Pilot program built on wings of change

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Hailey Russell, left, and John Green, students at City Hill Middle School in Naugatuck, prepare for a program called Wingman at the school, which is intended to break down barriers between students in middle school. City Hill is one of three schools in the state that is piloting the program. -CONTRIBUTED
Hailey Russell, left, and John Green, students at City Hill Middle School in Naugatuck, prepare for a program called Wingman at the school, which is intended to break down barriers between students in middle school. City Hill is one of three schools in the state that is piloting the program. -CONTRIBUTED

NAUGATUCK — City Hill Middle School is hoping a pilot program will help those students who may need a “wingman.”

City Hill is one of three middle schools in the state — the others are Brownstone Intermediate in Portland and New Fairfield Middle School in New Fairfield — that will pilot a new program this coming school year called Wingman.

The program is part of Dylan’s Wings of Change, a nonprofit organization founded to honor Dylan Hockley. Hockley was one of the students killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on Dec. 14, 2012.

Wingman is run in collaboration between athletic coaches Erin and Jeromie Schumacher of Middlebury and the nonprofit. Wingman aims to teach children to be more inclusive with each other and model positive behavior.

“My wife and I wanted to do something,” Ian Hockley, Dylan’s father and executive director of Dylan’s Wings of Change, said. “Dylan had autism and we wanted to help children like Dylan lead the best possible life. That was the start.”

City Hill Middle School Principal Brian Hendrickson, who sits on the board of directors of the Connecticut Association of Schools, said when Hockley presented the Wingman program to the board, he knew his school would be perfect to pilot it.

“I thought immediately we could be a good fit because it works with what we are doing and our community has a strong connection to Dawn [Hochsprung],” Hendrickson said.

Hochsprung, a Naugatuck native, was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School. She was among those killed in the shooting at Sandy Hook.

“Because of the strong connections and the alignment to what we’re doing in the school, it was a no-brainer,” said Hendrickson about piloting the program.

Hendrickson said the school already has a program in place called “feed the right wolf.” This program is based on a Native American legend that each person has two wolves in them, a good one and an evil one. The one that grows is the one they feed through their actions, Hendrickson said.

“What Wingman does is it builds off of feeding the right wolf. It makes sure you are feeding the right wolf with your peers,” Hendrickson said.

Although the Wingman program focuses on ensuring children with autism feel included, Hockley said, it is aimed at helping all children.

“They learn to accept each other and each other’s differences and how to connect with one another. It’s important for them to start to include each other, especially since the children are at the age where they can start to exclude each other,” Hockley said.

Hendrickson said the program will be led by student squad leaders and three staff members, Meaghan Banti, Carolyn Laurentis and Joe Saverese. The student squad leaders will be the ones who create the lessons and run the program, he said. The staff will be on hand to advise the students.

The program, which will take place the first Wednesday of each month starting in October, will focus on topics such as peer pressure, peer confrontation and social media, Hendrickson said.

“The students have a tremendous amount of ownership. They identified core themes,” Hendrickson said. “The squad leaders created lessons to promote feeding the right wolf at City Hill. They will focus on helping each other out and what it’s like to make the right decision. This will be by students for students.”

Hockley said seeing a program take off that was created in Dylan’s memory has been healing.

“We lost him in such a tragic way and so suddenly. To see other children and families benefit is very special to us. His memory will be kept alive by that and that means something,” Hockley said.

The mascot for Dylan’s Wings of Change is a butterfly. Hockley said this is for two reasons.

The first was that Dylan would always flap his hands when he was excited, Hockley said.

“My wife asked him why he did that and he said, ‘Mommy, I’m a beautiful butterfly,’” Hockley said.

The second reason was based on the chaos theory, which states that a butterfly flapping its wings can lead to a hurricane around the world. Hockley said he hopes this small program spreads and helps children throughout the country.

Although still in its infancy, the wingman program has already stirred up excitement at City Hill. Hendrickson said there has already been collaborative discussions between parents, teachers, staff and students about the program. Though the program has not yet started, he said, it has already brought people together.

“That is what Naugatuck is all about,” Hendrickson said.