Sponsorship Lets Pottstown Middle School Students Visit Reading Public Museum for First Time Ever

Photos by Emily Overdorf

Christian Morales and Jonathan Moser work the controls on a movable metal dinosaur during a recent field trip to the Reading Public Museum.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Tompkins VST Bank.

Thanks to Tompkins VIST Bank, 280 Pottstown School District 7th graders recently visited the Reading Public Museum on Sept. 25 and Oct. 9.

The Bank is the first corporate organization to directly sponsor a chosen school district through The Museum's Feed Their Imagination grant program.

This is also the first time Pottstown School District visited The Museum.

Angelica Shifflette looks at Egyptian pottery

Bank staff will participated in the tours, which are timed to highlight The Museum’s annual October fundraiser for Feed Their Imagination.

“With many school districts experiencing budget cuts, field trips like those to The Museum have been eliminated, and that’s why we’re happy to support this program,” said Frank Strunk, senior vice president, Commercial Banking relationship manager.

Since the founding of The Museum in 1907, school students have always been an integral part of the
Reading Public Museum's audience.

Unfortunately, district budgetary cuts mean that schools are finding it increasingly difficult to provide educational field trips to their students. 

The Feed Their Imagination program helps schools fund field trips to The Museum.

Duha Selmi and Miley Taylor pose with a Roman wine jar

Tompkins VIST Bank, a subsidiary of Tompkins Financial Corporation, is a locally headquartered community bank with 19 branches serving southeastern Pennsylvania.

It offers personalized service, local decision-making and a broad range of services for consumers and businesses, including cash management services, commercial loans, and an online business loan application process.
Insurance and wealth management services are provided through the Pennsylvania offices of Tompkins Insurance and Tompkins Financial Advisors. More information available at www.vistbank.com, www.facebook.com/TompkinsVISTBank, https://www.linkedin.com/company/vist-financial-corp.

Ahyan ONeil checks out a polar bear at the Reading Public Museum ... from a reasonably safe distance.