Weeklong 'school' emphasizes conservative values

There's no mistaking the concepts taught at the Tampa Liberty School. Freedom. Responsibility. Christianity. Rights granted by God.

The weeklong school – the first of its kind in the Tampa Bay area – is put on by the 912 Project, affiliated with the Tea Party national movement. It is in its inaugural week and organizers say it's such a success, the curriculum might be expanded.

"We've got all of the positions filled," said Jeff Lukens, a conservative political writer who organized the summer school for some 40 children between ages 8 and 12. Cost of tuition: $15 each.

"The idea came to us last summer," he said. "We heard it in a news story about a group in Kentucky that held this school. We thought it was a fantastic idea. We said we need to do that here."

Lukens said the lessons are the same as the ones taught in Kentucky.

"We were fortunate enough to get that curriculum," he said. "It is outstanding. It incorporates many principles of our founding fathers."

Wednesday's session began with a trivia test that included photographs of a few colonials. A portrait of John Hancock drew some wrong answers before one of the students raised her hand.

"It looks like someone from Shrek," she said.

Lukens said that guess aside, the concepts are sinking in. He said the first day, a lesson on the tyranny of the Old World and the freedom of the New World was made. The New World had cookies instead of crackers and confetti fell. Of course, with freedom comes responsibility, he said, so the kids had to clean up the confetti when the lesson was over.

He said public schools focus on history through dates rather than ideas.

"The thing about history," he said, "is they treat tests as trivia updates. They miss the concepts. We are trying to get the concepts of what America is all about; the ideas.

"Our country was founded on the principles that our rights come not from the government or a king, but they come from God.

"Freedom is the big concept we're working on," Lukens said. "It depends on people knowing what their rights are and ready to defend their freedoms. If we rely on others to tell you what our freedoms are, you are not going to have any freedoms."

He said issues touched on during the week include this example of free enterprise and monetary issues, including taxation and investment:

"We hand out butterscotch candy; a nugget, it's gold colored," he said. "It's kind of like our gold standard."

The students accumulated the candy through good deeds and by correctly answering questions. They used the butterscotch to buy items such as games, pencils and popcorn in the general store.

The next day, he said, "We introduced a central banker and played the Star Wars imperial march when he came in. We made him a sinister guy. We dramatized it a little bit. He was trying to swindle kids out of their gold nuggets, offering paper money instead.

"They could pay with either one at the general store. Butterscotch is traded in a one-for-one exchange," he said. A day later, the price changes and for paper money, he said. "The prices are doubled and near the end of the week, it will go up again."

He said the campers seemed to get it. "These are very smart kids," he said. "They are eager to participate. We try to make the serious point while having some fun with it."

On politics:

"We show that we have anarchy on one end of the political spectrum and tyranny on the other end," Lukens said. "Either extreme is not good. We want to be in the middle; to have some freedoms. We have to find the right balance in there."

A lot of emphasis was put on the break from the English monarchy during the Revolutionary War.

Kids wore lots of red, white and blue shirts. Patriotism was not in short supply.

Cooper Palasti, 10, eagerly answered questions on Wednesday morning, shooting his hand up every chance he got.

He said he enjoys the camp and is learning something about the concepts and values espoused by the nation's founders.

"If I lived back then and I wasn't free," he said, "I wouldn't like it at all."

Unlike several of his fellow classmates, Cooper wore a black and silver Manchester United T-shirt.

What he has taken from the camp so far: "With freedom," he said, "comes responsibility."

He knows critics will voice outrage over the curriculum, saying the school brainwashes the children with right-wing ideology. He said the topics are not new in education.

"This stuff is taught every single day in private schools," he said. "Go to any Christian school and this is everyday stuff. Nobody's being forced to go here."

According to the 912 Project's website, the school promotes principles rather than individuals or political parties. Students are taught to get the truth by going to original sources, including writings of the nation's founding fathers, the website says.

"The ultimate responsibility for maintaining liberty," the website says, "lies with the people."

The school is being held in the Paideia School of Tampa Bay in Temple Terrace, a private Christian school.

Right now it's a five-day program, three hours a day, but organizers are looking at expanding the curriculum.

"We want the children to enjoy thoroughly the time they spend with us at the school," the website says. "We also want them to have an experience that instills in them understanding, appreciation, excitement and enthusiasm for the liberty we enjoy in America."

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

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