Official Announcement Regarding Freedom School 2021
FREEDOM SCHOOL RETURNS TO BRING HOPE, EDUCATION AND ACTION FOR LOCAL YOUTH
The Listening and Randolph College reunite for another summer of reading enrichment and social action empowerment for middle and high school students
After being suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, a local chapter of the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom School program in Central Virginia has been approved to conduct the program on Randolph College’s campus. The Listening, the local non-profit organization that is sponsoring this program, first launched the local Freedom School site in 2019. In addition to other community engagement events, projects and youth programming, the Freedom School program seeks to build strong, literate, and empowered children prepared to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, nation and world today.
Nicholas Steven George, Executive Director of The Listening states, “Our organization has always strived to be a safe place for our community to process the world around them creatively and compassionately. The pandemic has definitely impacted our community in many ways, and we look forward to serving our youth with this program.”
Freedom School 2021 will look different than it has in the past. Parents of middle and high school aged students are encouraged to register by May 10th. In effort to provide this 6-week program as safely as possible on Randolph College’s campus, The Listening will be requiring all students and staff to complete Assumption of Risk Forms, daily screening questions, as well as taking daily temperatures. Students and staff will also be required to wear masks daily as a part of the risk mitigation plan.
The focus, however, remains on providing this program as a resource to the community. Carl Girelli, Randolph’s Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, states, “After months of virtual and remote distance, we are thrilled that we can once again bring the Freedom School scholars together to make a bit a happy noise, read, and rediscover their power in community and their ability to recognize and remedy social injustice.” Board member and Randolph College professor Elizabeth Perry-Sizemore adds, “Events of the past year have brought into sharp focus what our young veteran Freedom School Scholars already understand so well - that The Listening, Inc.’s Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School is vital for today’s youth and our community. I am excited for the ways this year’s scholars will learn and grow, as well as for the future that they will surely shape with curiosity, care, and collaboration—all strengths which are so thoughtfully recognized and encouraged during our six-week program. It is time once again for our young scholars to “Rock the Freedom School”!
The legacy of the Freedom School goes back to 1964, where the first Freedom Summer took place in Mississippi. In addition to providing education to youth and families in need of learning resources, the program was designed to also provide social resources to the community. In light of social unrest that has impacted our local and national communities, The Listening will continue the tradition of empowering youth to build awareness and explore ways to take action on issues that matter to them.
Freedom School Project Director, Rox Cruz states, “My husband is a middle school teacher and I have had a front seat to how hard this year has been on teachers, students and parents alike. Part of our mission as a Freedom School has always been to lighten the load of quality education on these three groups.”
Cruz continues, “This year, we really get to flex our vision by helping teachers close the ‘COVID-19 Learning Gap’, supporting parents and guardians who are already burnt out and fearful their scholars are falling behind, and making learning an experience again for scholars that are hungry to connect to their community through mindfulness, art and social action.”
The Listening is a nonprofit organization that has been mobilizing networks of creative citizens who care about helping our community thrive since 2013. The organization’s mission is to engage, change and save lives with the performing arts through community engagement and youth programming. Children’s Defense Fund is a nonprofit organization that has been championing the cause for children’s advocacy for 40 years. The CDF Freedom School program provides a literacy and cultural enrichment program designed to serve children and youth in communities where quality academic enrichment programming is limited, too expensive, or non-existent.
The Listening’s local Freedom School program will be in operation from June 14 to July 23, Tuesdays through Fridays. This program is sponsored in part by the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, the Centra Foundation, Bank of the James, HumanKind, and various other generous supporters and faith communities.