Naval Avenue WRC Program

The WRC program at Naval Avenue has been in place for 10 years and plays an integral role in struggling readers' development. For each grade, Naval Avenue's WRC members use research-based methods and materials as they work with students one-on-one and in small groups.

Here's a look at what members and volunteers do with each grade: 

  • Kindergarten -- As students form the foundations to be successful readers, tutors time with them is dedicated to understanding letter sounds and blends in a variety of locations within words. 
  • First grade -- Students have learned to blend letters together, but learning all the sounds of the different letter combinations is where we focus our attention. Reinforcing the sounds of letter combinations helps them become comfortable reading each and every letter combination they see.
  • Second grade -- Using a reading program call Read Naturally, students work with their tutors to build their fluency skills and become faster readers. This tactic helps boost their understanding, or comprehension, of the text they read in their stories.
  • Third grade -- Engaging third-graders in material allows them to start forming opinions about the books they read. Tutors work with them to further develop their comprehension so that they can fully grasp each story they read, which gives them critical thinking skills and helps them develop the vocabulary and ability to express themselves confidently when talking about material.

Volunteering

Volunteering at Naval Avenue is one of the best ways you can give back to your community and have fun while you do it. Volunteers have the opportunity to work with students in grades K-3 and at any time that works for them. Tutoring sessions usually last from 15 to 20 minutes, and all the training you need to be an effective tutor will be given to you during a one-hour tutoring training before you start.                                                                                   

To become a volunteer at Naval Avenue, contact WRC volunteer coordinator Rhonda Ramirez at (360)473-4489 or by e-mail at rhonda.ramirez@bsd.wednet.edu. Click here to download the volunteer information form.

Volunteer Benefits

  • Most students rarely get the chance to spend time one-on-one with a positive role model and tutor. The impact you can have in 20 minutes on their lives will be felt for years to come, because it's an opportunity they don't often get.
  • Giving back to the community is the best way to do your part to improve it. Working with students allows you to help shape the future leaders of Bremerton.
  • Not only will you form relationships with the students you work with, but you'll also be connected to other members of the community who are just as passionate as you are about seeing it succeed.
  • Volunteering in your community qualifies you for college scholarships, looks great on applications for college, and shows employers your vested interest in the community.

Outside of the Classroom

In addition to our work in the classroom helping students foster solid reading skills, WRC members help run and organize several programs before and after school that are dedicated to children's learning.

Chess Club 

Chess Club, which is in its fourth year, is the place for students to come and learn a game of logic and complexity that has been shown to boost their critical thinking skills. Students are taught the basics of the game initially and have the opportunity to play against their peers each day, learning new tricks about setting up traps and capturing other pieces. As their understanding of the game grows, they begin to learn how to successfully checkmate their opponents and win matches. Students participate in a chess tournament each year, with the winner getting the opportunity to challenge Principal Welsh for the title of Greatest Chess Master in the school.

Sunrise Early Morning Reading Club

This reading club takes place before school from 8:15 a.m. to 9 a.m. In it, students have the opportunity to read with WRC members in small groups and one-on-one. Members use this time to improve students' reading strategies and reinforce the building blocks that students need to become successful readers. Students are dismissed at 8:40 a.m. for breakfast and can come back when they are done eating to finish the books they've already started. We have several shelves of books for students to read, and students win free books and prizes for coming each day.

Naval Avenue Magazine Club

Thanks to a $3,000 grant from the Washington Educational Association-Olympic Uni-Serv, each student in the school has the opportunity to be a part of creating Naval Avenue's school magazine. Starting Monday, April 21, students who have signed up to be on the magazine leadership team will collect student work, design the magazine, make printing decisions and distribute the final product at school, to parents and in the community. The goal is for each student in the school to contribute a piece of content to be included in the magazine. The leadership team will meet from 3:30 to 4:30 every Monday until June 9.