At 145 sites around the country, “Freedom Schools,” a six-week program focused on teaching K-12 kids a love of reading, are preparing to wind down their classes. Administered nationally by the Children's Defense Fund and rooted in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the program views reading more broadly as a way to empower low-income and minority youth and instill them with the education, confidence and tolerance necessary to succeed and help others. Some 9,600 children were served by Freedom Schools around the country this summer, and more than 70,000 children have participated in the programs since 1995. Erin Richards of the
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel provides a closer look at Wisconsin’s only Freedom School at
JSOnline.