Dylan’s Wings of Change is inviting qualified individuals to join its Team of Certified Wingman Trainers in New Jersey.

Training will take place on July 16, 17, and 18 and also on August 6, 7, and 8. Applicants should register for one of the two trainer workshops. Attendance at all three days is required. Each of the three days will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a continental breakfast and lunch provided. The training will take place at NJSBA Headquarters, located at 413 W. State Street, Trenton, NJ 08618.

The training is supported by the New Jersey School Boards Association and sponsored by the Educational Leadership Foundation of New Jersey. Learn more on the Dylan’s Wings of Change Trainer Recruitment page.

Wingman is a unique youth leadership program that develops social and emotional skills through team-bonding and trust-building activities. Wingman inspires children to be more empathetic and courageous to create strong, inclusive communities as an antidote to the epidemic of social isolation we face today. See the program in action on YouTube.

How Will Wingman Trainers be Prepared?

The three-day intensive Wingman Trainer workshop will equip applicants with a full understanding of the Wingman program, experiential education techniques and the student training curriculum you will be leading. The Workshop is led by two Wingman Master Trainers supported by the Program Director for Wingman in New Jersey. Also in attendance will be Ian Hockley, founder and executive director of Dylan’s Wings of Change.

Applicants to Join the Team Are Ideally:

  • Retired educators wishing to maintain their connection to schools and students
  • Qualified educators taking extended time out of the classroom
  • Experienced youth facilitators with non-school backgrounds.

Trainer Compensation

Once certified, trainers will be compensated on a contract/day rate basis for training student leaders, $500 per day when working solo, or $300 per day if working with a fellow trainer.

Trainers will be supplied with materials – marker pens, flipchart paper, and various experiential tools, and replenishment of these items will be paid by the Wingman program during your contract as a trainer.

There is no compensation for attending the training. Catering will be provided during the day.

Applicants should register for one of the two trainer workshops – and then email their resume/ employment history to wingman.schools@gmail.com, along with a paragraph on what would make them an amazing Wingman Trainer.

About Dylan’s Wings of Change

Dylan’s Wings of Change (DWC) is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the memory of Dylan Hockley, who was killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14th, 2012 along with 19 other first-graders and six brave educators.

DWC sponsored the start of the Wingman program in Connecticut in 2015. Since then, it has been adopted by 37 schools across the tri-state area, over 240 dance studios in the U.S. and overseas, and summer camps and after-school programs.

New Jersey is the first selected for a state-wide offering of Wingman, and Dylan’s Wings of Change has partnered with NJSBA to spread awareness of the program and develop the support infrastructure to maximize success. Seventeen schools enrolled in Wingman in New Jersey in the 2018-2019 school year, and this recruitment drive for trainers will help prepare for the next wave of programs in 2019-2020.