With two days left of the six-week Akwaaba Freedom School, scholars danced and sang Thursday during their morning Harambee, a routine to start each day with affirmations and positive messages. 

School staff and sponsors have even more to celebrate this week after learning that the Akwaaba Freedom School won the Ella Baker Award for Overall Excellence presented by the Children’s Defense Fund.  

In its third year of operation, the Gainesville summer school emphasizes literacy. Each day a special guest comes to read a book to the scholars during the morning harambee. Today, Alachua County Judge Meshon Rawls read the book “More Than Peach.”  

Site Coordinator Thacher Loutin said the guest readers range from local doctors to librarians and lawyers. While a six-week school, Loutin said staff work all year to ensure enrichment activities, guest readers and afterschool care provide the opportunity for growth.  

“At six weeks, it must be impactful; it must be fulfilling for the students,” Loutin said. “We don’t want them to feel like they wasted their summer.”    

All Freedom Schools use the same curriculum but have their own twists, Loutin said. There are more than 200 schools in 30 states, including at FAMU, FSU and Miami.  

In Gainesville, the school started with 35 scholars in 2022 before growing to 50 scholars last year and 80 scholars this summer.  

Loutin said the work is only possible because of supporters.  

The Children’s Trust of Alachua County (CTAC) provides funding for 50 of the scholars while Alachua County Public Schools finances the other spots. The school uses the facilities at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School, and the school district helps with transportation for field trips.  

Loutin said more support is needed to keep serving the scholars. She said the school received 169 applicants this year, forcing a first come, first served acceptance policy.  

Kristy Goldwire, director of program operations for the Children’s Trust, said the award comes as further validation of the school and CTAC’s investment.  

“It feels really good to know that we’ve put our money in a place in a program that is helping children thrive in Alachua. County,” Goldwire said.  

She said the Akwaaba Freedom School not only provides a safe place for students over the summer but also helps with academics. Evaluations before and after the six-week school show that 94% of the scholars either maintain or improve their literacy skills.  

The Children’s Trust is currently in the middle of a literacy needs assessment as the school district focuses on improving low reading rates. 

Every day, the school restocks a library of free books that the scholars can take home to keep. Each scholar will have a personal library by the end of the summer, and by not falling into a summer slump, the kids enter the next school year without needing to make up ground.  

Loutin said she thinks the school’s value of cultural and educational joy helped win the award. She said the staff happened to bring it back to UF.  

“There were some emotions going on,” Loutin said. “We were excited that we won the Ella Baker Award because we know the work we’ve put in here at Freedom School.”