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ESCAPE to Mount Diablo

Our first trip of the year to the summit and Rock City.

Our year got off to a great start in October with the annual trip to Mt. Diablo. As has been our custom for many years, Rock City is a great place to hang out, and get to know each other, without a schedule, or agenda, or long hike.

We started out from DeJean, about 45 of us, and made our way all the way up to the summit of Mt. Diablo, about 4000 feet above sea level. The weather was clear, though we could see just the last remains of the smoke from fires to the north. We spent a half hour enjoying the views and the little museum, and headed back down to Rock City.  

Each year, we hope to catch a glimpse of a tarantula, but as we’ve been going later and later in the season, it’s been a while. We did get to see, and catch, a nice sized alligator lizard. We also saw a buck with a nice rack of antlers.

But the best part of the day is always scrambling up and down the rocks, climbing in and out of the little caves, following little trails to new spots, and just hanging with friends. This gives us lots of opportunity to get to know each other, and just relax away from home. We had games to play in the shade, ice cold water, and even an ice cream sandwich treat at the end of the day.

Our next trip is coming up quickly–kayaking in Elkhorn Slough, near Moss Landing. We’re really looking forward to seeing the kids on the water, and getting up close and personal with the sea otters!

It’s been great to hear from a few of you already. Feel free to drop us a note, come hang out on a Thursday, or even join us on a trip this year!

Have a look at the slideshow video if you’ve got a few minutes, and we’ll catch you soon!

Yes!  The slideshow videos are back too!

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Welcome Back to the ESCAPE Club!

The ESCAPE Club returns for another year.

Another school year has begun, and the ESCAPE Club marches on into its 18th year.  We’ve been meeting after school for a little over a month, getting to know each other, looking at a few maps, and outlining the rhythm of the year.  Over 60 students have been attending the meetings regularly, which is a lot, but typical for September and October.  We always expect it to thin out over time, and then shift and build again later.

We’ve lost several teachers and staff who were integral to our program to other pursuits and they will be missed. But a new regiment of teachers is now on staff at DeJean, and we’re hoping they’ll be excited to participate as well. Jason continues to teach math at DeJean, and John has a new title as an administrator in the district STEM office.

As has been our custom for several years now, our first trip is this weekend to Mt. Diablo.  We’ll head up to the summit for a while, then drive back down to Rock City for some light hiking, and scrambling up the rocks and into the wind caves.

A crowded classroom, working to label Bay Area maps.
An early candidate for this year’s mascot.  
We’ve got a few of these “yearbooks” left over from last year if you’re interested…

We appreciate all your support–whether it’s a kind note of encouragement, chaperoning a trip, helping write a grant, or donating financially. All the avenues for giving are the same: 1) donate directly to the club (check or PayPal), 2) donate to DeJean Middle School (specify ESCAPE Club), or 3) donate to our 501c3 sponsor, the EdFund (specify ESCAPE Club).  More details on donating are HERE.

As always, thanks to each of you for reading this far, and for all your love and support.  We’ll be in touch again soon with photos and the video from our first trip.  Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and follow us on Instagram!

In case you missed last year’s video, here’s another chance! It’s a good one!

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ESCAPE to the summer!

A final look at the year in our club…

We’ve wrapped up our 17th year of the ESCAPE Club, and are headed into the summer.  Yet again, we are grateful for the students who participated, and the relationships and experiences that we shared.  As well, we are grateful for so many teachers and volunteers who drive the kids to these fantastic destinations. Finally, for each of you, and your love, words of encouragement, prayer, finances, and support.

One of our proudest accomplishments this year was creating and distributing a memory book to each of the students and chaperones at the end of the year.  The booklet has a spread for each of our nine trips, which includes directions to, information about, and pictures from each of our destinations.  There’s even room for autographs, and it was fun to see our kids clutching them at the last meeting, laughing over the memories, and signing each others’ books.

We’ll see what developments, if any, come in our careers this summer and into the coming school year, and we’ll have to navigate an unusually high amount of teacher turnover at DeJean.  But for now, we’ll hope to be back for another year of ESCAPE Club at DeJean in the fall.

Hope you’ll take a look at the video below that shows each of the trips and all of the faces from the year.  Have a great summer, and we’ll hope to see each one of you soon!

The end of the year video. Come and see how far we went.
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ESCAPE to the Ice 2017

One final trip to Oakland Ice Center and Cerrito Vista Park…

If it feels like you just heard from me, it’s true.  You did.  We had a super quick turnaround after our camping trip in Yosemite, and scrambled to get our last trip in.  The school year is ending much earlier than it used to!

We snuck out of Richmond early, as it was a short day at school, and went down to the Oakland Ice Center.  This is a trip that many of the kids look forward to all year.  For most of them, ice skating is yet another brand new experience.  Most kids cling to the walls at the start.  But for those brave and confident enough to venture out, they learn quickly how to move on the ice.  I wish we had more time to prep in the classroom, or teach them before we go in, but that’s just not how it works out.

After a couple hours on the ice, kids are tired and hungry and ready to go.  We battled rush hour traffic, and headed back north to Cerrito Vista Park.  There, we enjoyed a little pizza supper, played catch with the softball, frisbee, and football, and took over the play structure.  It was a nice time, and a reminder that it’s just fun to be together, no matter how far from home we are.

We’ll be meeting one more time next week to say goodbye, and so you’ll hear from us one more time as well.  Enjoy the photos here, and check out the video below if you have an extra minute or two.

Last trip of the year!