The Tamaqua Blue Raider Foundation is helping students get out of town.

The foundation is doing that by funding nine educational field trips with $25,000 raised through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, according to foundation President Robert A. Miller III. Students in grades 6 through 12 will have a variety of trips grounded in history, art or science, trips as far away as Virginia and as close to home as Mary D.

“Many students are not afforded the opportunities to travel to educational destinations in their daily lives,” Miller said. “This series will provide the means to support further education in these areas in a fun and interactive way.” The trips were proposed by teachers in the school district.

Many of the field trips will be to Philadelphia where students will visit various aspects of the Franklin Institute or the Philadelphia Art Museum. Students in the honors physics class will learn about the physics of amusement park rides at Six Flags America in New Jersey. In Virginia, nine students in AP biology will spend three days around the Chincoteague Bay Field Station learning about that area’s wildlife and marine life.

Wildlife will also be the focus of a trip for 40 honors biology students to the Bronx Zoo in New York City.

Students studying history will visit the United States Civil War Museum in New York City while others will spend time learning about the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

On the home front, up to 90 science honor students will spend a day performing a freshwater assessment at the Mary D Borehole acid mine drainage treatment system. The intent behind this program, according to the proposal, is to create a commitment to the health of local streams.

EITC funding comes from corporations that reduce their tax liability by making donations to foundation projects.

The Tamaqua Blue Raider Foundation is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization that was established in 2010 to assist the Tamaqua Area School District in funding projects that are outside of the school district’s operational budget, Miller said.

Acting independently from the school district, the foundation enlists individuals, businesses, corporations, and foundations in charitable resource raising activities to assist Tamaqua area students in achieving their maximum potential.