Grant Year: 2022
Freedom School2 (FS2) is a new leadership development and service-learning program for middle and high school students that builds upon The Hannah Project’s successful Freedom School in Marin City, which joined the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools Program in 2010.
The Hannah Freedom School (HFS) provides a full day, six-week summer enrichment program for low-income children of color in grades 2-8 – known as scholars – open to children throughout Marin County. HFS provides high quality academic enrichment with a focus on culturally rich literature to inspire a love of reading and learning. The students are taught by college-age interns, referred to as Servant Leader Interns (SLIs), who are specially trained in Tennessee with about 2,500 other youth leaders from around the country. SLIs develop teaching skills to act as facilitators and mentors to children who are eager to interact with young, energetic instructors who look like them. Culture, history, and social justice are emphasized through the Integrated Reading Curriculum, provided by Children’s Defense Fund, augmented with activities and field trips, enabling students to realize that they too can make a difference in their lives and communities. The summer experience is further strengthened by the inclusion and participation of parents as learning partners.
Freedom School2 middle and high school students will be prepared to work as Junior Servant Leaders (JSLs). They will participate in discussions, service learning, career exploration, and field trips. These emerging youth leaders will complete a rigorous college text and accompanying assignments, participate in a collaborative social action and research project, as well as attend sessions to increase their skills and abilities to help maximize learning outcomes for HFS scholars they will work with during the summer, along-side the SLIs.
FS2 will have a specific focus on social justice designed to positively impact literacy development for young students during their foundational years, to secure their future academic success and intellectual development. It is Hannah’s aim that the high school participants in FS2 will be inspired to become future educational leaders and teachers because of their experiences in the program.
The Hannah Project Partnership for Academic Achievement is a community-based education and cultural organization located in Marin City, California. Utilizing culture and the arts to undergird its educational programming, the Hannah Project seeks to both build community and promote the value of achievement among low income black and brown youth and their families, with the intent of making college and career both an expectation and a norm. For more information, please visit: https://thehannahproject.org/who-we-are/#who-we-are
Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Freedom Schools have their origins in Mississippi in 1964, when college students from around the country came to the state to secure justice and voting rights for Black citizens. These early Freedom Schools aimed to keep the children they served safe and give them rich educational experiences that were not offered in their Mississippi public schools. CDF opened the first CDF Freedom Schools in 1995 to address the needs of children who lacked access to high-quality literacy programs during the summer. The CDF Freedom Schools program today is designed to improve reading, language schools, and interpersonal relationships; strengthen families, connect children to medical and other needed social services, and develop in all participants the skills needed to improve conditions for children and families in their communities. For more information, please visit: https://www.childrensdefense.org/programs/cdf-freedom-schools/our-history/