WINDHAM COUNTY, CT -- The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts and the Newell D. Hale Foundation are pleased to announce the launch of Wheels to Learning. This pilot program will fund transportation costs for educational field trips during the 2018-19 school year.
Responding to concerns about the prohibitive cost of transportation, the pilot program seeks to address a significant impediment to accessing the enriching experience of school field trips. The program’s funders believe that every child should have access to quality educational opportunities including those outside the classroom, and seek to learn if the availability of transportation funding will increase access to these experiences.
In this pilot year, Wheels to Learning will be available to all K-12 public schools in Windham County, CT. The program will offer funding for transportation costs to specified non-profit cultural institutions in the arts, sciences and humanities. These organizations are:
- CT Science Center, Hartford, CT
- Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
- Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT
- Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, MA
- Performing Arts of Northeast Connecticut (formerly Opera New England)
- The Three C’s (The Community Cultural Committee of Northeastern Connecticut, Inc.)
- Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Other New England states including Rhode Island and Massachusetts have state-wide programs that offer transportation funding for school field trips. In Connecticut, minimal funding is available and school districts and the venues they visit often seek private donations to support these costs. Response to the Wheels to Learning program will help to discern if there is broader interest in an organized state-wide approach to this need. Feedback from participants will provide insight which will inform decisions about the funding, scope, and structure of the program going forward.
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Contact:
Linda Marshall
Lmarshall@mbphilanthropy.com
203-972-9277
Website: www.wheelstolearning.org