MILWAUKEE — While many schools across Wisconsin are now back in session, field trips have largely been paused. 

Social distancing concerns and temporary museum closures have made field trips difficult to plan for many teachers and schools this year. 

A new collaboration between five Milwaukee area museums and cultural institutions is helping provide a solution. The recently launched MKE Virtual Field Trip is a partnership between the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, Discovery World, Milwaukee Art Museum, Betty Brinn Children's Museum, and the Milwaukee Public Museum. Each is offering virtual programming for classes to use. 

From virtual labs with Discovery World to live stream chats talking about zoo animals with the Zoological Society, there is a wide variety of offerings for teachers to choose from. 

“We really had to get creative, really had to go to the drawing board to figure out a way to successfully bring virtual programming to educators, it was something that really took a lot of time for how we can still bring high quality programming to children in Milwaukee,” says Katie Krecklow with the Zoological Society.

Some programs offered have a fee associated with them, while others are offered free to schools. Discovery World, which offers a variety of programs free of charge to economically disadvantaged schools, recently launched a GoFundMe page to help in raising money for the field trip offerings. 

To learn more about MKE Virtual Field Trip, visit its website here.