40 Aim High 9th graders in Oakland, Redwood City and East Palo Alto will have the chance to participate in Aim High’s signature environmental education program as it expands to two new regions this year.
Aim High’s Headlands Environmental Home (AH-HEH) program serves 300 Aim High students from San Francisco sites each year at the original home in the Tennessee Valley of the Marin Headlands. Students spend one week hiking, camping, participating in environmental restoration work, and building community and leadership.
Richard Lautze, director of the Headlands Environmental Home, founded the program after several trips to the Headlands with Aim High students who seemed less engaged and invested in the outdoors than their better-resourced peers. While students from The Urban School, where Lautze is a teacher, felt instantly at home in the outdoors and eager to work on restoration projects, Lautze was surprised when many Aim High students asked, “why should I care?”
The Environmental Home was created to give students a sense of ownership and responsibility for a piece of the GGNRA. Since 1996, Aim High has been an official Site Steward of the Tennessee Valley, and students from partner middle schools visit year-round to maintain the land. The summer program for Aim High’s rising 9th graders, part leadership retreat and part volunteer project, is designed around the ideas of stewardship and community.
In addition to the 300 students visiting the Headlands Home this summer, The Aim High Environmental Home team will serve 40 Aim High students in Oakland, Redwood City and East Palo Alto. While Aim High was able to offer outdoor education excursions in partnership with Outward Bound last year, Leadership gifts from the Stewardship Council, the Ayrshire Foundation, the TomKat Foundation, and a number of local corporations have enabled Aim High to expand our signature program to serve students outside of San Francisco.
Expanding the program in 2010 will give youth in these regions the chance to camp overnight, build community and strengthen leadership skills through a deeper outdoors experience. The expansion will also help strengthen Aim High’s partnerships with local parks and conservancy groups, with an ultimate goals of finding permanent spots for the two new Environmental Homes.
40 Aim High 9th graders in Oakland, Redwood City and East Palo Alto will have the chance to participate in Aim High’s signature environmental education program as it expands to two new regions this year.
Aim High’s Headlands Environmental Home (AH-HEH) program serves 300 Aim High students from San Francisco sites each year at the original home in the Tennessee Valley of the Marin Headlands. Students spend one week hiking, camping, participating in environmental restoration work, and building community and leadership.
Richard Lautze, director of the Headlands Environmental Home, founded the program after several trips to the Headlands with Aim High students who seemed less engaged and invested in the outdoors than their better-resourced peers. While students from The Urban School, where Lautze is a teacher, felt instantly at home in the outdoors and eager to work on restoration projects, Lautze was surprised when many Aim High students asked, “why should I care?”
The Environmental Home was created to give students a sense of ownership and responsibility for a piece of the GGNRA. Since 1996, Aim High has been an official Site Steward of the Tennessee Valley, and students from partner middle schools visit year-round to maintain the land. The summer program for Aim High’s rising 9th graders, part leadership retreat and part volunteer project, is designed around the ideas of stewardship and community.
In addition to the 300 students visiting the Headlands Home this summer, The Aim High Environmental Home team will serve 40 Aim High students in Oakland, Redwood City and East Palo Alto. While Aim High was able to offer outdoor education excursions in partnership with Outward Bound last year, Leadership gifts from the Stewardship Council, the Ayrshire Foundation, the TomKat Foundation, and a number of local corporations have enabled Aim High to expand our signature program to serve students outside of San Francisco.
Expanding the program in 2010 will give youth in these regions the chance to camp overnight, build community and strengthen leadership skills through a deeper outdoors experience. The expansion will also help strengthen Aim High’s partnerships with local parks and conservancy groups, with an ultimate goals of finding permanent spots for the two new Environmental Homes.
Aim High E-News: June 2010 « Aim High – Reach for a Dream
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