FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2015, 2:00 p.m. CDT
Contact Jason Hogue, Peru State College Marketing and Communications, 402.872.2429
Peru, Nebraska- The ninth “Trails and Tales Institute and Tour” will begin on the Peru State College
campus on June 13. Trails and Tales began in 1996 and 2016 will mark its twentieth
anniversary with “Anticipating Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial.”
The Institute is a five-day course followed a six-day Tour of Nebraska. “Trails and
Tales” will be taught by Peru State College faculty Dr. Sara Crook and Dr. Dan Holtz.
Crook, said, “We are very excited to offer the ‘Trails and Tales Institute and Tour’
one more time. With Nebraska’s 150th anniversary of statehood approaching, we thought this would be the idyllic time to
prepare teachers on the incredible history and literary heritage of this great state.”
“Our intent is to inspire and invigorate these teachers, who will in turn develop
a better appreciation for our state in their students.”
Dr. Holtz said, "Nebraska is a great state with enterprising people, a geography whose
variety will surprise those who have only seen I-80, and important stories--not only
for the region, but also the nation.”
"So many of these stories are inspiring, not just because they show milestones of
progress, but because they show the kind of progress that is only earned through perseverance
and battles with prejudice and injustice. In this Trails and Tales, we want to give
voice to the many peoples--African-American, Euro-American, Hispanic-American, Native
American--who have called Nebraska home and made our state what it is today."
The Institute will run from June 13 to June 17 and can be taken for graduate or undergraduate
credit. Three credit hours are available as an English or History course. The three-hour
undergraduate course costs $592.05 while the three-hour graduate course costs $706.80.
There is an additional matriculation fee of $10 for new Peru State College students.
The Peru State Foundation will be providing $100 grants to the first thirty in-service
or pre-service teachers that enroll. The Foundation is hoping to attract teachers
interested in adding more Nebraska history and literature to their curriculum as part
of gearing up for the state’s 2017 Sesquicentennial.
The Tour will run from June 20-25. Only a few seats are available for non-students
(those folks not attending the earlier Institute). Double Occupancy runs $690 for
five hotel nights and $850 for single occupancy.
The Tour has 25 tours planned including stops at Fort Robinson, Chimney Rock, Ash
Hollow and the Nebraska State Capitol.
Applications for the Institute are due on or before March 1, 2016. Registration for
the Tour is also due by March 1 with a $100 deposit. Potential new students should
fill out the registration form and apply to be a student using Peru State College's free application.
Dr. Holtz has taught Nebraska Literature at Peru State since 1987. He is a former
President of the Board of Trustees for the Nebraska State Historical Society, as well
as been active with other Nebraska literary organizations.
Dr. Crook has taught Nebraska History at Peru since 1984. She is a former President
of the Board of Trustees for the Nebraska State Historical Society, former chair of
Humanities Nebraska, and a current member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission.
Both Drs. Holtz and Crook are on the Nebraska 150 Foundation Board. Dr. Crook is
also on the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission and is the Chair of that Commission.
Hence “Anticipating Nebraska’s Sesquicentennial.” (Note: The class is in the summer
of 2016 while the Sesquicentennial is 2017.)
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For more information, visit www.peru.edu or call 1-800-742-4412.
About Peru State College: Peru State’s “Campus of a Thousand Oaks,” an arboretum, is nestled in historic southeast Nebraska. The state’s first college, Peru State offers a unique mix of innovative online and traditional classroom undergraduate and graduate programs, including online graduate degrees in education and organizational management. It is a college of choice fostering excellence and student achievement through engagement in a culture that promotes inquiry, discovery and innovation.