This Sunday at the 10:15 am service, St. James’ will pray over and commission the college students serving as leaders in the Freedom Schools program.
Freedom School, Austin, is a six-week reading and STEM enrichment program for elementary school students who are at risk of falling behind academically. Developed by the Children’s Defense Fund in 1995, this proven model is at work in over 180 locations nationwide. Texas Freedom Schools served over 800 children in 2018. In 2017 and 2018, students gained 14 months in reading level on average in just six weeks of Freedom School. More than 90% of students avoided the “summer slide,” summer learning loss that contributes to the widening of the achievement gap.
Currently, Welcome Table‘s program is the only Freedom School in Austin. Located at Norman Sims Elementary School, where St. James’ also puts volunteers to work during the school year through the Reading Buddies program, Freedom School, Austin, will make a difference in the lives of 70 children and their families this summer.
As a member of the St. James’ community, there are a variety of ways you can support the Freedom Schools program. First, we ask for your prayers and presence. Show up and support our college-aged servant leaders this Sunday as we pray over them, and continue to keep them and those in their charge in your prayers over the coming weeks. Join us on St. James’ Day on Sunday, July 28, as we welcome participants and their families at the finale of the program for a morning of celebration and fun.
If your Safeguarding God’s Children training is up-to-date and it works with your schedule, you might also consider volunteering at the program during the day as a science presenter, a classroom aide, or a field trip chaperone. Contact Jennifer Graf, Volunteer Coordinator, pandoramarie7@gmail.com, to find out more.
Finally, we have a dream of expanding this program to more than one area elementary school, but we need to build a team that can help us tap into new financial resources, new community partnerships, and new sources of volunteer power in order to make that happen. If you are praying for this program and showing up to volunteer, and you feel called to be a part of this team, reach out and begin a conversation with Mila Jackson, our Freedom Schools Director, milaj4@yahoo.com.
Freedom Schools is a program that is, in the language of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Becoming Beloved Community initiative, repairing the breach. Join us in this gospel work of love and liberation.
Rev. Eileen
