Roane State Community College

Some of the "servant leader interns" for the Children's Defense Fund's Freedom Schools lead the crowd during rhythmic chants in the Roane State gymnasium.

Aug. 23, 2019

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

The Roane State gymnasium has likely never seen such infectious enthusiasm outside a Raider sports event.

More than thirteen hundred young adults from 28 states clapped, chanted upbeat slogans and swayed in unison to the rhythms during opening ceremonies for the Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute.

Watching approvingly from the balcony was Marian Wright Edelman, who founded the Children's Defense Fund in 1973 as an outgrowth of the Civil Rights Movement. The annual training institute, held this year on the Roane State campus June 3-7, is the cornerstone of the CDF's Freedom Schools, which are located throughout the U.S.

The participants used the classrooms and facilities on the community college's Roane County campus for training for upcoming summer camps for youngsters, most of them from low-income backgrounds and inner-city locations.

The goal of the participants, called "servant leader interns," is to instill in children a love of reading "and a belief in their ability to make a difference," CDF spokeswoman Emily Gardner said.

"We want to reweave the fabric of communities," Edelman said, adding that in the U.S., there are 12.4 million children living in poverty. The chanting and cheering that punctuated the opening ceremonies will be incorporated into the Freedom Schools, "so that it doesn't feel like school," Gardner said.

Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, speaks after opening ceremonies for the CDF's Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute at Roane State.

"This is an amazing group, and we're thrilled to have them on campus," said Dr. Diane Ward, Roane State's vice president for student learning.

Roane State employees, many of them decked out in "Raider Red" t-shirts, helped set up classrooms, worked in offices and bookstores and staffed concessions areas. Some of the college's summer courses had to be relocated to accommodate the visitors.

None of the training would have been possible this year "without the help and hospitality of Roane State Community College, which has opened its doors to us and provided us with space, security and services we need to make sure our servant leader interns have a fantastic week with CDF Freedom Schools," Gardner said.

Since its founding, the nonprofit CDF has been involved in numerous efforts to help children and has launched public awareness campaigns on issues ranging from gun safety to adolescent pregnancy prevention to tax preparation help.