charleston, SC 29403
Program Coordinator: Warlon Mack
Email: warlon@wingsforkids.org
Phone: (843) 356-0311