Summer school program at church fosters love of reading and learning

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Making reading fun is the goal of the Children’s Defense Fund Summer Freedom Schools Program.

This summer, 50 students will get the opportunity to increase their love of learning.

Pastor Christopher McKee talked last fall with the Rev. Laura Young, senior organizer at Freedom Schools, about what it would take for Tabernacle Baptist Church on Arlington Street to become a site for the Children’s Defense Fund Summer Freedom Schools Program. The Children’s Defense Fund is an organization that works to ensure a level playing field for all children.

With help from the community, grants and members of the church, Tabernacle Baptist is sponsoring the program for the first time this week through July 25.

“I knew Pastor Chris and that he was a person who cares about social justice, so I reached out to him,” The Rev. Ms. Young said.

She answered a calling to increase the number of Freedom Schools with the belief that there should be one on every street corner. Freedom Schools help children fall in love with reading, increase their self-esteem and generate more-positive attitudes toward learning. The clergy both feel that reading is important.

“The idea is to instill a lifelong sense of learning,” Pastor McKee said. “Reading is essential to our lives. If you can read anything critically, then you can succeed in the world.”

At no cost to their families, students — referred to as scholars — in grades two through six are able to attend. The day begins with the scholars eating breakfast followed by chants and songs to kick-start the day, said James MacGregor, one of the six college-age servant leader interns who are responsible for teaching the scholars.

“When I learned about the opportunity, it was so inspirational, it just grabbed me,” MacGregor said. “I love that my kids are so open.”

The scholars spend the morning learning and reading. For 15 minutes, everyone in the building stops what they are doing and reads.

“We try to show that reading is fun,” said Alan Irizarry-Graves, site coordinator for Freedom Schools.

Fourth-grader Jalaysha Crawford is one of the scholars who have discovered the fun of reading.

“I like it when we are doing something and then drop everything to read,” Crawford said. “I like learning new things.”

Although the main focus of this program is learning, Pastor McKee understands that it is summer, and the program should include fun. Every afternoon, there is an activity such as swimming or bowling, and some afternoons include a field trip such as visiting the Cleveland Zoo or Kennywood Park.

Some of the fun for the scholars is building relationships with the college students.

“I am really excited about the Freedom School,” Youngstown State University senior Jasmine Thompson said. “All kids could use inspiration to love reading.”

College students are not the only people having a role in the scholars’ lives this summer.

“We have people of various ages, including teachers, coming in to read to the kids,” Pastor McKee said. “It is different age groups working together to build community.”

He plans for the program to continue in the summers to come. “We want children to come back each year and for it to become part of their lives,” he said.

Ms. Young also believes the Freedom Schools Program is a way to empower.

The program “helps them to feel they can make a difference and are worthy of learning,” Ms. Young said. “It is a program to help them fall in love with reading.”

Learning through the program is not limited to the scholars. Weekly meetings will connect parents and families of students to community resources.

MacGregor already can see the positivity of this program. “If I would have had something like this [when I was growing up], it would have had a significant impact on me,” MacGregor said.