Dear Angel:

Isn’t this fun? Your sense of timing — building the buzz, so to speak — as the deadline for our crowdsource campaign approaches is working. We’re all on pins and needles!

As you know, you have until the end of the week to to make our dream of a nationwide free speech/press and civic education bus tour a reality. With lots of help, we’ve put together quite a package for you. For just $20,000 your name will be plastered on our bus and all over our promotional materials this fall as we embark on our historic tour, which so far includes the following:

• CONFIRMED: We’ve been invited to launch our tour from Independence Mall in Philadelphia on Constitution Day (Sept. 17) — their busiest visitor day of the year. Lots of cameras and video streaming to classrooms across the country.
• CONFIRMED: We’ve been invited to the U.S. Supreme Court for a discussion of the Tinker case on Nov. 6.
• CONFIRMED: We’ve now got well over 100 invites to schools and colleges across the country — from inner city New York to Hawaii — to talk directly to students and teachers about free speech/press and civics education (not too far off motherhood and apple pie). We expect to log several thousand miles with your name on the outside of our bus for every single one of them.
• CONFIRMED: We have been invited to address the national conventions of journalism students and teachers (JEA/NSPA) and social studies teachers (NCSS) — and a couple other possibilities are in the works.
• CONFIRMED: Mary Beth Tinker is a genuine American historical figure — in the company of Rosa Parks — who, unlike Ms. Parks, can still tell a heck of a story that stirs the passion and interest of the students and teachers she talks to.  Yes, you could line up  a star athlete or Hollywood entertainer to partner with, but bringing Mary Beth Tinker into a classroom is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that’s guaranteed to help you stand out.
• CONFIRMED: We did a test run of the Tinker Tour earlier this spring and we drew media attention — unsolicited by us — at every stop (please check out our Web site — www.tinkertourusa.org for more details).
• CONFIRMED: We have a Who’s Who List of the most important civil rights, civics education, journalism and journalism education groups in the country publicly saying this tour is a good thing.
• CONFIRMED: As our sole “Major Funder,” you’ll be shown lots of love! Not just by us, but by all the teachers, students, administrators, and others whose lives we’ll touch — and be touched by — along the way.

So that’s the deal. Not bad for the right angel. In fact, I think you’ll have a tough time matching it anywhere on Planet Earth.

Anytime you’re ready to swoop in, just click here.

Talk to you soon.

Mary Beth and Mike