Giving youth the social and emotional skills to succeed

WINGS for Kids is a nonprofit organization based in Charleston, South Carolina, that aims to supply the social and emotional learning (SEL) component into existing programs for school-aged children and thereby assist them to recognize and manage emotions, care about others, make good decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, build satisfying relationships, and avoid negative behaviors. The author, who is the founder and CEO of WINGS, traces the ethos of the organization to her own life experiences as well as her observations of low-income children and families more generally. She describes the strategies and practices that characterize the WINGS approach to SEL. The chapter focuses on the progress made by one boy, who arrived at WINGS at the age of seven, got into disputes from the very first day, and was eventually ejected from the WINGS program but later earned his way back with a commitment to change. He sustained his involvement for a number of years and became an exemplar of what the author states they are trying to accomplish.