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US Airways is proud to announce the third funding cycle of a unique education program, the Field Trip FUNd, which awards $500 grants to Title I public and charter schools in the airline’s Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Phoenix hubs and Washington, D.C. focus city. The Field Trip FUNd absorbs the ground transportation costs for educational field trips, providing the opportunity to enrich and extend classroom studies.
Since the program’s inception in October 2011, US Airways has helped more than 8,000 students attend field trips through this program by providing $42,500 in assistance. This spring, a fifth-grade class from Phoenix went to the Grand Canyon to study geology, an eighth-grade class visited the Carolina Raptor Center to learn about the chemical effects on organisms, and another class took a field trip to Washington, D.C. to visit the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art.
"Our hope is that more schools take advantage of this opportunity and we encourage them to apply for funding," said Kelly Balthazor, director of community relations. "It’s a great way for US Airways to help students ‘take off’ on new educational adventures as well as help alleviate the burden of some of the costs that schools and parents incur when sending their children on field trips."
Teachers, school administrators, club advisors and parent volunteers located within the major metropolitan areas of Charlotte, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. are eligible to apply for the grants. The schools that apply must have a minimum 70 percent Title I student population (students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals as determined by the State Board of Education). Preference will be given to schools in which children of US Airways employees are students.
Additionally, US Airways is also proud to expand the Field Trip FUNd to include the Employee Dependent FUNd. This fund will award a $250 grant to domestic and international classrooms in public schools which have at least one student whose parent or guardian is an employee of US Airways or its wholly owned subsidiaries PSA and Piedmont Airlines.
The grants will be awarded directly to schools to be put toward field trip ground transportation needs such as buses or gas. Applications are now available and must be submitted by Oct. 1. For more information, to see more application dates or to apply for a grant, visit www.usairways.com/corporategiving. Grants will be awarded based on educational goals, adherence to state educational standards, curriculum and projected outcomes.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
