LEAD Letter
THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE
SUNFLOWER COUNTY FREEDOM PROJECT
A Tradition of Success
For more than 10 years, the Freedom Project
has been working towards the goal of preparing
students for college. In 2006, our first class of zations here on campus and have a lot of dates
Freedom Fellows enrolled in college. Since then,
we’ve been able to successfully enroll each of our
graduating classes in college every year. Your help
has been essential to our success.
Now, when students walk into our LEAD Center, one
of the first elements of success they see is our row
of college pennants. They see eight different schools
where 10 of our graduates attend, representing four
consecutive years of college enrollment. Now, each
day, we’re able to ask our students...
“What college will we be putting up for you?”
“In twenty years, I will be living in a house that I will have built and working as a successful attorney.”
- Janie Warren, Second Year Freedom Fellow
Fall 2009
We did it!
Class of 2009
In 2009, the Freedom Project witnessed
another class of Freedom Fellows
SCFP Newsletter
graduate and enroll in college. We caught
up with one of our college freshman to
see how his first semester was going...
Shaquille Leflore
University of Southern Mississippi
I’m doing great! Southern is treating me well.
1
The classes so far are pretty good. I’m taking
Accounting, Sociology, Biology, and
Introduction to Merchandising
Fundamentals. I took English, Math , and
Fall 2009
World Civilizations this summer and got two
B’s and an A. My college life is GREAT! I can’t
count how many people I have met so far other
than people in my class. Actually I’m just coming
from a informational meeting.....hmmmm! I’m
also getting involved with a lot of other organi-
for meetings to keep up with. My roommate is
cool. He just made the football team....go figure!
I’m learning that priorites are SUPER impor-
tant! Homework and studies are at the top. It’s
funny because just the other day I was think-
ing in biology class about the hardcore camping
trips and the drama trips (trips we take in the
Freedom Project).....it seems like no matter what
those memories will forever be with me. Thanks
to everyone involved with the SCFP! It made the
difference for me! Hope everything is well back
in the Delta!
Shaquille is a freshman business major
at the University of Southern Mississippi
in Hattiesburg. Shaquille is originally from
Sunflower and joined the Freedom Project
in the seventh grade. During the course of
his six years in the program, he acquired a
brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, became profi-
cient in video production and graphic design,
and spent a summer at Princeton University
with a Japanese exchange program. Your
support has allowed students like Shaquille
to`benefit from the one-of-a-kind
opportunities the Freedom Project provides.
 Freedom Summer .

2009
SCFP Newsletter
2

Freedom Fellows Latavius Pleas and Mattie

Guidrose with 2009 intern Olivia Manne before
Fall 2009

July 25, 2009 awards night.

On a Saturday evening, our group of six interns stood teary-

Your dollars make a
eyed in front of parents, students, and supporters during
our Freedom Summer 2009 Awards night. The night was difference!
a culmination of all the hard work students put in over the
The Sunflower County
summer and the first step in a long journey toward success.
Freedom Project runs on
Here are some reflections from Freedom Summer 2009.
a lean budget of less than
Chelsea Caveny ( Ole Miss, 2011): “ My favorite part about $130,000 each year. Our
the summer with SCFP was starting everyday with music. I individual donors are the
still catch myself hoping out of bed with a Freedom song but heart and soul of the SCFP.
it just isn’t the same without all of the students. Interning at With your support, we will
SCFP was life-changing. “ be able to continue to
provide extraordinary
Matthew Clayton (Duke University, 2012): “Each student opportunities for our
had their own struggles to overcome, but I hope they will all students.
continue at the SCFP. Our circle discussion brought out the
courage, compassion, and leadership in all of us, and I hope A donation of:
this can be a testament to all of the amazing community we
$54 pays for one Swahili
have at the Sunflower County Freedom Project.”
lesson
Erin Convery ( Duke University, 2012) : “ ‘My summer at Ation utet ad tat.
$96 supplies gas for our
the Sunflower County Freedom Project was one of the best Tionsequam
van for two weeks nulla
experiences I have ever had. Getting to know the Freedom adionum esed
Fellows and seeing them grow as leaders was amazing. I was
$512 tin estrud
takes magna
a SCFP
so impressed with their dedication and hard work everyday. “
feugait veliqua
van-full of kids anywhere in
the South or Southeast
mconum dolorting for
Kimberly Goffe (Duke University, 2012) : “My experience
field er
trips.
si etum velit lut
as an intern at the SCFP this summer has bound me to the
organization, the students, and the area, which is why I’m nostisi.
$993 sponsors a full week
going back this Spring Break. It truly was the best summer Amet, quat. Com-
of dynamic afterschool and
I’ve ever had.” my nis num essenis
Saturday programs.
amet niat. Nulput
Olivia Manne (Epispocal High School, 2010) : “My
$4910 makes it possible
favorite memories are of how much fun we had on the
for our entire Freedom
camping trip. Spending whole days and nights, cooking and
Summer group to
camping with the students bonded us at a special level.”
experience a life-changing
summer program at Ole Miss
“My most memorable moment would be meeting the interns.
It really enlightens my soul to see someone only a few years older than me.” -Mykia Clayon, Third Year Fellow
 Senior Diary: Amberly
Dennis
If you were to ask me two
years ago what my plans
What is the Sunflower
County Freedom Project?
Founded in 1998, the Sunflower County Freedom

were for the future, you
might have gotten a hump
of the shoulders and a look
of indecisiveness. But now,
as a senior, I have begun
my quest to have a future that will be much better than
my past.
My first step was joining the Freedom Project, but now
I’m in the middle of my college application process.
SCFP Newsletter
Project seeks to develop a corps of academically capable,
socially conscious, and mentally discplined young leaders
in the Mississippi Delta. Through eight weeks of
summer enrichment and a year-round program of
academic tutoring, Saturday S.L.A.M. programs, fitness
training, and educational travel, the Freedom Project
provides unparalleled opportunities for our students to
pursue a college-bound future.
Our Impact: At a glance

Seeing as though the essays are the hardest part, I started
early, so that by December, I will hopefully be finished.
With the help of the Freedom Project and my teachers, I
3
Over the past ten years, the SCFP has
accomplished just some of the following:

Fall 2009
know that I won’t be disappointed when I receive the
acceptance letters from the colleges of my dreams. •

Amberly Dennis is a Sixth Year Freedom Fellow at

the SCFP. She has already applied to Ole Miss,
Seton Hall, and Mississippi University for Women,
but will also apply to Mississippi State University, •
Berea College, Princeton, and Millsaps College.

Preparing for her future...

Latoysha Brown is an eigth grade student at •
Merritt Middle School in Indianola, Mississippi.
She is also a Second
Year Freedom Fellow
in the SCFP. As one
of the top students at
her school, Ms. Brown
describes herself as
“determined, mature,
and outspoken.” She
doesn’t take all the
credit for her success
and commitment: “My
mom got me to join the Freedom
Project and helps me stay focused. She
was a teen mom with me and doesn’t want me
to do the same.” Latoysha’s mother, Maritha, is
one of our most involved parents and believes
“Latoysha knows that I don’t play around about Through our educational travel, summer
school. That comes first. The Freedom Project enrichment, and college placements, our
has really helped her experience things that I students have visited more than 25 different cities
never got to. I want her to go to college and be across the country, in addition to Puerto Rico and
successful, because I know she can.” So do we. Mexico. This exposure dramatically increases our
student’s ability to visualize their opportunites.

“I love the Drama Trips. I remember my first and last one. We went to Atlanta, Houston, and Alabama. The title
was “Bobo 2.0” and it was about Emmett Till. The trip was extremely fun” --Lasonja Johsnon, Fifth Year Fellow
 You Can help! Many people will say the greatest challenge
in the Delta is that our educated youth go off
The letter below was written by Chris to college, but don’t come back. You can be a
part of reversing that trend. Help bring Chris
Perkins, a 2006 Freedom Project graduate Perkins, one of the Freedom Project’s own,back
and soon-to-be Berea College graduate. home. We need to raise an additional $30,200 by
Chris Perkins’ Wish March 1, 2010, to make this wish come true.
SCFP Newsletter

August 27, 2009

As you are well aware of, the time for me to decide

on my next career move is drawing dangerously near.
When I first started college in what seems like such
a short time ago. I already had a clear plan for where
I wanted my life to go. I knew the career I wanted,
how long I wanted it to take me to get there, and
4

which school I wanted to go to. I had that and all the

other details all worked out in my head. But it wasn’t
long before all of that was changed. By my second
year I literally had no idea what I wanted to do after
Fall 2009

college. That fact remained true all of Junior year. So

I dedicated a great deal of thought to that topic this
summer, and still don’t have an answer. But I have
managed to narrow it down to a few things.

At the very top of that list is the Freedom Project.

This was a shock to me. For so long I have thought
about the negative components of moving back to
the Delta. I thought about all the things I wanted
to escape when I left and I thought about having to
go right back to those things. I thought about the
career I eventually want and about putting it on hold.
I thought a lot about my last few attempts at being
a Freedom Project teacher, failures mostly. The very
idea of that made me cringe. But recently I thought
about all the reasons to go back and they seem to
drastically out weigh the reason to stay away. I owe
a debt to the Freedom Project and to the kids I left
there to continue my education and I want to pay it
back.

SUNFLOWER COUNTY FREEDOM PROJECT Non-profit

120 DELTA AVENUE Permit #65
P.O. Box 701 Indianola, MS
Sunflower, MS 38778
662-569-2441
www.sunflowerfreedom.org