History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
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Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
This summer's lesson: Learning is fun
- 08-23-2010
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By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times
It is a hot, energy-sapping morning on a quiet residential street, but inside the Lynwood United Methodist Church, summer school students are raising the roof with inspirational chants, boogie-down dances and affirmations of friendship. There is a good-morning greeting, shouted by the teachers: "Freedom School, how you feelin'?" "Fantastic, terrific, great all day long!" the group of about 35 children bellows in response. It is part of a start-of-day ritual of song, dance, meditation and sharing of experiences called harambee, a Swahili word meaning "let's pull together." And for the Lynwood students, the joy of learning inspired by the morning's pulse of energy does indeed last all day long. The children are among 200 Los Angeles students getting an intensive lesson in reading and loving books during a six- week summer literacy program rooted in the civil rights movement.
The elementary and middle school students are enrolled in what are known as Freedom Schools, an initiative developed by the Children's Defense Fund, a nonprofit child advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. (more…)
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