Click here to listen to the recent KQED program on youth and Adventure Education.
Alliance Equine Rescue and Youth Educational Foundation
Alliance Equine Rescue and Youth Education Foundation (Paso Robles) EAYF was awarded $10,000 to provide year-round, experiential outdoor learning activities using horses to engage and support at-risk youth participants in their own life improvement processes.
Community Grows (formely Hayes Valley Neighborhood Parks Group, a project of Tides Center)
Green Jobs InternshipBEETS (Band of Environmentally Educated and Employable Teens) Program was awarded $8,000 to continue its year-round “green job” internship program for San Francisco area teens. The BEETS curriculum provides hands-on experiences to help youth learn a range of new skills including basic horticulture and garden maintenance, healthy cooking and harvesting, and pro-active environmental leadership.
Downtown High School’s Get Out & Learn
Downtown High School Get out and Learn (GOAL) (San Francisco) Downtown High School was awarded $14,000 to help students transform their academic and social potential through a ten-day wilderness expedition and local sailing and wooden boatbuilding experiences.
Growing Up Wild (Santa Cruz) Growing Up Wild’s Rites of Passage Program was awarded $13,000 for a wilderness-based teen boys coming-of-age program. The program provides small groups of underserved teen boys with extensive hands-on outdoor experiences. Groups engage in four separate weekends of educational activities including a backpacking trip that foster life skills, health and fitness, and nature education.
Kids in Parks (San Francisco) Kids in Parks was awarded $15,000 to provide nearly 750 San Francisco youths with opportunities to discover the many ecological resources in their nieghborhoods, as well as how to care for those resources through service learning. Participating youths will gain an appreciation for nature and learn invaluable vocational skills that translate into real-world careers.
Movimiento (Nevada City) Movimiento was awarded $12,000 for its RUYEL program: Rural-Urban Youth Environmental Leadership. Through this program, urban and rural youth spend time in each other’s home communities, to exchange experiences and learn strategies for environmental, personal, and social change. Youth from the Bay Area and Nevada County will share knowledge about local food/farming, watershed, cultural, and socio-environmental issues through activities such as wilderness excursions, food and farming, indigenous youth initiatives, and the arts.
North Roseville Recreational Education and Creative Center, Inc. (Roseville) The North Roseville R.E.C. Center serves primarily low-income youth in the Roseville area. The center was awarded $11,000 to provide recreational programs and activities in nature, including camping, visiting nature museum, swimming in local lakes, learning about local wildlife, and participating in conservation activities.
PUEBLO was awarded $11,500 to help youth transform neglected parks in East Oakland neighborhoods. By participating in trips to regional parks/farms and urban park stewardship activities, youth learn about the range of Bay Area ecosystems and apply their knowledge to create gardens, restore native ecosystems, and lead outdoor education/interpretive programs in their neighborhoods.
Planting Justice was awarded $7,500 to lead a weekly training program at Oakland’s Mandela High School that engages youth with sustainable urban agriculture practices. The program promotes community health and re-connects students to nature through food, which they will make available to the local community through their outdoor farm.
San Joaquin River Kayak ConnectionSan Joaquin River Kayak Connection was awarded $7,500 to connect historically under-served Latino and Hmong youth in a yearlong exploration and experience of the San Joaquin River. Youth learn about stewardship and the need to restore Chinook salmon to the river through participation in a series of on-the-water activities. Participants develop kayaking skills by participating in interpretive river trips and cleanup events. The program activities culminate in a community celebration and racing event.
Sunrise Middle School Outdoor Program
Sunrise Middle School Outdoor Program (San Jose) Sunrise Middle School, a new charter school, was awarded $11,000 to expose underserved middle schoolers to valuable outdoor experiences. The program will introduce youth to activities such as whitewater rafting, high ropes courses, and horseback riding. These activities are designed to give youth reflective time in nature and a chance to build relationships with one another.
WildPlaces/SEE (Springville) WildPlaces/SEE was awarded $14,000 to team up two groups of youth with biologists, outdoor educators, U.S. Forest Service personnel, teachers, artists, activists, peer counselors, and a PG&E powerhouse operator for two front- and back-country camping trips in Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument. These two programs will allow over 100 Central Valley youths to experience hands-on recreational and environmental stewardship activities.
Sonoma Valley Teen Services was awarded $12,000 to continue their Outdoors to Excellence program. This program partners with the Sonoma Ecology Center to provide opportunities for youth to learn and grow through guided exploration of the local environment. Youth participate in a wide variety of outdoor activities, such as camping, mountain bike trips, and opportunities to develop leadership through its Open Space Preserve Patrol.
The Native Springs Foundation was awarded $10,000 to support a youth-led outdoor program. This program is designed to empower Native and non-Native youth in acquiring culturally relevant environmental knowledge and skills to protect Pacific Northwest waterways. The program strives to help youth connect these skills to their own lives and foster personal, academic, and professional success.