25-WORD DESCRIPTION:
We enrich lives by advancing Willa Cather's legacy through education, preservation, and the arts. Our programs span across Nebraska and reach a national audience.
HOW WE USE YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS:
- $10 per month supplies a classroom with two dozen Cather books. ($120)
- $25 per month helps conserve collections with a one year supply of archival boxes. ($300)
- $50 per month sponsors an author series conversation with a contemporary writer. ($600)
- $100 per month pay for one educator to attend the Willa Cather Teacher Institute. ($1,200)
A STORY FROM OUR AGENCY:
A recent letter of gratitude received from an English educator who encountered Cather’s My Ántonia as a high school student discusses the impact of one of our programs. Through our Big Read initiative, he was supplied with seventy copies of Cather's novel My Ántonia for his eleventh grade AP Language and Composition class. He shared that he felt anxious about how his diverse classroom of students would respond to a century-old novel, but they devoured it and had lively discussions about it—both in class and out. He described witnessing “the power of great literature and its effect on young people.” Several students approached the educator after concluding their exploration of the novel with a request to retain the book for their own personal libraries. We are so grateful to educators like this one who partner with us to foster an appreciation for Cather’s literature, and more broadly, a love of reading. Heartfelt stories like this one are extremely uplifting as we compete with television and social media to capture the attention of young people. All it took in this instance was a supply of books and an enthusiastic teacher. Philanthropic support helps us support educators who wish to introduce Cather in their classrooms and ensure Cather titles are freely available and never in short supply.
ADDRESS/PHONE:
413 N. Webster St.
Red Cloud, NE 68970
402-746-2653
