In today’s world, many teachers are challenged by not only educating students, but also keeping them safe. A teacher in Poughkeepsie High School brought a national program into their halls to change the dynamic of the student body and its maker for a closer group.

Omari and Jose are two students helping lead the Wingman program with the help of their student government advisor, Paul Donnelly.

“One thing I’m looking forward to celebrate this year is probably making principal’s list,” said Omari.

Donnelly says he’s always felt a close connection to the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting since he grew up in the New York town that manufactured the weapons used in the shooting. He now regularly drives past the town while he’s going to visit family in Rhode Island, and one time, coincidentally, one day after the tragedy, he found himself traveling through Sandy Hook.

Ten years ago, one day after the tragedy, he stopped to grab food on his drive and says he could feel the sadness in the air. Now, he goes back to honor the lives lost.

“This is the memorial,” says Donnelly as he points to a picture on his cell phone of the names of those lost written on the memorial.

One of those names is Dylan Hockley.

At a conference in 2019, Donnelly met someone affected by the tragedy firsthand: Ian, father of Dylan, a first grade victim at Sandy Hook. The conversation with Ian resonated with Donnelly, since this type of tragedy seems to have followed him throughout his career.

“I graduated high school when [the Columbine High School mass shooting] happened, so my whole profession as a teacher, there’s been this undercurrent of mass shootings,” said Donnelly.

On May 24, after he saw the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, Donnelly reached for the business card of Ian Hockley, looking for the support of Dylan’s Wings.

“This is the right program for Poughkeepsie. I’m really happy to do this with the kids here,” said Donnelly.

The mission of the Wingman program is to ensure no student ever feels left out, and is instead included in the conversation.

Omari, Jose and the other Wingman participants are working out kinks in the exercising before they introduce them to students across the middle and high school in the beginning of 2023.

“I think with this, they can feel at ease; people can start talking to each other, we can start knowing each other and we can be all connected,” said Jose.

“I can’t express how it feels, the gratitude of actually seeing this come to fruition, in real life … as a teacher, probably one of the best experiences in being a teacher here. I’ve been here 18 years and this tops the list,” said Donnelly.