43
Target donation hits the mark for Market Street students
Photo
Neighbors | Shaiyla Hakeem.Third-graders Makenzie Widrig (front left), Kaia Anderson, Brandon Kuehn, Maleya Perry (back left), Conner Hosa and Tyler Berry will be traveling to see Easy Street Production's 'Miracle on Easy Street' as fourth graders in December. Easy Street cofounder Maureen Collins (left) and Music Director Dean Wilson are both thankful for the $800 grant given to the school by Target.
By SHAIYLA HAKEEM
Students at Market Street Elementary have been given the gift to explore the arts.
Target has provided funds for fourth-grade students at Market Street Elementary to take a field trip next winter. A check in the amount of $800 was received Jan. 11 and deposited into the school’s student activity account for students to participate in educational programs outside the classroom.
Music director Dean Wilson applied for the grant last October from Target in hopes of acquiring funds to support the development of the arts at the school. He says he wants to provide children with the opportunity to explore and enjoy singing, dancing, acting and music.
“In order to accomplish that, I need to expose students to a high quality arts experience that will leave them wanting more,” he said. “Miracle on Easy Street fits the bill for such an experience.”
Eighty-eight students from Market Street will be traveling to view Easy Street Production’s “Miracle on Easy Street” in December.
Wilson said each year a set of educational standards, National Standards of Arts, must be met. Viewing a musical satisfies some of those standards.
State law prohibits the school from collecting money from students for activities that go on during the school hours. School field trips can be expensive when the total cost falls solely on the school.
“The school system just does not have the money to pay for experiences and activities like this,” Wilson said.
Each year, students from across the U.S. are recipients of the Target Field Trip Grant. The Target Field Trips Grant program was established in 2006 and has provided 5,000 grants so far this year totaling $4 million.
The field trip grant program is set in place to help restore funds for field trips that may have been eliminated due to school budget shortages.
“It’s wonderful that they are doing this because they are fulfilling a need,” Wilson said. “Target has provided our students with an opportunity that they most likely would not have.”