Make a difference in children’s lives—and your career.

Apply for a paid summer internship today.

Experience a life-changing summer internship full of fun and fulfillment.

Freedom School Partners is a Charlotte area nonprofit that inspires scholars to love reading and learning, believe in themselves, and create extraordinary futures. Our paid summer college students, called Servant Leader Interns, gain meaningful experiences that help them to be competitive in the professional marketplace while impacting the lives of students in Charlotte.

Because children’s learning gaps are due in large part to inequitable access to educational opportunities during the summer months, Freedom School Partners harnesses the strengths of paid college interns and community members to enrich students who need it most with literacy and life skills, as well as exposing them to a range of other academic subjects.

What do interns do?

Our education interns, or Servant Leader Interns, are instrumental in teaching, supporting, and leading our scholars through Freedom School, our literacy based summer enrichment program.

You’ll serve breakfast and lunch, lead an energetic Harambee! (morning pep rally) and literacy rich curriculum in the morning, as well as chaperone activities or field trips in the afternoon. Throughout the duration of the program, you’ll also participate in Family Engagement Nights. Watch our Servant Leader Internship video to get a feel for the experience of this non-profit job opportunity in Charlotte.

“Freedom school is helping me in my personal life by allowing me to become more open-minded and empathetic towards others. It helps in my professional life because it gives me the opportunity to work with and be around people from many different walks of life.” 

What is Freedom School?

Freedom School is a six-week high-quality summer learning program that supports K-8 scholars and their families through five essential components: high quality academic and character-building enrichment; parent and family involvement; civic engagement and social action; intergenerational servant leadership development; and nutrition, health, and mental health. Freedom School encourages all scholars to excel and believe in their ability to make a difference in themselves and in their families, schools, communities, country, and world with hope, education, and action.

“I think this can appear just like a summer camp, but there’s definitely a huge emphasis on learning and the importance of reading. Specifically, the material and content that they choose to focus on is more important and has a greater meaning in terms of social justice, and the importance of learning about different people and different cultures and communities.” — Tessa Craig, Servant Leader Intern

What does Freedom School teach?

We partner with the Children’s Defense Fund and utilize an integrated reading curriculum (IRC) that includes intentionally curated selections that engage children in books that reflect diverse cultural images and history. This allows scholars to see themselves in the heroes and heroines of the texts they read. The IRC primarily focuses on meaning-focused literacy skills (vocabulary development and reading comprehension) and incorporates active reading into daily instruction.

Lessons in the IRC consist of self and community empowerment skill development, with opportunities for social action and civic engagement, and conflict resolution strategies. Scholars participate in cooperative learning, role-playing, group discussion and creative writing, while engaging in dedicated reading times and building personal libraries.

“Our job is to help them understand that they can make a difference no matter what age they are and no matter where they come from.” — Jaeda Barreto, Servant Leader Intern

How long is the internship?

Our paid summer internship opportunity is 9 weeks long, beginning with in-person training with Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools® National Training in Tennessee and in-town training with Freedom School Partners. After training, our Servant Leader Interns begin leading Freedom School, our 6-week long summer reading and enrichment program.

Why be a Servant Leader Intern?

It’s a summer job like no other. Not only do you gain paid professional development experience, but you impact the learning curve and potential of each scholar in your classroom. Servant Leader Interns grow as leaders and acquire networking opportunities. This education internship will have a lasting impact on your life.

“Regardless of what job I go into, I feel like I’ve learned something here that’s going to be able to transfer into every aspect of my life.” — Jori Wilkes, Servant Leader Intern

Where is the Freedom School Partners internship?

Our non-profit internship opportunity is in Charlotte, NC. Freedom School Partners is a Charlotte area non-profit with program sites in schools and other locations across the community.

Are you Servant Leader Intern material?

Our Servant Leader Interns are hired through a competitive recruitment and interview process. New hires then go through 90 hours of comprehensive training. SLIs should be experienced in working with groups of children, responsible, energetic, possess the ability to think on his/her feet, be a good leader and a strong role model. View summer internship job description.

Apply for a Servant Leader Internship.