www.icsd.k12.ny.us/acs/  - LACS

http://pages.slic.com/mohawkna/freedom.htm - Freedom School

Background on the Freedom School and the LACS Service Class

The Akwesasne Freedom School (located near Massena, New York) teaches in Mohawk to sustain and nurture their language and traditional culture.  The school does not receive government funds because it teaches in the native language and focuses the whole curriculum on Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) teachings.  Yet they do not charge tuition for that would exclude too many students.  Instead, they rely on fundraising.  The whole notion is to reverse the lingering influence of the boarding school system and other factors that have damaged the Mohawk language and culture.  

Eleven years ago the Service Class at LACS  (the Lehman Alternative Community School ˆ a public school here in Ithaca) began a cross-cultural exchange with the Freedom School.  Not only have we built up trust and broken down stereotypes between the groups, but we have also worked on many projects together, from raised bed gardens to playgrounds.  We are in the middle of two ambitious projects.  First, last year we began a full blown stage and amphitheater at the Freedom School that we need to finish up this coming May.  Second, we are trying to raise funds to help the Freedom School relocate to a less polluted site on the reservation.