E.S.C.A.P.E. Club

A rainy December day in the city

What a fall we have had! With new members and new trips, it’s been an exciting time. We have had a surge of interest in the club among students and have had great numbers for all of our trips.

We closed out 2024 with a tour of San Francisco. Early morning storms greeted us as we drove across the Bay Bridge into the city for our first destination: driving down Lombard Street. After a quick drive by of the Palace of Fine Arts, we then made our way to the Field Station in the Presidio Tunnel Tops. This space is filled to the brim with fauna and flora specimens, interactive activities like microscopes or owl pellets to dissect, art corners, and herbal teas. This is a great way to connect with the natural history of the Presidio and learn more about the nature surrounding us. So fun!

Unfortunately the weather got the best of us at our next stop. We got to Fort Point and started to explore but within a few minutes were ushered out due to weather conditions. So we spent some time watching surfers and parasailers play around in the waves then headed downtown for our last stop of the day – ice skating! We had some seasoned skaters and some first timers on the ice and everything in between. We had a great time!

And that concludes our 2024 year. From all of us in the ESCAPE Club, we hope you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you a very happy new year! We are forever grateful for the support that allows us to continue with the club. Excited for what the new year has to offer!

Check out the video if you have a few extra minutes!

A tour of Immigration Station and all the way around the island!

Our November trip this year was a return to Angel Island. Although we’ve gone several times over the years, it had been five years since our last time there. We took the ferry from Tiburon, and arrived at Ayala Cove in the late morning. Our first stop was the Immigration Station, where we learned about folks who came from other countries (mostly from Asia) who came first to Angel Island. One of the most interesting things to see was the carving in so many languages into the walls. Some were detained there for more justifiable reasons, but others less so. We imagined what it would be like to take only one suitcase and move permanently to another country! We also learned about other uses of the island, including by Native Americans and the US Military.

After lunch, we set out to walk the Perimeter Trail. It ended up being about six miles all the way around the island, but we took breaks to explore ruins, spot wildlife, and enjoy views all around the bay.  The weather was cool, but sunny, and although we were tired, we were grateful for the experience. We were the only ones on our chartered boat back to the mainland, and we celebrated our accomplishment with some gourmet ice cream!

You probably know by now that it’s Giving Tuesday, and there are many competing, worthy causes out there. If you’d like to support our work this year, we’d be grateful. Many of you already have! We are completely volunteer-led, and have almost zero overhead. Virtually every dollar goes to taking our students to see and do amazing things.

You can donate in several ways:
1) via the EdFund (tax-deductible and employer matchable!). Be sure to choose ESCAPE Club in the dropdown menu.
2) via PayPal: link HERE
3) write a check to DeJean Middle School
4) send a check directly to John

Let us know if you need help or follow up with any of these. And thank you so much! We appreciate your support!

Walk with us to see the Immigration Station and around the island!

Sunny day at Mt Diablo to welcome new club members!

After a couple of bonus trips to new locations, we are back with a more typical fall ESCAPE club trip! In October we took students to Mt. Diablo, a first trip for the 7th graders and new 8th graders joining the club. It was great to connect with new and old faces and really kick off the year.

This is a relaxed trip — a quick stop at the summit (it was WINDY up there) and then a few hours hanging out at Rock City. On the winding road up to the summit, we kept our eyes peeled for tarantulas on the road (no luck, unfortunately). We didn’t last long at the top due to wind and chilly weather but got some nice views before heading back down to Rock City. We set up a base camp and then students and chaperones were free to explore as they wished, whether that was scrambling up and around rocks or setting up a board game with friends. 

And finally, as is tradition, ice cream to end the day! As a bonus, the dry ice used to keep the ice cream cold doubled as an impromptu science experiment. 

Many many thanks for your support of the club, whether that has been through your kind words, financial donations, or volunteering your time. We are grateful to be able to do this! We have a video below of our day if you have a few minutes to watch!

Check out the video if you have a few extra minutes!

A new idea and a new destination…

The ESCAPE Club is back again for another year! We’re growing even bigger at both campuses (DeJean and Soskin) with a strong core of returners and a new crop of adventurers! (There are even a few at Soskin back for a third year!)

We started the year with a new idea and were fortunate enough to make it happen. It’s been a dream for years to go to Mercer Caverns in the the California foothills, but it always seemed a little out of our range. But we were able to get a bus for this trip and decided to give it a try!

Going down 160 feet into Mercer Caverns was such a unique experience. The tour guides were patient and knowledgable. Most of us had never seen anything like it! Stalactites and stalagmites, crystals, flowstone, and “cave bacon!” At one point, they turned out the lights to show us what the complete absence of light was like.

Unfortunately, our bus had need of a repair and we got stuck waiting in the heat for a couple hours. The gift shop had a “mining” experience, so we took a shot at it and it turned out to be really fun! The kids walked away with some colorful gemstones as souvenirs.

After Mercer Caverns we drove a little further up the road to to see the Giant Sequoias. It hasn’t worked out for us to see them in Yosemite recently, so we were grateful for this opportunity. Describing how massive these trees are is tough with just words and pictures, so there’s nothing like seeing them in person. We walked a short loop around the grove and craned our necks to see all the way to the tree tops of these ancient beings. All 35 of us easily fit across one stump for a sad, but cool group photo.

We’ve got a full slate of trips scheduled again this year! We’ll be going back to some of our favorite places, and we’ve got some ideas for new trips, and alternate experiences for our returning students. With our growing numbers, we’ll need more driver chaperones, so please let us know if you’re available to join us!

As always, at the beginning of the year, we appreciate any financial support you can offer. We remain 100% volunteer-led, and every dollar goes to getting these kids some amazing experiences. You can give (choose ESCAPE Club in the dropdown), or through our school account, or directly to us by check/PayPal/etc. We’re so grateful that we’ve always had enough support to see and do some incredible things for over 20 years now. That’s a testament to our fantastic leadership team, our volunteers and chaperones, and so many generous financial supporters.

Please let us know if you have questions about our upcoming year. We’re glad you’re a part of this, even if it’s just reading the newsletter!