About
From December 21, 2020 to January 25, 2021, join in the reading fun and up your “WordCount” with Illinois Humanities! Log all the reading (and/or audiobook listening) you do and you can win prizes while supporting Illinois Humanities--it’s a triple win: reading (books), winning (prizes), and helping (Illinois Humanities).
You might be wondering...
Will this even work?
We hope so! We haven’t done anything like this before but we’re game if you are.
Who can participate in this event?
Anyone and everyone! We encourage everyone of all abilities to join us and to challenge yourself!
What will the money be used for?
Funds raised by WordCount will be used to support our education programs, specifically our Odyssey Project. The Odyssey Project is a free, college-credit earning humanities program that explores writing, literature, philosophy, art, and U.S. history. Odyssey is offered at sites across Chicago (on the South, West, North Sides, as well as the Southwest Side, where courses are taught in Spanish). We admit over 100 students per year. Upon successful completion of the program, students earn college credit in the Humanities through the University of Illinois at Chicago. In an effort to further support individuals’ continuing education, we offer a second-year course in English and Spanish and alumni programs that reach 500+ participants each year. Our Odyssey and Sojourner programs offer a tangible pathway to college and university for many students, which positively impacts the trajectory of students’ lives and careers.
Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community and strengthen civic engagement.
We provide free, high-quality humanities experiences throughout Illinois, particularly for communities of color, individuals living on low incomes, counties and towns in rural areas, small arts and cultural organizations, and communities highly impacted by mass incarceration.
Each week we'll send you reading suggestions and we'll highlight the players who have most upped their WordCount.
To learn more about Illinois Humanities, go to https://www.ilhumanities.org/.
Any questions?
Please reach out to Nina Wheeler, nina@hooplagroupla.com, with any other questions.
