Since the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association launched a campaign to distribute the George Washington Biography Lesson to fifth grade teachers across the country, an astonishing 300,000 have been distributed and well-used to teach more than eight million children in all fifty states.

Teachers report back to Mount Vernon educators of the enthusiastic response from their students who are especially enamored of the “scratch and learn” cards. In fact, an amazing 85% of the teachers who received the kits have put them into active use in their history curriculum. Perhaps more importantly, teachers have found ways to incorporate elements of the lesson into other subjects, like reading and art. Most tell us that the materials correspond with the Standards of Learning in their states.

With such enthusiastic response you can understand that demand for the kits remains strong in schools that have never benefited from the thoughtfulness of a generous donor who made these tools possible. In 2008 we project that we will distribute a whopping 16,383 lessons to teachers in eleven states. At a total cost of over $120,000, this is a significant effort, and we could really use your help to make the project a success.

Over the years we have been able to keep printing and labor costs well within reason, but the postage increases have not been as simple to manage. Your additional contribution of $190, $380 or more would be a welcome boost and help us to distribute the lessons more efficiently and completely.

We also would like to offer you a special thank you gift that has just become available. The Mount Vernon staff has located a limited number of copies of a highly regarded compendium on George Washington. The Essential George Washington by Peter Hannaford contains 200 years of observations by notable Americans, including many of George Washington’s peers as well as modern day figures.

Those who contribute a gift of $380 or more will receive a copy of this book. Your gift of $380 will provide 1,000 copies of the George Washington Biography Lesson to hard working fifth grade teachers!

Thank you for your admiration of George Washington and for your loyal support of his beloved Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens. We promise to keep working harder than ever in the coming year, to be sure that future generations are well educated about his incredible life and legacy.

To support Mount Vernon education programs by placing more George Washington Biography Lessons in schools nationwide, please contact Denise Bealin, Membership Manager, at 703-799-8643 or biographylesson@mountvernon.org.