Aim High Environmental Home (AH-EH) Program

Part service-learning, part leadership retreat, and part ecology education, the mission of the Aim High’s Environmental Home is to provide hundreds of youth from San Francisco, the East Bay, and the Peninsula with an opportunity to spend quality time outdoors.  This vibrant and innovative weeklong hands-on experience promotes respect for the environment, aid in personal growth, and instills a stewardship ethic for participants to carry into all areas of life.

Originating at the Headlands in the Tennessee Valley, this environmental education program is a capstone experience for Aim High’s 9th grade graduating class. Students undertake restoration projects including trail maintenance, removal of invasive plants and monitoring and propagation of native species. Students also camp overnight, hike, visit the beach, take solos (periods of quiet reflection), journal, speak and listen to the group at Council, work in small teams, and learn about the ecology and the history of the region from park experts and naturalists.

Aim High has made a lasting imprint in the environment over the last 15 years. In 2008, Aim High students build a yurt at the Headlands site, serving as an example of sustainable architecture by providing space for ecology classes and storing gear & tools to be used in the summer. During the winter months, small groups of students from select SFUSD middle schools continue to practice stewardship and environmental studies in the Tennessee Valley on a weekly basis. 

Currently, Aim High provides environmental homes for students at sites in Huddart Park, Redwood Regional Park, Sausal Creek and the Palo Alto Baylands. Over the next several years, we hope to continue expanding the AH-EH sites, and to strengthen current partnerships with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the National Parks Conservancy, East Bay Regional Parks, and San Mateo County Parks.

Click here to download the 2012 Environmental Homes fact sheet.

For more information on the AH-EH program, please contact:
Richard Lautze at rlautze@urbanschool.org