Project SPIRIT & Freedom School - Saint Paul Area Council of Churches

Project SPIRIT & Freedom School are programs of the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches. Right now we have a very special matching grant from the F.R. Bigelow Foundation in support of Project SPIRIT & Freedom School. We have raised $12,000 of that match so far. Give to the Max Day is a great time to financially support these programs AND have your gift matched dollar for dollar!

Taken together, Project SPIRIT and Freedom School provide nearly year-round high-quality academic, cultural and social enrichment to African-American children enrolled in K-8 grades and their families. They have a record of success in improving achievements for a low-income, high-risk and high-need population -- for Project SPIRIT since 1994, and for Freedom School since 1997. These successful outcomes have facilitated the programs expansion within the SPPS Title 1 elementary schools and garnered increasing community support.

Project SPIRIT (Strength, Perseverance, Imagination, Responsibility, Integrity and Talent) and Freedom School present an alternative vision for these students -- we call them scholars -- and so do their families and teachers. The Project SPIRIT motto is: "where students believe, they can achieve and gain the skills to make it real." The National Children's Defense Fund's Freedom Schools motto is: "I can and must make a difference: in myself, in my home, in my community, in my country, and in my world, with hope, education, and action." Both Project SPIRIT and Freedom School grew from national movements that the local community adopted and sustained.

If you visit Freedom School, at some point you will hear staff and students cheer, “It takes TEAMWORK to make the DREAM WORK.”

PROJECT SPIRIT & FREEDOM SCHOOL SCHOLARS!

PARENTS!

SERVANT LEADERS!

SUPPORTERS!

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!

If you prefer, you can contribute by sending a check to: Saint Paul Area Council of Churches, 1671 Summit Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55105. In the Memo include "for Project SPIRIT & Freedom School."