Camp Skyhook OC

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What is Inside the OUtdoors?

The Skyhook Foundation's mission to “give kids a shot that can't be blocked” resonates deeply with Inside the Outdoors Foundation and with the work of our partners at the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE).

We believe that every student deserves transformative environmental education learning experiences that inspire curiosity, build confidence, and open doors to success.

Inside the Outdoors has been providing environmental education and STEAM programs to over 3.5 million TK-12 students across Orange County.

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Graduation Rate

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Students So Far (9/13 - 3/20)
See all schools involved opens PDF file

Who Attends Camp Skyhook?

All 4th and 5th graders enrolled in LAUSD are eligible. Currently, schools must wait 6 years to receive an invitation to Camp Skyhook.

  • 72% of students are English Language Learners
  • 82% of children participate in free or reduced lunch programs
  • Over 70% have no or limited experiences in natural environments (mountains, oceans, national parks)
  • Over 15,000 homeless and foster youth are eligible to participate

For many students, the trip to “Camp Skyhook” in the Angeles National Forest is their first venture outside of the urban neighborhoods in which they live, even though it's less than an hour from most areas of LA.

Students attend camp with kids from different schools. In addition to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) children are taught to collaborate. Special attention is given to placing schools together from the geographically diverse 715-mile LAUSD boundary. This results in student populations with a great diversity of backgrounds, ideas and experiences. Character development activities and our curriculum (developed by UCLA & NASA) promotes inclusion, team building and equity.

The camp is meticulously maintained to foster a sense of safety and togetherness that children desperately need. At Camp Skyhook, children not only get along…they depend on one another. The camp provides time honored activities that kids love! This includes hiking, swimming, skits and camp fires. Our goal is to create “more than happy memories.” We ignite and encourage a child’s interest in STEAM. With a creative blend of technology, nature and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) standards, students receive a multi-dimensional, multi-sensory experience that will help spark a lifelong love for learning science.

We're Giving Kids a Shot That Can't Be Blocked

Preparing Our youth with Future STEAM job opportunities. With a 6 Year Waitlist, we need your help to pursue this endeavor.

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How Does it Work?

Inside the Outdoors, administered by the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) has provided inspirational environmental education programs to more than 3.5 million Orange County students during its fifty-year history.

The curricula created for our programs support current California academic standards and allow students to interact with these concepts in a real-world setting. ITO serves over 100,000 students annually in every district within Orange County through field trips, Traveling Scientist classroom programs, and community programs, from family science nights to volunteer stewardship events.

The partnership with the Skyhook Foundation is supporting Inside the Outdoors by offering field trip and bus scholarships to schools in need, ensuring that all students across Orange County have access to rigorous, high-quality learning opportunities.

Education is a Social Justice Issue

According to our partners at LAUSD, the reason outdoor programs are transformative is due to their ability to re-direct and focus the mind.

The natural world is therapeutic, providing a sense of peace and healing.  It provides a place for reflection and offers a three-dimensional affirmation that everything is going to be all right.  It provides multi-sensory education experiences that become meaningful and are more likely to transfer to long-term memory.  Of course, this will only happen if students have access in an equitable manner.  Despite our best efforts, growth has not kept up with demand.  Our residential outdoor science program currently has a six-year wait list.

A recent study from MIT and Centre for Economic Performance concluded that “drawing more low-income and minority children into science and innovation could increase their incomes – thereby reducing the persistence of inequality across generations – while stimulating growth by harnessing currently under-utilized talent.”  The study highlighted that exposure to STEAM fields, such as the experience of participating at Camp Skyhook, is a central determinant of innovation. A lack of exposure limits a child’s ability to see beyond their own neighborhood – we call these individuals the “lost Einstein’s”.

Lack of access to out-of-the-norm experiences denies a context to frame content taught at school.  Lack of recreational and green spaces in low-income neighborhoods is a result of environmental red-lining.  Many kids can see the mountains in the distance from their neighborhoods but never give them a thought.  Since they have never experienced nature up close, they view it merely as background noise.

Many current initiatives are addressing discrimination within the areas of selling to property to people of color and lending disparities, but none of this has a real and lasting impact unless people can afford to buy the homes.  This takes us back to socio-economic mobility that is almost completely and inextricably linked to education.  This is why we believe education is one of the most fundamental social justice issues.

Drawing more low-income and minority children into science and innovation could increase their incomes – thereby reducing the persistence of inequality across generations – while stimulating growth by harnessing currently under-utilized talent.”

Bell, Alexander, et al. Who Becomes an Inventor in America? The Importance of Exposure to Innovation, Nov. 2018, pp. 34., doi:10.3386/w24062

Skyhook Foundation
Skyhook Foundation
Skyhook Foundation
Skyhook Foundation
Skyhook Foundation
Skyhook Foundation

Camp Skyhook Evaluation

In collaboration with Occidental College, a study of the effects of Clear Creek Outdoor Education Center (Camp Skyhook) began in the Fall semester of 2018. Pre-post survey data was collected from students and teachers and tabulated in February 2019. Preliminary results indicate many positives outcomes.

Students reported:

  • Enjoying camp/program activities
  • Interest in pursuing similar science activities
  • Increase in STEAM aspirations, particularly for females
  • Increases in Next Generation Science Standards content knowledge
  • Increases in environmental engagement
  • Personal and collective social growth

Environmental Engagement

  • 82% Appreciate nature more (look outdoors for general well-being)
  • 68% Will spend more time outside (great for physical and mental health)
  • 78% Think about the environment differently
  • 80% Will increase conservation behaviors (a positive for their community)
Skyhook Foundation
Skyhook Foundation

Teacher Survey: Student Interest and Learning

 We asked teachers: “To what extent did the camp experience affect each of the following?”

  • 100% Increase in student motivation
  • 75% Increase in interest in science
  • 83% Improved learning of science content