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Providing equitable access to the outdoors

  • Click here if you are one of our participating schools looking for your trip coordination/ reporting resources.

Spending quality time outdoors has proven health, social-emotional, and academic benefits. Yet barriers prevent all youth from having equal access to outdoors experiences.

Therefore Oakland Goes Outdoors’ mission is to create more accessible and equitable opportunities for Oakland youth to experience the outdoors, through inclusive, culturally informed, skills-building trips facilitated by Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) educators and partners.

  • close up of young girl with acorn

    Who We Are

    Dive deeper into our mission, history & team - and don’t miss the videos of our trips in action!

    Learn more
  • group of boys amazed at a set of bones

    What We Do

    Find out more about our collaborative programmatic approach, and how we structure our trips & partnerships.

    Details here
  • close up of a young girl getting help putting up a tent

    How You Can Help

    Join us in ensuring every student at OUSD has multiple outdoor experiences throughout their educational career!

    Get involved

OUR IMPACT:
2023-24 School Year

5,566 students

•

221 trips

•

23 schools

•

5,566 students • 221 trips • 23 schools •

  • a large class of students at Baker Beach near Golden Gate Bridge

    We want students to feel like they belong and can thrive in the outdoors! Outdoor learning is so valuable for mental health, physical health, and supporting academic content.

    OUSD educator

  • a group of boys being hit by waves in the ocean

    It was so much fun spending time in nature. I felt excited, calm and connected.

    OUSD student

  • student journaling in a field

    Every child deserves access to the wonder and beauty of our natural environment, no matter what neighborhood they come from or what school they attend.

    Former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf

  • students holding a rope on a boat

    OGO provides the structure we need to be intentional about providing outdoor opportunities for our students. It creates community and team building.

    OUSD school site leader

  • student sitting on a beach playing with rocks

    I thought that the feeling of going outdoors would calm me, it really did. I enjoyed nature and my surroundings, my sense of feeling sad went away for a little while.

    OUSD student

  • boys playing together on logs in the woods

    We have seen a shift in engagement around being outdoors that is positive for the school culture.

    OUSD educator

  • student reading a book while in Yosemite

    The views are beautiful and there is a lot to learn about yourself in nature.

    OUSD student

  • students and a teacher smiling at a campsite

    Going camping allows students to build healthy relationships in new ways, breaking down the walls of middle school social expectations and building authentic friendships.

    OUSD educator

  • a group of girls smiling inside a tent

    Camping is really fun when we go with the school.

    OUSD student

  • students hiking up a hill

    The socioemotional benefits of being in green space help academically, environmentally, and emotionally, the ultimate win-win-win!

    OUSD educator

  • Girls looking at plant poster

    It was nice to experience what I have been studying.

    OUSD student

  • student standing at a trail leading to the water at sunset

    I hope we can do this once a week or month!

    OUSD student