Help us bring every child in Montana to the Heritage Center & State Capitol

We are raising a $10 million to provide free field trips for students.

You can change a child's life forever. Support the Montana History & Civics Education Endowment and give every student in the Treasure State the opportunity to take a field trip to Helena. Students will experience hands-on learning, interacting with Montana's past and seeing government in action.

Educators need our help. Busing costs have exceeded school budgets and teachers are looking for support. This program will provide grants for food, gas, lodging, entrance fees, and MTHS staff to coordinate the field trips. Students will also benefit through access to additional educational resources that connect the classroom activities and the field trip experience.

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You can directly impact every student in Montana!

Field trips help students retain information and make connections between what they are learning in the classroom to the larger world. Experiencing things firsthand brings the past alive. Tours of the Montana Heritage Center and the Montana State Capitol will improve students’ understanding of civics, connect them to the heritage of their home, and encourage them to become the stewards of tomorrow. Research has linked school fieldtrips to better grades and higher graduation rates from high school and college.

The Montana Heritage Center and the creation of new, world-class exhibits offers a tremendous opportunity to educate, engage, and excite the next generation of Montanans. Through more than 30,000 square feet of interactive, immersive, and engaging exhibits the Montana Heritage Center will share Montana’s history. New classrooms provide dedicated space for students to meet and receive instruction before and after their tours.

This is more than just a trip to Helena

Students will also have the chance to explore other heritage sites, cultural centers, and history museums along the way to Helena. For some, it might be their first trip to see a dinosaur fossil at the Museum of the Rockies or the historic fort at Fort Benton. Imagine how meaningful these experiences will be to Montana's children.

How to be involved:

• Donate to the Montana History & Civics Education Endowment and receive recognition in the Montana Heritage Center
  • Pledge your gift by filling out this online form.
  • Gifts can be pledged over five years.
  • Take advantage of the Montana Endowment Tax Credit

Contact Virginia Sullivan at 406-444-4013 or Virginia.Sullivan@mt.gov

Your support for the Student Field Trips program will be recognized in the Montana Heritage Center and on program materials. We are working on developing concepts. Stay tuned!

Donations to the Montana Historical Society are tax deductible in accordance with Section 170(c)(1) of the IRS Code.

Federal Tax ID# 81-0302402.