Lindenwood Magazine - Spring 2026

18 19 SPRING 2026 EDITION THE LINDENWOOD THE LINDENWOOD SPRING 2026 EDITION LEARNING The Gift of GIVING In 1970, author and educator Nancy Polette joined the Lindenwood community as an adjunct in the education department, supporting a certification for school librarians. Over the course of her remarkable career as a groundbreaking educator and advocate for learning, she penned more than 100 professional and children’s books. Upon her passing, her family generously donated her collection of works to Lindenwood’s College of Education and Human Services. Of her impressive collection, two works stand out and are remembered fondly by Nancy’s family. The Vodka in the Punch, and Other Notes from a Library Supervisor (1975) was a reflection on elementary education before schools were mandated to have libraries. Because of her commitment to doing what was right, Nancy was intimately involved in setting up the first libraries for the Pattonville School District. “She was such a groundbreaking person who was able to just go make things happen when there were no rules, there were no standards, nothing. She was just a pioneer in her day. And she’s got some funny antidotes in that particular book. But she was just ahead of her time and a groundbreaker,” her daughter Paula shared. By 1979, she became an assistant professor, and director of the Lindenwood Laboratory School. “That was what got her up in the morning, that she just loved teaching, helping people, getting people interested in learning, and thinking, and reading,” said Paula. Her passion, however, was for one workbook, Research without Copying (1991) . The book, true to its title, explains that there is no one way of learning and how to embrace different learning styles. Nancy was featured in the 1982 Lindenwood Ledger, the student newspaper at the time. Jane Kern titled the article, Polette Shares Gift with Future Educators , and shared that Nancy’s goal was to bring children and books together. Nancy was quoted as sharing, “When teachers approach the basics from the standpoint of helping children to become a producer rather than a consumer of knowledge, the child, the school, and ultimately the nation benefit.” She retired from Lindenwood in 1990 and earned the title of Emeritus. However, retirement did not slow her down, and Nancy continued as a Lindenwood adjunct until 2014. In addition to being an author, Nancy’s love of education took her around the country, leading workshops and teaching teachers how to teach. A true storyteller, Nancy would incorporate powerful stories of her experiences, and leave her audience in tears, inspired and empowered to go out and make an impact in their classrooms. To carry on Nancy’s legacy of positively impacting classrooms, her family established the Nancy Polette Children’s Literature Fund. Now, Lindenwood students who are student-teaching can bring books from her collection into their classrooms and apply for seed-funding to build libraries when they start teaching. THE GIVING COMMUNITY