Grant Helps Wilson Students Go to the DSO

Thanks to Michigan Youth Arts, Wilson Middle School received a grant so students can take a field trip to see the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Michigan Youth Arts, a nonprofit group in Royal Oak, this week awarded nearly $39,000 in Arts and Culture Trek grants. Teachers applied for up to $500 to cover transportation costs.

Southeast Michigan students from elementary grades through high school will see the Jewish Ensemble Theater in West Bloomfield, Oakland University's Art Gallery in Rochester, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit Institute of Arts and other destinations.  

"All students deserve access to a quality education that includes hands-on experiences," says a statement from Kim Dabbs, director of Michigan Youth Arts. "We are proud to be able to help schools cultivate creativity and innovation."

Grants come from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, a state agency. Educators throughout Michigan increasingly rely on fund-raising by parents or other support to finance field trips, according to the council's executive director, John Bracey. "It is staggering how few schools have been able to offer their students this type of experience," he says in a news release. "These trips are far more than an entertainment outing . . . and, for some kids, represent a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Subsidies are shared by 107 schools, including dozens in Southeast Michigan. Grants totaling $38,770 are about $5,100 below the program's 2011 level, which aided 118 schools.