“I’m matching 100% of every donation to the NCSML through August 31st. I am contributing to the museum’s success in education—please join me.” Tony Korvas

I’m inspired by the NCSML and want to share with you my excitement about its future! I have supported the NCSML since 1993. I watched with astonishment from Florida when the museum flooded in 2008. I celebrated when museum supporters saved the museum, moved it, and reopened it in 2012. And I have remained a dedicated donor because of what the museum means to me and my family. I know my investment in the NCSML means the Czech & Slovak stories of history, heritage, family and community, will be shared with my children and grandchildren, and future generations to come.

In this day and age, our museum is connecting with people everywhere. Its educational mission now reaches across the country in ways I couldn’t begin to imagine in 1993. Over the years, I’ve learned about my heritage from the museum’s publications and programs. The NCSML staff has shared some highlights:

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  Most recently, the NCSML hosted a free teacher’s institute for secondary teachers across the Midwest. Teachers learned how to use the NCSML’s digitized oral history collection (over 300 oral histories—given by many of you!) in classroom courses and curriculums.
• The Maňa lesson plans, which give an interactive look into a Czechoslovakian 7-year-old girl’s immigration in 1922 and are taught to every Cedar Rapids second grader are being expanded nationally. The Maňa story will become a traveling exhibition and partners at the Ellis Island museum, who have been instrumental in developing this learning experience, will display the exhibition first.

• The NCSML Education department’s curriculums will be made available online for use by teachers in classrooms across the country. The curriculums currently meet core standards of fourteen states.

• Keeping with current museum trends and accessibility measures, the NCSML’s permanent artifact collection, over 12,000 pieces, are being digitized. The collection will be available online by the end of 2016 to curate, study and enjoy. The NCSML can design classroom lessons around artifacts and share them digitally with teachers. Anyone can view collection items for entertainment or research, from near or far away!

This is my kind of museum! I want to celebrate my heritage and allow my children and grandchildren access to these stories for years to come. The network of Czechs, Slovaks, immigrants and descendants across this nation have a history of doing powerful things. In that spirit, I would like to challenge you to help transform the future of education with our museum today.

I’m matching 100% of every donation to the NCSML in July and August, up to $10,000. I am contributing to the museum’s success in education—please join me. I believe a gift from you can inspire hundreds of others. Let’s transform the future of education and reach every state in the country with the NCSML. Please donate today to create a lasting impact on future generations.

Thank you,

Tony and Cathy Korvas