School and Group Programs
Community Outreach and Partnerships
Yosemite Institute partners with national parks and forests and specific schools to ensure equal access to the park.
Project Pluton
Project Pluton was created to bring together three park schools: Wawona, Yosemite Valley, and El Portal, to explore the park and to learn about each other. Even though these students live in close proximity to the park, many do not visit the park often or have the opportunity to learn about their own back yard. Just as a pluton of rock takes years to get uncovered, the students’ potential to become good stewards of the park also begins to be uncovered as they are exposed to the uniqueness of Yosemite National Park.
Project Pluton activities include:
- Visiting popular and hidden/forgotten places in the park
- One annual overnight trip to crane flat or Hetch Hetchy
- Skiing and snowshoeing in the winter
- Thematic Lessons about geology, ecology and park history
WildLink
WildLink is an innovative partnership between Yosemite Institute, Yosemite National Park, and other national parks and forests of the Sierra. Each year, more than 100 culturally diverse high school students from California experience the Sierra Nevada with WildLink. Through WildLink programs, students participate in:
- Wilderness expeditions
- Leadership trainings
- Service projects
- Park internships
WildLink is a holistic program that empowers participants to build connections between their local communities and the wilderness. Through participant outreach, WildLink touches more than 1,100 underserved Californians annually with:
- Classroom and community presentations
- Community service projects
- Park stewardship projects
- Family wilderness weekends
Since 2000, WildLink has opened the Sierra wilderness to the multi-cultural populations living at its doorstep and demonstrated the relevance and benefits of wilderness and public lands for all Americans. To learn more, visit WildLink online.
Sierra national parks and forests worked with us to create WildLink, which includes backpacking, leadership trainings, service projects, and park internships for students in schools from underserved communities.
