The Hannah Project’s Freedom School, an educational equity nonprofit in Marin City, is set to host its summer program in Mill Valley for the first time.
Executive Director Bettie Hodges said the program is usually hosted at Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Marin City, but because of modernization work at both Sausalito Marin City School District campuses, it had to look elsewhere.
Sausalito Marin City School District Superintendent Itoco Garcia said much work lies ahead as the district prepares to open as a unified campus on Aug. 23.
“This additional task of moving, along with regular summer cleaning, means we could only run summer programs on the (Bayside campus) from June 6 to 30,” Garcia said. “Bettie shared with us that Freedom School program is a minimum of six weeks. Since we were unable to accommodate that length of programming we are excited that she was able to partner with Mill Valley to offer Freedom School at MVMS.”
The five-day-per-week program provides low-income students with reading, art and athletics programs. An online fundraiser to raise $250,0000 to support 150 students at the Mill Valley location is planned May 18.
Money raised will go toward transportation, culturally relevant books, meals and weekly field trips. Stipends also will be provided for eight high school interns and 10 college interns, who will be eligible to receive a $1,500 grant through the “Dreamkeeper Scholarship Fund.” So far about $20,000 has been raised online at bit.ly/3tA7dsh.
The no-cost literacy-based summer program also will be open to low-income Mill Valley students for the first time, said Emily Uhlhorn, Mill Valley School District board president.
“In the past, we’ve not done specific outreach to Mill Valley students,” Uhlhorn said. “This year, because we’re having it at Mill Valley Middle School, there is an opportunity to make sure all parents are aware that Freedom School summer program is an option for their kids.”
The contract is still being finalized and will be brought to the Mill Valley School District Board for approval in the coming weeks.
The Hannah Project launched the Freedom School as a spiritual successor to the “Mississippi Freedom Summer Project” of 1964, which provided Black children with equitable education during Jim Crow era, Hodges said.
“That’s the school’s heritage. It has come out of struggle. It comes out of the Civil Rights movement,” she said. “One of the big things in Freedom School is to make everyone feel inclusive. Issues that kids have been particularly concerned about are immigration, racial justice and voting rights. We are trying to fuse all those issues into the work we do this year.”
Uhlhorn said the district has a responsibility to promote anti-racist and inclusive practices.
“This commitment extends beyond the walls of our schools and into our community,” she said. “It is through building relationships and making connections outside of Mill Valley, and in particular with the Sausalito-Marin City and Tam School Districts, that we will lift all children up and ensure equitable opportunities for all.”
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May 12, 2021 at 07:39AM
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Marin City’s Freedom School to move to Mill Valley - Marin Independent Journal
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