Why We (Still) Need a Freedom School Pt. 1

When you think of Freedom Schools, what comes to mind?

It’s only been two years since we kicked in the door with a bold new program to our area. Empowered by local donors and organizations, and supported by the Children’s Defense Fund, our Freedom School program arrived in the Summer of 2019. We wanted to join the efforts in our community to support local young people by providing free summer programming, but we wanted to do it differently. We wanted to be sure to equip them with tools and skills to understand the world around them, to see themselves in modern literature and to see each other with kinder eyes. We wanted to change the world.

We also wanted to keep it going. 2019 would be the year that kicked off a sequence of events for these teens that led to them making an indelible impact in their own lives, as well as the lives of those close to them. Because of that first year, each subsequent year would become easier to run because we would’ve made our case that Freedom School makes a difference.

Then…2020.

Do we need to say more?

Almost an exact year-to-date, we (myself and Rox, our Site Coordinator) were returning to Lynchburg from the annual training in Tennessee, a part of our preparation for the summer. While we, along with other Project Directors and Site Coordinators, were gathering resources and tools for the coming season, parts of our country and communities were shutting down. We thought to ourselves, ‘oh, this may make the next couple of weeks a bit of a challenge’, but continued our planning with cautious enthusiasm. (I think there were talks of getting a dunk tank, but don’t quote me on that.)

As the days and weeks progressed, we got very familiar with new language. Words like “pivot” “transition” and “situation” joined our daily lexicon and we inevitably made the decision to suspend our program. If it hasn’t been communicated, let me state - it was not an easy decision.

With an organization like ours and a program like this, we were completely sold out on the mission of the CDF Freedom School program and wanted to make it work. Cooler heads prevailed as we elected to instead spend the summer months listening to our community and responding to the needs of the families we had built relationships with. We invested in relationships, whether through collaborating with other organization or communicating with those we serve in our community.

But it’s a year later. And we made it through. Students are receiving instruction, either virtually, safely in-person, a hybrid of the two, or homeschooling with their families.

So…do we really even need a Freedom School?