Volunteers

What do you do with your spare time at Amelia during the summer? Hang out at the beach, right? Not if your name is Melissa Bell! Melissa and her husband, Michael, moved to Fernandina Beach a few years ago when Michael took a job at Rayonier. Their seven-year-old daughter started 1st grade at Southside Elementary last year and Melissa volunteered first at the school library and then as a mentor for a 1st grader who needed help with reading skills. Melissa was well equipped for such tutoring. She had taught her pre-school daughter to read using all the up-to-date phonic and word recognition techniques. But Melissa got concerned that the reading progress her student had made might be lost over the summer and searched for a way to keep on tutoring. She contacted the local Boys & Girls Clubs organization and found Unit Director Walter Cromartie at the Fernandina Beach Club was happy to oblige. In fact, he set up Melissa with three other kids in need of reading help in addition to the student she had from Southside. So every weekday Melissa spends an hour with these children at the Club. She believes they will be at or above grade level in reading when school starts again. Her only regret is that lack of volunteers limits the number of elementary school children who can receive the help she provides. Contact the Boys & Girls Clubs of Nassau County at 904-261-8666 if you would like to join in this school-based program with Melissa Bell.