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

A tour of SF and a day in the snow

It’s been a busy 2026 so far for the ESCAPE club with a tour of SF in January and a snow day in February! We had some great trips during the winter months with great groups of kids. Read on to hear about San Francisco and Tahoe!

In January we made our way to San Francisco to tour the city. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, starting with a walk across the first part of the Golden Gate Bridge. We then went down to Fort Point situated at the base of the bridge. Last year, bad weather kept us from the rooftop and then closed down the fort entirely shortly after we arrived, so it was great to be able to explore the new exhibits and renovations. After that, we spent some time in the Presidio Field Station. This space is an active field station for scientists and researchers in the area and has huge natural history collections that students are able to interact with hands on.

Finally, it wouldn’t be San Francisco without traffic, but with a lot of detours both planned (Palace of Fine Arts and Lombard Street) and unplanned (streets blocked off) we made it to our final destination: ice skating! We might not be competing in the next winter Olympics but it was a lot of fun to skate around and watch kids improve quite a lot during our time on the rink. 

In February we went up to the Tahoe area for a day in the snow. Continuing the trend of beautiful weather during our trips this year, we had sunny blue skies and fairly warm weather. It was a sort of second try at the trip that went awry last year due to a bus issue, and this time we successfully made it to the Clair Tappaan Lodge. It was a new experience to have home base be at a ski lodge, and it was great to have a warm and cozy space throughout the day! 

We partnered with Headwaters Science Institute for a snow science lesson where students learned how researchers study climate and analyze the snow in the region. After the science lesson, we had a hot spaghetti and meatballs lunch indoors courtesy of one of the chaperones. 

In the afternoon, there was time for some sledding and playing in the snow. It wasn’t the best snow year that we’ve experienced – the sledding was bumpy and the snowballs icy – but students still had fun and did all typical snow activities. Lots of sledding, snowball battles, and snowman-making! Finally, we hit our usual spots of In-N-Out and the state capitol on the way home. Long but fun day!

March is bringing a couple more trips before our end of year trip to Yosemite, so keep an eye out for a recap of our last trips. There’s videos below if you have a few minutes!

San Francisco ’25 – ’26

Snow ’25 – ’26

Environmental education at a coastal ranch for our first trip of the school year!

We’re back! The ESCAPE Club has officially kicked off with a return to Slide Ranch. This farm has so many cool sustainability-focused things to see and do, and it was a fun way to learn about where food comes from with a great group of students and chaperones. We had a really nice time exploring the various spaces and trying new things, especially tasting so much fresh food throughout the day (sour sorrel? Unsurprisingly, very sour).

We started the day learning to milk goats (a brave few even tasting the fresh milk!) before breaking into smaller groups. In the garden, we saw, touched, smelled and tasted the many different vegetables and flowers growing in the hillside beds before cooking a small snack of bread and cheese from scratch. Some gathered herbs from the garden to add to theirs. So cool to share a meal that we created with our own hands! Then in the chicken coop, students got to pet and feed chickens before petting various goats and sheep in the barn.

After a picnic lunch, we made our way to the bone grove, filled with bones of all sizes from small rodents to whale ribs and vertebrae. It’s fun to try to figure out what type of animal the different skeleton pieces came from. Then as the sun was finally emerging we hiked down to the tidepools and spent some time near the water before wrapping up our day and heading home.

It’s great to be back outside with students, and we hope that wherever you are you find some pockets of nature to spend time in. Looking ahead into this year, there’s a lot of fun trips to be had and we’ll keep you updated on all our excursions. As always, thank you so much for your endless support through kind words and well-wishes.

And, of course, this program couldn’t run without the financial support. We are grateful for donations of any amount, and this money goes directly to funding student trips. You can donate in several ways:

• via the EdFund (tax-deductible and employer matchable!). Be sure to choose ESCAPE Club in the dropdown menu.
• via PayPal: link HERE
• write a check to DeJean Middle School
• send a check directly to John

Thank you for following along! We appreciate your support! 

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

Mountains, mist, and many many memories

 

We did it! Another year of ESCAPE. We had a great turnout for every trip this year, visited some new places, and shared a lot of good times. Read on for a recap of our culminating camping trip and information about an upcoming family picnic and alumni reunion! 

We took 42 students to Yosemite National Park for a weekend, hitting many of the park’s highlights and getting back to Mariposa Grove for the first time in several years. There’s a huge amount of planning that goes into this trip starting months beforehand. We need campsites, food for 60+ people, tents and sleeping bags, a whole lot of other camping gear, and over a dozen drivers. It’s all worth it though when we finally get to be there and to see students experience Yosemite. 

On our first day, we got on the road and went straight to Mariposa Grove. We haven’t been to see the giant sequoias since before the pandemic due to renovations, so it was great to be able to get back to the big trees (it’s pretty humbling to stare up at a tree that is nearly 3,000 years old). After a short hike in the sequoia grove, we set up camp in Wawona and had a delicious dinner of chili nachos. 

Saturday is our big hiking day, but first we enjoyed hot coffee/cocoa and eggs, bacon, and pancakes by the morning fire. Even with the time crunch of needing to head out to the valley, there’s something special about camp mornings. After breakfast we piled into cars and drove into Yosemite Valley for the main event of the day: hiking the Mist Trail. When we got to the bridge at the base of Vernal Falls, we saw a bobcat hanging around near the trail! It stayed around long enough for many in the group to get a good look and take some pictures. Then after returning to the parking lot, we got our second wildlife treat of the day: a black bear! Finally, we got back to our campsite for dinner, campfire, s’mores, and glowsticks. 

Our last day was an easy drive back through the valley to see Bridalveil Falls (though it looked like more mist than waterfall) and to watch from the meadow as climbers attempted to scale El Capitan. After a quick pitstop for pizza, we were back in Richmond, tired but happy. It was a wonderful weekend. We’ll be sad to say goodbye to the 8th graders, but looking forward to seeing our returning students along with new members next fall. 

In the meantime, join us for an end of year celebration! We’ll be closing out the year with a family and alumni picnic on June 7 at Point Pinole. All are welcome! We would love to see you there. Please RSVP at this link. 

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

Moss Beach, Pt. Reyes, and new shirts!

 

The end of the year is fast approaching! We had a couple of really lovely trips with students this spring, first to the Moss Beach area to visit tidepools and Pt. Reyes National Seashore for some hiking and marine wildlife. For both trips, the California flora and fauna was a real highlight, with everything from elephant seals to beautiful wildflowers and tidepool sea creatures.

In March we drove down to Moss Beach for a new ESCAPE trip to the tidepools. Our first stop was the Pacifica pier, where we enjoyed a nice walk out onto the ocean and watched folks fish and crab from the pier. A few brave students even held some of the freshly-caught crabs! At Moss Beach, we took advantage of the negative tide and saw all sorts of small creatures — sea stars, anemones, crabs. So fun! And finally, what was probably the most memorable part of the day for some students: Taco Bell on the beach! What better place to enjoy a Baja Blast??

In April we had a beautiful day in Pt. Reyes National Seashore with some easy hiking and a nice picnic. We started with 300 steps down to see the old lighthouse (that trek that felt much more difficult on the way back up). It was cool to see the line of the beautiful new blue t-shirts as we took the stairs! After that, we hiked the Chimney Rock Trail and saw elephant seals way down below us on the beach and fields of absolutely spectacular wildflowers. Over at Drake’s Beach, we saw fewer elephant seals than we’ve seen in the past but did get a closer look at the some pups. Finally, we ended the day with some food and relaxing at the Bear Valley Visitor Center. Even had a surprise Easter egg hunt for students at the end! Overall, a fun day for our last regular day trip of this school year.

Soon we are off on our culminating weekend in Yosemite National Park. Many students have been talking about this trip all year. We can’t wait to be out there! As always, thank you for following along. We are grateful to have so many friends and family supporting the club. Below are videos from the last two trips if you have a few minutes to check them out!

Tide pools at Moss Beach

Pt. Reyes National Seashore