Oakland Goes Outdoors & OUSD Celebrate 1,000th Student Outdoor Experience with Redwood Park Trip during Earth Week

Oakland Goes Outdoors (OGO), which through Oakland Unified School District takes students into the wilderness across the Bay Area, will mark a major accomplishment on Thursday, April 23, as it facilitates its 1,000th outdoor learning experience for Oakland students. The trip will take more than 100 eighth grade students from Frick United Academy of Language to Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park for a day of hiking, exploration, and hands-on learning in one of Oakland’s most iconic natural landscapes.

This milestone reflects OGO’s mission to ensure all Oakland students have access to meaningful, curriculum-aligned time outdoors during the school day. Since launching in 2018, the program has grown from a small pilot into a districtwide initiative serving thousands of students annually, removing barriers by covering transportation, gear, and program costs so entire classes can participate together in these experiences during the school day throughout the year. 

More than 18,000 students have participated to date, many for the first time exploring nearby parks, forests, and shorelines and experiencing them as spaces for learning, connection, and joy. In the 2024–25 school year alone, OGO facilitated 268 nature-based learning experiences across 23 school sites, serving more than 6,200 students from kindergarten through 12th grade, with a particular focus on middle school students at a critical stage in their development. The 1,000th trip represents not just a remarkable accumulation of outdoor education, but a sustained commitment to equity, access, and students belonging in nature.

During the April 23 trip, students will hike and do team-building activities while deepening their understanding of natural habitats and water systems in Oakland. The experience will reinforce classroom learning about the water cycle and expands students’ knowledge of native plants and animals in the region. By connecting academic content to real-world observation, the trip will bring science to life while fostering curiosity, confidence, and peer connection.

“Reaching our 1,000th trip is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when schools, partners, and communities come together to prioritize outdoor learning,” said Oakland Goes Outdoors Executive Director Kaitlin Levenstrong. “Each experience creates space for all our students to learn about, connect to, and see themselves as part of the natural world that surrounds them. It is especially fitting and serendipitous that this milestone falls during Earth Week, a time dedicated to celebrating and protecting the places our students are exploring. This milestone reflects the collective effort of a community committed to the belief that every young person deserves access to the outdoors.”

Many of the schools OGO partners with are located in East and West Oakland neighborhoods where access to safe, nearby green space can be limited. OGO addresses this gap by integrating outdoor learning into the school day, providing consistent, developmentally aligned experiences that support health and well-being, academic enrichment, and lasting connections to local parks and to one another. In a region known for its natural beauty, this celebratory moment also raises an important question: who has access to these spaces, and how can that access be expanded for all young people and their communities.

“We know that students growing up in urban cities such as Oakland can have limited access to wilderness, so many reach adulthood without having built a bond with our natural world,” said OUSD Superintendent Dr. Denise Saddler. “Research shows that when students have these experiences, their worldviews expand, their appreciation for our earth grows, their stress levels are reduced, their health and well-being improve, and what they learn in the classroom coalesces more easily because they can tie it to what they have seen and experienced in nature. We celebrate this 1,000th trip with Oakland Goes Outdoors and all of our students who benefit every year.”