OSKALOOSA — Two groups of art and music students from the Oskaloosa Community School District will take trips to Midwestern cities this March to experience art and culture.
The trips were approved at the Oskaloosa Board of Education’s regular Tuesday evening meeting. Chris Weinreich presented the joint high school choir and orchestra trip to Chicago to the board, and Matt Kargol presented the high school art trip to Kansas City to the board.
Weinreich, along with Oskaloosa High School orchestra teacher Michael Coleman, plans to take 59 OHS students and 10 chaperones on a four-day trip to Chicago March 15-18. The trip will include musical experiences such as seeing performances by the Blue Man Group and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as visits to major museums, including the Field Museum of Natural History and the Shedd Aquarium. In addition to their visit, the choir will also perform at the Field Museum.
The groups have raised funds for the trip, and according to Weinreich, the cost for many students will be reduced from $615 to $340 thanks to “kick-ins” from both choir and orchestra, as well as a $4,000 donation from of Pella Corp.
“I think this is a great cultural opportunity for, statistically, 60 students, most of whom will never leave Iowa or their hometowns where they settle,” Coleman said. “We’ve put a lot of time and effort into making this cultural, but also personal, experience truly rewarding.”
The board unanimously approved the trip.
Kargol submitted his request to the board for a day trip to Kansas City for approximately 30 OHS art students scheduled for March 2. The trip will include visits to the famed Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City.
“[The Nelson Atkins Art Museum] it is an amazing museum that starts in Egypt and takes you through all different times. They have an incredible collection of Asian art… It’s huge,” Kargol said. “Kids will see Picasso, Monet and Van Gogh.”
Kargol told the council that the motivation behind the trip is to take home the concepts students have studied in class, while giving them the opportunity to see world-famous works of art for themselves.
“I want to blow these guys’ minds,” Kargol said. “We look at art a lot in class, learning about artists and all that, but there’s a disconnect because we’re here and they’re watching on a screen to learn more.”
Kargol says that the parents have shown great interest in accompaniment and, as things stand now, the student-to-escort ratio should be between two and three students per accompanist.
The board unanimously approved the trip.
“I just think it’s great to have so many teachers offering all these great opportunities for students,” said board member Aaron Hinnah.
