For area St. Louis area children in grades kindergarten through fifth grade, the Deaconess Foundation is sponsoring Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools, a summer enrichment program, built around high quality academic enrichment, parent and family involvement, civil engagement and social action, intergenerational leadership development, and nutritional, physical and mental health. They will take place at the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being and three locations of the United Church of Christ.
It is a seven week, intergenerational, culturally competent learning model built on literacy, leadership and social advocacy. Its curriculum is rooted in the Freedom Summer of the Civil Rights Movement and was originally conceived and proposed by Charles Cobb, a United Church of Christ college student.
The Children’s Defense Fund describes its Freedom Schools Model as one that empowers youth to excel and believe in their ability to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, country and world with hope, education and action.
Constance Rush, director of Advocacy for the Deaconess Foundation, said the literature is culturally rich, competent and all inclusive.
“The children see people who look like them; people who look like people who may live in south St. Louis city … or people who they’ve read about or heard about in movies or in literature throughout the years,” Rush said. “But it really reflects a whole world diaspora of people. And that is really the root of how children identify and see themselves and really excel in the program.”
For Freedom Schools In addition to literacy building activities, Freedom School participants are provided meals, snacks, activities and field trips at no cost to families.
“We are committed to making sure that we are closing opportunity gaps for our scholars,” she said, “and our commitment comes through with our test scores each year.”
The program model also includes random testing and evaluation to measure academic progress. And for districts who already have resources assigned to their own summer reading programs, Rush says their scores from students who live in particular school districts provide the data for district buy-in for how great the program is for child literacy.
“We have numbers that they essentially don’t get, especially in a summer program,” Rush said. “That is due, in part, to the literature itself and the curriculum reflecting who the children are.”
This is the fourth summer for the literacy program and SLPS and Webster Groves School District see the results from the summer enrichment when the students are back in school in the fall.
“Each October, November, CDF provides feedback on how well our students did the previous summer and our greatest gain was this last summer (2018-2019), where, in seven weeks, the tests have shown that children at one of our particular sites had advanced as much as one year and nine months in their reading level,” Rush said.
Instruction at Freedom Schools is provided by servant leader interns, college students and recent graduates trained by the CDF to use the Integrated Reading Curriculum to teach children conflict resolution and critical thinking skills, engage children in community service and social action projects, encourage children to participate in art and athletic activities. The children get to take books home every week and to decide which ones they want to add to their personal library to encourage that livelong love of reading.
Freedom Schools wrap up with a visit to a campus of higher learning.
“We bring all of our scholars, all of our college students and all of our teachers together at this end of the year celebration called the Culminating Event,” Rush said. “It’s full of energy and … we are giving the scholars the opportunity to end their summer on a college campus.”
Freedom Schools begin June 9 and run through July 24 at the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being in St. Louis, Christ the King UCC in Florissant; Peace UCC in Webster Groves and St. John’s Church (The Beloved Community) in St. Louis.
UCC congregation members and community volunteers are needed to read with Freedom School scholars, Rush said.
“We have a read aloud segment, which is about 30 minutes long, where we have our community members come in and read their very favorite, child appropriate book, and engage with the children, share with the children what they do in the community; and how reading has impacted their lives; how reading has been influential in helping them get to where they are.”
A total of 175 scholars will be recruited from UCC congregations, St. Louis Public Schools, Hazelwood and Webster Groves school districts. Enrollment is free and open to all families who meet the criteria. For more information, please call 314-436-8001 or contact cdffreedomschools@deaconess.org.
