Committee for Children Blog

New Look, Same Mission

| By: Committee for Children

committee for children, second step, social emotional learning, SEL

For nearly 40 years, we at Committee for Children, the creators of Second Step®, have been trailblazing the field of social-emotional learning (SEL), remaining faithful to our mission: fostering the safety and well-being of children through social-emotional learning and development. We adapt with changes and make improvements, but our mission stays the same.

Upgrades and Improvements

In recent years, we’ve upgraded the look, feel, and methods of delivery and engagement with many of our materials. For example, our Early Learning–Grade 5 programs now offer streaming lesson media. And our new, all-digital Middle School Program is tailored to engage today’s students, as well as their parents and teachers.

Now, we’ve updated the Committee for Children brand with a fresh look, logo, and tagline. And we’ve done the same for Second Step. We hope you like these changes, which are indicative of our commitment to continually seek paths of opportunity to improve children’s lives.

Fresh Look and New Updates for Committee for Children

Our commitment is evident with our new Committee for Children logo that represents the evolution of our organizational brand and brings a sharp visual identity to the forefront. The heart wrapped in a C pays homage to our heritage and is paired with a confident font that speaks to the strength of our work on many fronts. Playfulness in the letters C and E nod to the joy and energy of the programs we create.

An active and inspiring tagline, Grow Kinder™ puts the power of positive change in the hands of the people while positioning Committee for Children as the organization to facilitate it. It’s a simple yet powerful directive that leads to our vision of safe children thriving in a peaceful world. Grow Kinder is a call to action that is hard to argue with and can be embraced by audiences from individual children to global communities.

New Look and Fresh Updates for Second Step

Our new Second Step logo is meant to capture the vibrant, playful look and feel of our products. It mirrors the bustling energy of a schoolroom of kids, with some touches of skater or graffiti culture. It’s more recognizable than our past logo, and paired with a vibrant new color palette, we have aimed to make our branding as fun and effective as Second Step itself. The tagline, Not Just Better Students, Better People™ debuted with the launch of our new Middle School Program in 2017. Educator response was so positive, we knew we’d hit on something that resonates with why we all work so hard for children to be their best. Schools are about more than churning out good students. They’re for empowering kids to enter the world as empathetic, kind, cooperative members of society. And we know that those who’ve chosen a career in education often share this vision with us.

Looking forward, Second Step is continuing to grow and expand to meet the needs of SEL-minded educators and childcare providers. As an example of an expanding approach for building safe learning environments, we’re developing an out-of-school-time program to offer SEL-enrichment opportunities when children are away from the classroom.

SEL Is the Talk of Education

Though the field of social-emotional learning has been evolving for decades, today it’s being embraced by educators and legislators like never before. School and district leaders understand the research. They realize that partnering SEL and academics isn’t a tradeoff, but a mutually beneficial approach. The evidence is clear: teaching SEL improves academic outcomes and school success.

Like reading and writing, SEL is becoming a part of everyday life for school children. Also like reading and writing, SEL might change a little with time, but it’s here to stay. That said, because SEL is currently trending, it’s important to remember that successful SEL education is grounded in science. At Committee for Children, we’ve dedicated ourselves to staying on top of SEL through extensive research, and we’re constantly refining our offerings to make them nimble, relevant, and easy for educators to use.

Rest Assured

Though things may look different, rest assured that our programs continue to focus on improving social-emotional competencies through solid, evidence-based principles and in a way that empowers educators. Our programs reach over 14 million students in more than 70 countries, and we work tirelessly to realize our vision of safe children thriving in a peaceful world. Along with our colleagues in education, advocacy, and research, we bring our passion to providing children an environment that’s safe and supportive—so they can learn, grow, and thrive.