Freedom Schools ‘scholars’ heading to Washington, D.C.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Salama Lubosha, a rising seventh-grader at Roosevelt Creative Corridor Business Academy, thinks “books are boring,” but he’s learning to enjoy them by reading stories he identifies with and talking about it with his peers in Tanager Place’s summer program Freedom Schools.

Freedom Schools — a national program operated by the Children’s Defense Fund — helps students increase literacy, self-esteem, social-emotional skills and a love of learning. It was first brought to Iowa by Tanager Place in the summer of 2021.

Tanager Place is taking about 25 scholars — what students enrolled in Freedom School are called — to Washington, D.C., next month, including Salama, for their hard work, said Okpara Rice, CEO of Tanager Place.

On the trip, which is being funded largely by private donations, scholars will explore the capital, go on an illuminated monuments tour, visit the Children’s Defense Fund offices and visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture — which Rice said will be a “very powerful and positive” experience.

“I took my own family (when the museum opened in 2016), and it had a lasting impact on my kids,” Rice said. “For these young people, it’s a way for them to see themselves represented and appreciate and love Black culture,” Rice said.

Freedom Schools is rooted in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project, which provided a reading and humanities curriculum of English, art, creative writing, math and science.

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The program strives to give children the opportunity to enhance learning through characters that look like them and have had similar experiences. It builds students’ home libraries, increases their confidence, boosts their interest in social and civic engagement and advocacy and addresses mental health risk factors.

Tanager Place works with the Cedar Rapids Community School District to identify students who would most benefit from the program, particularly students who are racial minorities or who come from low-income households.

About 76 percent of scholars in the program — offered at Roosevelt and McKinley STEAM Academy, middle schools in the Cedar Rapids Community School District — are Black or African American. Twenty-one percent of scholars in the program are white and 1 percent are Latino.

There are 60 students enrolled this summer in Freedom Schools in Cedar Rapids, a six-week summer school program that began June 12.

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Salama, 12, credits his teachers at Freedom Schools with helping him manage his emotions by taking deep breaths and counting to 10 when he feels overwhelmed, he said. His favorite book he’s read this summer in Freedom Schools is “The Anxiety Toolkit for Teens” by Teen Thrive, which includes tools, practices, and strategies to address anxiety, fear and anger — something Salama said he struggles with.

Isaiah Miller, 13, a rising eighth-grader at Roosevelt, agrees Freedom Schools is helping him with his mental well-being. He said he has a more positive attitude and is learning to manage his emotions.

Alijah Williams, 14, a rising freshman at Jefferson High School, said being in Freedom Schools has helped her read more consistently and feel prepared for high school this fall. Her favorite book she’s read this summer is “Ban this Book” by Alan Gratz, a story about a student who begins a secret banned book library out of her locker.

Alijah said the book made her feel more empowered to make changes in her own school.

Kids get engaged in “really high-interest, beautifully illustrated books that speak to them, that feature characters that look like and think and act like our scholars and settings or situations that are very relatable to these youth,” said Crystal Hall, Tanager Place community based and prevention services director.

In addition, students go on field trips to college campuses, museums, the library, baseball games and Camp Tanager, where they can swim, do archery and engage in other camp activities.

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Freedom School’s after-school program gets results

Salama also participated in Freedom Schools’ after-school program at Roosevelt this past year, which was operated by Tanager Place and is one of five sites to be piloted across the country.

In the after-school program, about 30 students read a combined 500 books during the 2022-23 school year. Freedom Schools students missed fewer days of school in a month compared to their peers by a full day, according to data from the after-school program. Fifth-three percent of participants showed growth in reading assessments and 68 percent of participants showed growth in math assessments.

Freedom Schools scholars are still learning to manage their emotions. In addition to academics, students worked to build social-emotional skills to help with self-regulations. Scholars documented 312 major referrals throughout the 2022-23 school year.

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However, these students showed continued behavior improvements throughout the school year. For example, two scholars went from an average of 10 office referrals per month, to six from September 2022 through April. One scholar went from 15 office referrals in March to four in April after receiving a referral for therapy, according to data from the program.

The summer school and after-school programs are free to families.

The future of Freedom Schools

Hall said Tanager Place is considering the future of the program, including expanding it to more middle schools and to high school students.

“We have these kids who love it. Freedom Schools is what they do, it’s how they identify. They’re scholars. Can we carry that momentum into those high school years and continue to foster that love of reading, expand career exploration?” Hall said.

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Tanager Place helps children and families in Eastern Iowa overcome challenges and find mental wellness. It offers treatment, outreach and prevention and gives children tools to be successful.

Families interested in the Freedom School or other Tanager Place resources can reach Tanager Place at (319) 365-9164.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com