Trang McGillivray is the go-to person for Wolfle Elementary School’s independently funded summer session, which ShareNet supports with take-home food for children in need. The summer session extends ShareNet’s regular school year program, Food to Grow On, which provides the same service.

Recently, as the summer session wrapped, we sat down with McGillivray to review how it went and school needs. As ShareNet becomes more deeply involved with local schools, we are fortunate to get to know the many dedicated employees, like McGillivray, who go above and beyond to serve local kids.

As well as her regular duties as a fifth-grade teacher and her facilitation of the summer session, McGillivray is heavily involved in implementing Common Core, the national standards adopted by 47 states for language arts and math. McGillivray teaches literacy, and her partner teacher handles the math and science.

The standards shift the learning paradigm. The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s website states the Common Core standards “require a practical, real-life application of knowledge that prepares Washington students for success in college, work and life.”

The standards provide “consistent learning expectations for all students; clear standards that focus on understanding over memorization; emphasis on the critical topics students need to succeed after high school; and faster testing results with a better, more focused online assessment system.”McGillivray is a member of several groups which address the task of implementing Common Core locally, including the Puget Sound Writing Project and the Literacy Cadre of ESD 114.

ShareNet has often been impressed by the innovation going on at Wolfle under the administration of Principal Ben Degnin and staff members who go the extra mile, like McGillivray. When we last visited, there was a banner up about Inferring and Predicting — not your everyday school banner, but what’s more important in negotiating our world?

The summer session is for pre-K through fifth grade, with a focus on students who need additional help to succeed, and the youngest students who will benefit most from an immersive experience prior to regular attendance. In each new session, last year’s fifth graders, now sixth graders, return as mentors to the younger kids. Teen mentors ninth grade and up may be paid for their work.

Other innovations include Reading Core, a group of volunteers working one-on-one with kids who need this approach (with the ancillary benefit of saving staff time), and working in small focused groups such as literacy circles or math lab. Other volunteers act as art docents, giving a boost to this area deemphasized in funding cuts.

Wolfle also benefits from its strong relationship with Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe and their Head Start program. Wolfle is a Title I school, a federal designation designed to improve the academic achievement of the disadvantaged. Wolfle has the highest poverty concentration of any school in the north end.

Yet Wolfle is also a forum for education innovation, an environment of dedication from staff and volunteers, and a place where real success is happening, particularly in early intervention and education. By the time children leave kindergarten at Wolfle, they are testing higher than students at comparable schools.

At a time when schools need our help most, ShareNet is honored to be able to assist Wolfle and its students in our small way through the Food to Grow On program, food for children known by counselors to be struggling with hunger and food instability. The program has consistently added children in need, not only at Wolfle, but at all four local schools since its inception in 2010.

Despite helpful infusions from private donors and local Tribes, the program remains consistently underfunded.

Additional help for local school kids is available at our Back to School Supplies Event Aug. 27, 10 a.m. to noon. at the activity building behind Bayside Community Church. Signups will be closed by the time of publication, but we will assist everyone we can and donate leftovers to the schools.

— Mark Ince is executive director of ShareNet