The September 2005 issue of SYTA’s Student and Youth Traveler opens with a message from Judd Gerber, President of the organization, from which I quote:

“…I’ve recently come across another outstanding source of funding that can be used for educational travel. The U.S. Department of Education administers Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), a discretionary grant program designed to increase the number of low-income students who want to enter post-secondary education….”

Mr. Gerber goes on to explain how some schools have used these funds to travel to College campuses in New York City as part of a larger tour. Here is the website for more information about GEAR UP: http://www.ed.gov/programs/gearup/index.html

Mr. Gerber also promotes the SYTA “Road” Scholarship program which awards funds to students who do not have the necessary funds to participate in school travel programs. These students must be nominated and these nominations are reviewed 5 times a year. For more information, visit www.sytayouthfoundation.org .

We recommend subscribing to the Student and Youth Traveler if you are a music educator and think about taking your students on tour. For you, subscriptions are free and can be processed here: http://www.serendipitypublishing.com/syta/