Dolly Parton's Dollywood Theme Park to Pay Full Tuition for Employees Pursuing Education
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Dollywood Parks & Resorts is making high-priced education more accessible for its employees.
According to local outlet WZTV, the Tennessee-based theme park jointly owned by country music icon Dolly Parton announced on Tuesday that it will begin covering 100 percent of tuition for its employees pursuing an education.
The news outlet added that the perk is available to all employees on their first day and officially launches Feb. 24. It will also include fees and textbook costs.
"One of The Dollywood Foundation's key tenets is to 'learn more.' This program is created with that very tenet in mind. We want our hosts to develop themselves through advanced learning to fulfill the foundation's other tenets: care more, dream more, and be more," said the President of Dollywood Company, Eugene Naughton, per WZTV.
"When our hosts strive to grow themselves, it makes our business and our community a truly better place," Naughton added. "We care about our hosts' development and we want their future to grow because of love—not loans."
Stacie Huckeba
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In the summer of 2021, the 75-year-old singer announced plans to expand Dollywood, which is located in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. At the time, Parton said her namesake theme park would be constructing a new resort as a part of a half-billion dollar investment plan.
"That's a lot of dough," said Parton.
Dollywood's HeartSong Lodge and Resort — a nod to her 1994 hit — is set to open in 2023 and will be located next to the existing Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa.
Named one of PEOPLE's People of the Year in 2021, Parton opened up about her latest endeavors: a beauty business and fragrance, a new (and already Emmy-winning) production deal with Netflix, and a book she co-authored with James Patterson, out on March 7. The novel has already inspired an album, for which Parton has written 12 songs.
"I keep dreaming myself into a corner!" Parton told PEOPLE in December. "But I can't stop now. I've learned you can't just say, 'Oh, my dream's come true and I'm walking out of here.' No, you've got to show you're grateful and show that you're not going to just leave it all in the hands of other people."
She added, "So, I'm going to be right here, doing what I'm doing, 'til I fall over dead."
