This is a printer friendly version from the Democrat and Chronicle:
June 3, 2007

Students to learn to teach
Group goes to Tennessee to train in educating black children

Nicole Lee
Staff Writer

Around 8 a.m. Saturday, several college students - some from the area, others from neighboring states - gathered at the Rochester Family Mission on Tremont Street.

Despite the early hour, they laughed, posed for pictures, and loaded up luggage aboard a chartered bus to embark on a journey that, for many of them, will be the trip of a lifetime.

The aspiring professional educators are participating in a movement that started before many of them were born.

The group is traveling to Tennessee to be among approximately 2,000 students who will undergo training to teach in a Freedom School, a program sponsored by the Children's Defense Fund to educate African American children. In addition to academics, the curriculum is steeped in intergenerational leadership and health and civic engagement, among other focuses.

The training will be held at the Knoxville farm of the late Alex Haley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Roots.

"It's an overwhelming experience," said George Moses, who has worked with the Freedom School program for four years and helped coordinate the bus trip.

The first Freedom Schools operated during the summer of 1964, and the Children's Defense Fund revived the concept in 1992 to help black children excel in the classroom and appreciate their African and American heritages. When they return, the students will teach from July 9 to Aug. 10 at Freedom School sites at School 33.

Freedom Schools will also operate at Schools 34 and 4 under Quad A For Kids, an organization focused on ending child poverty in Rochester. The nonprofit is run by city Councilman Adam McFadden.

After-school programs at the Freedom School sites will be held after the summer sessions end.

Quiana Rice, 22, recently graduated from Daemen College with a degree in elementary special education. She is excited about the experience and wants to learn innovative ways to teach children; she hopes to land a teaching job in Rochester.

"It will open up new doors for me," Rice said.

Previously, Tuskegee University junior Ricky Greer, 22, taught at Freedom School sites in his native Champaign, Ill. He said a high-energy, participatory environment is preferred over a classroom where quiet instruction is required.

"There's excitement (from children) about learning about their history," he said. "I love it."

North East Area Development, Quad A For Kids, the Rochester Area Community Foundation, state Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, and the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation are supporting the Freedom School sites in Rochester.

NLEE@DemocratandChronicle.com