Beverly Rallies To Help Pay For 6th Grade Field Trip

BEVERLY, MA -- Sixth graders at the Briscoe School in Beverly have a tradition. Each year they attend Nature's Classroom, a week-long program for hands-on learning and team building activities. Parents love the program. Students love the program. The only problem is its expensive.

The school holds fundraisers and offers scholarships to kids from families with modest needs. But this year, even those efforts came up short. After scholarships, about 40 kids were still short the $300 they would need to pay for the trip. Enter Theresa Silva and other parents, who raised the $12,000 needed to make sure every kid got to go on the trip in less than three days.

Silva is the wife of Beverly City Councilor Jason Silva. She set up a GoFundMe page and within three days, 168 people and businesses had made donations totaling $12,120. Other parents helped spread word about the fundraiser on social media and face-to-face requests.

"For those of you that went to Nature's Classroom or had a child attend you know what an incredible experience it is," Silva wrote on the GoFundMe page. "It is a week away from home, (for some their 1st) filled with hands on learning, team building activities and fun from the time they wake up until they hit the pillow at night."

The buses leave on Monday morning. And thanks to the donors, the buses will be full.

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Photo by Nature's Classroom.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).