State Representative Charlie Meier is sharing an opportunity for local schools to receive a grant if they send their students to Springfield to visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
With generous support from the Winnick Family Foundation, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation will provide field trip transportation grants to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) to teachers in grades 4 through 12 in public and private schools with a low-income enrollment of greater than 30 percent. Low-income students are defined by the Illinois State Board of Education as students who: 1) come from families receiving public aid, 2) live in institutions that serve neglected or delinquent children, 3) are supported in foster homes with public funds, or 4) are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches.
The purpose of the grant program is to offset the transportation cost of visiting Lincoln’s presidential museum. Grant funding is provided by the Winnick Family Foundation and administered through the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation.
Grants provide funding for students in eligible schools to visit the ALPLM at no or greatly reduced cost to the school district by covering or supplementing transportation costs. Although students touring the museum during the months of March, April, and May are charged a fee of $4.00 per student, schools receiving a field trip grant will have this fee WAIVED.
Funds will be awarded for transportation costs only. The goal of this grant is to bring as many students to the ALPLM as funds will allow; therefore, judges have the option of granting partial awards.
Tour dates associated with a grant award may be requested from January 2 through December 31, 2020, keeping in mind the very high volume of students visiting the Museum in March, April and May. Although the SCVB reservation form asks for four possible tour dates, flexibility by adding additional dates (up to eight) may result in quicker acceptance.
For more information on how a school may I apply for this grant, click here.