Jonesboro School awarded biodiversity field trip grant funds

More than 6,500 students will visit Illinois state parks, natural areas, museums and other natural resources sites this year to learn about nature and conservation thanks to grant funding through the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program. 

Illinois Department of Natural Resources, IDNR, director Colleen Callahan on March 11 announced the awarding of more than $88,000 in donated funds for 100 field trip grants. Winners represented 36 counties in the state, including Union County.

Jonesboro School has been awarded two of the grants, including:

Jonesboro Community Consolidated School District, Jonesboro. Grade: 8. Destination: Illinois State Museum and Adams Wildlife Sanctuary, Springfield. Grant award: $1,340.

Jonesboro Grade School, Jonesboro. Grade: kindergarten. Destination: Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Marion. Grant award: $528.59.

“We are pleased to be able to support learning outside the classroom with these grants,” Callahan said in a news release. 

“This program allows students to visit locations throughout the state to see first-hand what they’ve been learning about in the classroom.

“Our future conservation leaders need the opportunity to experience Illinois’ natural resources in person.”

 The entire $88,815.13 being awarded for 2019 was made possible by private donations from the Independence Tube Corporation of Bedford Park, the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation of Skokie and the D. F. and M. T. Grohne Family Foundation of Wilmington. 

The donations and funding for the grants are coordinated by the Illinois Conservation Foundation, ICF. 

The Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program has distributed more than $1.19 million.

More than 110,000 students have been provided with the opportunity to take part in a field trip since the program’s inception in 2001. 

Grant recipients are located throughout Illinois and represent students from pre-kindergarten through high school.

The competitive grant program allows Illinois teachers to apply for funds to take students on a field trip to study Illinois’ biodiversity. Learning activities must directly relate to the school’s curriculum. 

The annual application deadline is Jan. 31. Funding administered by the ICF covers expenses such as the costs of transportation and substitute teachers.

Information about the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program is available by contacting the IDNR’s Division of Education at dnr.teachkids@illinois.gov or 217-524-4126. 

The Illinois Conservation Foundation accepts donations for the Illinois Biodiversity Field Trip Grant Program. Information is available online at www.ilcf.org.

A list of this year’s grant recipients can be found online at https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/education/Documents/IBFTGAwardees2019.pdf.

The 2020 application form will be available soon at https://www.dnr.illinois.gov/education/Pages/GrantsIBFTG.aspx.