South Carolina-Based Program Debuts in Georgia
An after-school program that helps kids who struggle with social and emotional issues is coming to metro Atlanta. WINGS for Kids, a South-Carolina-based program, is starting today at two schools in Fulton County. WINGS for Kids was started 16 years ago in Charleston, South Carolina.
Bridget Laird, the program’s CEO, says there are 30 behavioral objectives taught over the course of a year.
“We help kids behave well, make good decisions, and build healthy relationships,” Laird says, “And we do that by weaving our comprehensive social emotional learning curriculum into a fresh and fun after-school program,” says Laird.
Kids commit to 3 hours a day after school, 5 days a week. Students from Morehouse, Spelman, Clark Atlanta, and Georgia State University will serve as program mentors.
WINGS for Kids will begin two Atlanta chapters at S.L. Lewis and Heritage elementary schools in Fulton County.
Laird says the schools were chosen because they feed into Banneker High School, which has been identified nationally as a “dropout factory.”
“We thought we could get two schools within that cluster and really focus on this intensive programming in the early years so that when they get to high school, they’re inoculated with these skills,” Laird explains.
Preliminary research shows the first cohort of children who participated in WINGS for Kids had a 40% higher graduation rate than their peers who didn’t participate.
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