Funding for Field Trips

Look into this funding for field trips for yourself and/or forward to a colleague now.  Deadline is October 3, 2011.


Target Corporation is accepting applications from education professionals for the Target Field Trip Grants program to bring K-12 students in the United States to museums, historical sites, and cultural organizations.

Since launching the program in 2007, Target has awarded $9.76 million in grants -- providing 1.2 million students in all fifty states with the opportunity to enhance their studies in the arts, math, science, and social studies. Grants are intended to fund visits to art, science, and cultural museums; community service or civic projects; career enrichment opportunities; and other events or activities away from the school facility.

Over five thousand grants of up to $700 will be awarded in January 2012. Grants are available to applicants from the U.S. for trips to be taken between January 1, 2012, and the end of the 2011-12 academic year (May/June 2012). Funds may be used to cover field trip-related costs such as transportation, ticket fees, food, resource materials, and supplies.

Education professionals who are at least 18 years old and employed by an accredited K-12 public, private, or charter school in the U.S. that maintains 501(c)(3) or 509(a)(1) tax-exempt status are eligible to apply. Educators, teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, or classified staff at these institutions must be willing to plan and execute a field trip that will provide a demonstrable learning experience for students.

The Target Field Trip Grants program is managed and administered entirely by Scholarship America.

Visit the Target Web site for complete program guidelines and access to the application form.

Earth Day Every Day

This Wednesday, April 22nd, we'll celebrate our 39th Earth Day. Yes, we've been especially remembering our vital connection to the life of the earth on this day for thirty-nine years. To recap (and start preparing for next year's big 40th), you can read a short history of Earth Day, written by its founder, Senator Gaylord Nelson.

But shouldn't we be conscious of our reliance on earth's resources every day? Definitely. That's why LEARN NC offers Focus on Planet Earth with interactive sites, great lessons, and field trip ideas for North Carolina teachers. Bookmark this site and revisit it regularly--not just next week--for classroom resources for local and global environmental learning.

By all means, let's plant a special seedling or tree on Earth Day. But every day we can teach that our personal and public decisions about the environment are important for our shared life on earth. That's sustainable global learning.