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Carolyn Sauder Education Center

Coming Spring 2025 The Carolyn Sauder Education CenterSpinning-class

We are excited to announce plans to create the first of its kind Education Center at Sauder Village.  For our nearly 50 year history, education has been at the heart of all we do, however, in all of that time, we have never had dedicated classroom, programming, office and preparation space for our educational efforts.  Currently our education staff is housed across four buildings throughout our complex.  Programming takes place in makeshift spaces often without easy access to supplies, water and climate control.  Due to lack of dedicated classroom space, we have found we have had to limit our class offerings and creation of new types of programs over the years.

Our goal is to change that with the creation of the new Carolyn Sauder Education Center located in our Museum Building.

This fall we will begin renovation in the Museum Building, transforming the former Quilt Shop space into a new Education Center.  When completed this will become the hub of our educational efforts to enhance the Sauder Village experience, providing much needed classroom space for historic crafts, programs for students and teachers, and training for youth volunteers, while centralizing our education team for better collaboration and efficiency.

making-crafts-in-Museum-buildingThe most exciting element of this new space is its dedication to Carolyn Sauder, recognizing her 50 years of volunteer service and leadership, her passion and training as a teacher, and her commitment to the growth and future of Sauder Village. Although humbled by this appeal, Carolyn graciously agreed to allow us to honor her in this way by naming the space The Carolyn Sauder Education Center.

We have secured lead gifts to begin the work and are now seeking an additional $150,000 to complete the project, which includes the interior finishes and furnishings – the fun parts we know Carolyn herself loves the most.  And we hope you will want to get involved!

Your gift of any amount will make such a powerful impact on our future educational efforts.

Use this link Carolyn Sauder Education Center fund to make your gift to this special project.