“Let’s go to the bike shop!”
Any given weekday afternoon, you’ll find dozens of kids tinkering on bikes, talking, laughing, and learning in Bearings’ Garage on Atlanta’s westside.
Our Skills for Life drop-in program creates a micro-economy in which kids “work,” earn points and “buy” a bike while learning the skills to keep that bike in working order. And while we love and celebrate bikes every day, the heart of what we do is forming trusting relationships with kids and helping them develop the skills they will need to succeed in adulthood.
Skills for Life operates on the premise that if we offer fun, relevant hands-on learning opportunities that are designed to allow students of all ages to develop skills and work ethic, they can develop transferable technical skills and soft skills for life. As a result, they will be better prepared to transition into education, training, or employment, leading to economic autonomy and mobility.
At Bearings, we dive deep into the youth development principle of self-efficacy: one’s belief that he or she has the ability to accomplish a task at hand. We believe that a true sense of self-efficacy is developed by tackling challenges and overcoming them, learning and persevering through failure, and experiencing success that is validated by honest assessment. Self-efficacy and success have a snowball effect, which we can help kids experience by coaching them to master various skills. Today we operate our program with the evidence-based understanding that skills mastery yields both intangible outcomes such as positive identity and tangible results such as improved school and work performance for youth in the long-term.
And though it goes without saying, relationships matter. Although Skills for Life does not classify as a traditional mentoring program, its design focuses on leveraging positive developmental relationships to achieve strong outcomes for youth. In the context of positive youth development, successful programs are differentiated from others when the relationships between adults and program participants are such that youth feel welcomed, form bonds with adults, and feel safe and cared for.
Skills for Life is held Monday - Thursday from 4 - 6:30 PM.
To learn more about enrolling, click here.