For social worker Chanisse Wade, creating a “culture of celebration” is critical to bolstering students’ social and emotional well-being. Highlighting the small wins — like noticing when a student arrives earlier than they did the day before — is instrumental to building a schoolwide culture of support and success for all students, says Wade, who is in her second year at Bronx Legacy HS in Mott Haven.

Wade’s positive attitude influences the behavior of not only students but staff. “She is very bubbly and easy to talk to,” says Charlotte Wellington, the school’s chapter leader. “She communicates well with both the students and the staff because she stops, she pauses, she listens.”

Offering a listening and supportive ear comes naturally to the Bronx native. It was while working a student job inside the Lehman College admissions office while she was an undergraduate there that Wade realized that she often found herself taking actions similar to those of a social worker. “I found myself having a lot of conversations with students from all walks of life, pouring into them and encouraging them,” she says.

Her two supervisors, both social workers, inspired her to become a licensed master social worker. Social work at a high school felt like the perfect fit.

“Adolescence is a vulnerable period” because so many of the skills that lead to success in adulthood are forged during the teenage years, she says. “I wanted to be a part of that process for as many young people in my community as I possibly could.”

Now she spends her days counseling students with Individualized Education Programs, keeping tabs on kids who aren’t mandated to see her but have nonetheless been identified as needing extra support, coordinating with families on their children’s needs, and planning campaigns and events to build a warm and high-achieving community.

Wade was instrumental in implementing monthly town halls that publicly celebrate all achievements, large or small — from high grades to good attendance to improvements in peer-to-peer behavior. She arrives early for the school’s attendance incentives — she recently handed out bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches to the first 20 students to arrive.

Wade offers a caring perspective to students who are navigating difficult social situations. She is especially proud of students who take the initiative to change things they don’t like about their thought processes and social interactions.

Wade recalls a recent student who expressed wanting “to leave her middle school self in middle school” and not get involved in so many verbal and physical altercations, but she “did not have the right coping skills to calm herself down when upset or overstimulated.” Wade helped the student learn how to manage challenging situations; the student began to ask Wade to mediate between the student and her peers before situations spiraled out of control.

Wade also makes it a point to model the behaviors she wants to see. “If I see a student sitting alone, and I sit with that student for a few minutes, the other students start to mirror that,” she says.

Wade enjoys the eclectic nature of her work. “Whatever the needs are of the school that day is how I fit in,” she says.