John T. Gorman Foundation Awards $100,000 to Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine's School Visit Program

The Children's Museum & Theatre of Maine (CMTM) announced a $100,000 grant from the John T. Gorman Foundation in support of its School Visit Program, helping schools across Maine bring students to the Museum & Theatre despite shrinking field trip budgets.

“Historically, it was quite common for schools to have funds in their budgets for field trips. That’s simply not the case anymore,” said the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine’s Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino.

Field trips are a vital component of experiential learning, yet schools increasingly face funding constraints that limit off-site educational trips. CMTM’s School Visit Program addresses this barrier by directly subsidizing admission costs for participating schools.

To make field trips financially accessible, CMTM uses funding from partners like the John T. Gorman Foundation to offer tiered, needs-based admission rates as low as $0 for qualifying Title 1A and low-income schools. This critical grant support ensures that financial constraints never stand in the way of meaningful learning experiences for Maine students.

“The Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine provides valuable opportunities for children to play, learn, and connect—experiences that support resilience and healthy development,” said John T. Gorman Foundation President & CEO Nicole Witherbee. “All Maine children should have the chance to benefit from these exhibits and programs. The John T. Gorman Foundation is proud to support the Museum’s efforts to welcome students from across Maine who may not be able to visit otherwise.”

During the 2025-2026 fiscal year (FY26), CMTM welcomed 8,891 students, teachers, and chaperones from 187 school groups, a 25% increase over the previous year. CMTM’s standard group rate is $9 per person; philanthropic support of the School Visit Program allows CMTM to offer even lower admissions rates to low-income and Title 1A schools. In FY26, 48% of school group visitors utilized a greatly reduced admission rate of $0, $1, or $5 per person. In total, CMTM was able to subsidize $140,141 in school visit admissions.

Thanks to the grant from John T. Gorman Foundation, CMTM will be able to welcome even more school group visitors over the current academic year.

“The grant from John T. Gorman Foundation will play a pivotal role in maintaining these substantial subsidies, ensuring that economic hardship does not prevent Maine students from experiencing and accessing our facility and all of the interactive learning opportunities it has to offer,” said Pezzino.