First Lady of North Dakota Betsy Dalrymple visits Wishek (Video)

Photo by Fran Materi

We were honored today to have North Dakota's First Lady Betsy Dalrymple visit with parents, educators and leaders in Wishek today over lunch.
With a lunch special of Tater Tot hotdish at the Big Screen Bar and Grill, the First Lady along with Sarah Johnson of the Governor's Office and North Dakota Education Association's Mark Berntson shared about the positive impact Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is having on young children across the United States. Dalrymple's passion for early childhood education has her sharing this program around North Dakota and encouraging communities to fundraise and begin Imagination Library in more North Dakota communities.

Imagination Library costs $25 per child enrolled annually and is funded by donations from community organizations and private donations. The children enrolled, ages 0-5, receive a book mailed to them each month for free. The early childhood impact on education, families and communities is immeasurable. By investing in children through Imagination Library, each child enrolled is given their own library of books.

Listen in on what First Lady Betsy Dalrymple says in this less than 2 minute video about visiting Wishek, her passions and the potential impact of Imagination Library.

If you are interested in becoming active in Imagination Library in Wishek, please leave a comment on this blog post below and we will connect you to the group getting the program started.

Thank you to Amber Klebsch and Karen Christensen for initiating this idea to bring First Lady Betsy Dalrymple and NDEA's Mark Berntson to Wishek and begin the conversations on starting Imagination Library.

A special thank you to the First Lady of North Dakota for sharing her passion for early childhood education and helping us to jump start this program that will benefit the next generation of students in Wishek. Learn more about how Imagination Library works here.