In an announcement that went out this past week, Dollywood Parks and Resorts has stated that any employee — including part-time, seasonal, or full-time– that is seeking to further their education level can place an application for Dollywood’s parent corporation’s GROW U program and be able to get assistance for up to 100% of funding for tuition, books, and all fees associated with schooling. This release was put out this past Tuesday by the parent company for Dollywood, Herschend Enterprises, which controls over 25 resorts and attractions all over the country and employs well over 11,000 employees.
As part of the recent press release put forth by Herchend, the company stated that “Herschend’s GROW U. will officially launch on February 24, 2022, for all seasonal, part-time, and full-time employees across its 25 US attractions including The Harlem Globetrotters, Dollywood Parks & Resorts (Tenn.), Silver Dollar City (Mo.), Adventure Aquarium (N.J.), Newport Aquarium (Ky.), Kentucky Kingdom (Ky.), Wild Adventures (Ga.), and Pink Adventure Tours (Ariz., Tenn., Nev.).”
The company has managed to foster a partnership with Guild’s Learning Marketplace in order to allow the program to happen. The release gave some details on the subject:
Herschend’s GROW U. offers 11,000 eligible seasonal, part-time and full-time employees and hosts more than 100 fully-funded (100% free) diploma, degree and certificate programs across 30 learning partners in Guild’s Learning Marketplace, including programs in high-demand fields such as business administration and leadership, culinary, finance, technology and marketing. Additionally, the company will provide partial funding, up to $5,250/year, for 150 additional programs in fields including hospitality, engineering, human resources and art design.
Originally, Dollywood opened its gates back in 1986 and was created by world-famous star Dolly Parton. Parton has been been the queen of the country and rock n’ roll music scene for decades now. It was announced quite recently that the massive star was nominated to be the host for the 2022 Academy of Country Music Awards. She has also received a nomination for a slot within the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
This new Grow U program is not the first instance of Dolly Parton headlining an educational program. Back in 1995, Parton created The Imagination Library, which is a charity that sends a book a month to children under the age of five. The inspiration for the program was her own father. Despite being a very intelligent man, he was not able to take the time or be given the materials to learn to read as a child.
“The Imagination Library came from a very serious place in my heart. My dad and a lot of my relatives that grew up hard too, big families, they couldn’t actually get a chance to go to school, because they had to work,” explained Parton in an interview with CNBC back in 2016.
“My daddy couldn’t read and write, but daddy was so smart, he could just do numbers in his head,” she stated. “But my daddy then after he was grown, he couldn’t read or write; he thought that it was just too hard to do.”
“When I decided what I was going to do for a great charity, then I thought well I’m gonna do this: to get books in the hands of children, because if you can learn to read, if you can read, you can self-educate yourself,” Parton continued.
In regards to the new program from Herchend, Andrew Wexler, the CEO of the parent company, gave an explanation for the program that stated that he wanted all of his employees to be entirely free from the overbearingly difficult burden of student debt.
“Whether it’s to pursue a new dream or advance their career with us, we care about our employees’ personal and professional growth, because we believe that their futures should be grown with love, not loans,” stated Wexler in a comment. “Whether it’s to pursue a new dream or advance their career with us, we care about our employees’ personal and professional growth, because we believe that their futures should be grown with love, not loans,”