Impressions Upon Visiting Open Wings, a Learning Community

By Anthony Rowe

On a cold and gray winter weekday morning, cars drive by The Tabernacle, a church on the corner of 36th Avenue and 80th Street in Kenosha, Wisconsin. On the outside of the church, there are no signs of activity, nothing attracts attention. Cars pass and people move on, not able to see the vibrancy within the walls of the basement of this church on this cold and gray winter weekday morning.

If instead of passing by, you pull into the parking lot of this church and walk up to a side door, a small, shellacked, hand painted tree stump sign leaning against the building will welcome you to “Open Wings Learning.” Ring the bell and wait a few moments until the door is opened and you are greeted with a smile. You wipe your feet, walk down a small flight of stairs, turn left, and enter a world devoted to children.

After your first few steps, you are now greeted by a hallway of large, framed color portraits of smiling students. These portraits tell you so much about the values of the school before you’ve set foot in a classroom -the children are the focus here. Their individual faces, full of promise, welcome you to their learning community. Words do not serve as your first explanation of the mission of Open Wings, smiling faces do.

You first enter the primary classroom, where the story of the Three Little Pigs is being read aloud. The students sit on a rug, looking up and listening. One teacher reads the story while three other teachers situate themselves amidst the children. A page is read, thoughtful questions are asked, and the page is turned once the class figures out what that wolf is up to. It becomes clear that the goal is not to merely get through the story and move on, but rather to have individual students understand the story on a level that makes sense to them and for the classroom community to move forward together. The page turns when the class is ready. The story unfolds, and the children each have a role in helping one another gain an understanding of just how clever that third little pig really is.

As you watch and listen, a thought occurs to you. For some children, the world of public schools just moves too quickly. And if a child can’t keep up, she can often feel left behind, left out, or just...left. At Open Wings, you get the sense that children are challenged to think and to work to their potential; but if one isn’t sure of the answer, instead of moving on, the classroom community takes the time needed for processing and understanding to happen. A teacher turns to you and says, “Kids sit on the edge of their seats waiting for their classmates to succeed. They know each other.”

Your next stop is math. Students are attempting to create three-dimensional structures using attachable plastic snap cubes. The activity challenges the students as thinkers, encouraging them to create their three-dimensional structures from two-dimensional examples on a piece of paper. This is an activity that asks students to handle uncertainty and to work through unsuccessful attempts in their quest for a solution. It is a challenge to the students’ abstract thinking skills, and the students are given the time needed to take it on. Midway through the activity, their teacher comments, “This is harder than I thought it would be,” which lets the students know that the whole class is in this together. As you spend time in this school, you begin to understand that the paths for students and teachers are thoughtfully considered but not scripted -you get the feeling that they are moving forward as individuals while exploring, discovering, and growing together.

Moving on, you pop your head into the music classroom and see students sitting in a semi-circle facing their teacher as she leads them through their scales. You notice the teacher using a combination of nudging individuals forward and bringing the group to a common understanding. When she asks a question about a note on the musical scale, a student answers with uncertainty in his voice. The teacher looks him in the eyes and says, “You’re guessing. I want thinkers, not guessers.” The student nods and gives a slight smile.

Since it’s a cold and gray winter weekday morning, recess is held inside the gym. What you see is a collection of kids doing what a collection of kids does during indoor recess -they hurl balls, they laugh, they run (some with a purpose, some aimlessly), they ride tricycles. Teachers weave through the activity, supporting and cajoling when necessary. All of those faces from the framed portraits in the hallway come alive in a whirling mass of movement.

As you leave the gym and walk through the hallways, you are invited into a conversation between two teachers. You quickly recognize that the discussion is focused on a child, not a lesson. The adults come together to have a dialogue, and creative ideas come forth. Instead of asking something like, “How do we teach this unit, in this teacher’s guide, to this class?” what you hear the teachers asking each other is, “How do we reach this individual child?”

Unfortunately, the time comes for you to leave Open Wings. As you say your goodbyes, a student walks by and asks if you will come back soon. Of course, you will. You put on your coat, brace for the chill, open the door, walk through the parking lot, climb into your car, and begin to drive away. You take one last look at The Tabernacle, a church on the corner of 80th Street and 36th Avenue in Kenosha, Wisconsin. To the uninformed passersby, there is no visible activity on this cold and gray winter weekday morning, but those in the know know better.