School District of Lancaster

On June 21, the School District of Lancaster joined our neighbors in the heart of the city for the Freedom Jazz Festival, a celebration of Juneteenth through music, food, and fellowship organized by the City of Lancaster, PA’s Neighborhood Engagement Lancaster Department.

The festival invited us to listen, to reflect, and most importantly, to gather in recognition of Black freedom and cultural expression.

Jazz, with its roots in Black struggle, improvisation, creativity, and self-determination, served as the heartbeat of the event. The festival brought that history into conversation with the present, transforming downtown Lancaster into a space of celebration and remembrance.

For SDoL, this gathering underscored the importance of cultural literacy and community-connected education. It reminded us that learning does not only happen in classrooms. It happens when we show up in parks, at flag raisings, at festivals that honor identity and history.

Our students are shaped by the communities around them. And events like this offer powerful lessons: that art can be resistance, that culture is legacy, and that joy is an act of power.

As a public school district, we are part of a larger community story. That includes showing up in ways that affirm the voices, cultures, and histories of our students. The Freedom Jazz Festival was a reminder that celebration and education can walk hand in hand and that when we gather with purpose, we grow stronger together.

Thank you to everyone involved for hosting a meaningful celebration, and we recommit ourselves to the work of equity, inclusion, and justice not just in our policies and classrooms, but in how we show up for the community. In rhythm. In solidarity. In song.

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