JTREE's Outdoor Education Vision and Mission

Inspirations to Action Empower Our Youth

Joshua Tree Residential Education Experience is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to establish and operate a youth-oriented residential environmental education program to: 1) fulfill the park’s long-term education objectives, 2) complement the park’s existing education partnerships and indicatives, and 3) enhance the park’s robust K-12 day-use education program.

With our planet’s ecological future facing many serious uncertainties, it is clear that there is no better cause than supporting efforts to educate today’s youth about the natural world. It’s been widely acknowledged that providing youth outdoor ecological education can increase self-confidence and inspire youth to live healthy, positive and socially engaged lives.

As a newly established nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, JTREE is responding to this opportunity by working to sustainably provide outdoor residential / multi-day youth education experiences. Notably, JTREE will offer the first permanent, multi-day, youth-oriented outdoor education program based in the 20-plus million-acre California Desert region. Meanwhile, we have the opportunity to advance  this initiative through a grant received from the California State Parks & Rec. Read more about our grant program “Adventure Calling Oasis Elementary School.”

In addition to operating the 1-day camp program for Adventure Calling Oasis Elementary School, JTREE will continue to seek funding the the establishment of a multi-day experience inside Joshua Tree National Park (JTNP). JTNP is an iconic outdoor classroom which allows for hands-on inquiry-based learning which will both excite and motivate students. Students will explore the geology of the Mojave Desert, Colorado and Sonoran Deserts; engage in field research projects – such as how plants and animals have adapted to survive in the desert and how the environment supported inhabitants going back to the Pinto culture. Students will be empowered to see how their actions impact their community and the world around them through service-learning projects, such as removing invasive species that threaten the park’s biodiversity.

With its unique national park setting, the proposed program shall capture the imagination of more than 4,000 students per year, or a maximum of 120 participants per week for 18 weeks during the typical spring and fall academic semesters. Such an experience will encourage them to make a difference in society, build self-esteem, enhance ecological knowledge and build 21st-century skills – such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking. The education curriculum is planned to align with the State of California Blueprint for Environmental Literacy, and Next Generation Science Standards, which include science, technology, engineering, art/design, and math education experiences that will provide an immersive, multi-day inquiry-based program the middle school grades.

This Joshua Tree Residential Education Experience will be primarily established, funded, constructed and operated in partnership with the National Park Service at Joshua Tree National Park. The NPS and JTREE have formalized this partnership by signing General and Philanthropic Agreements that outline the roles and responsibilities for each partner. The JTNP / JTREE residential education partnership is the first of its kind in the 20+ million-acre ecologically unique and vulnerable California Desert. It will mostly serve youth from varied backgrounds in the southern California and Nevada region, but a national constituency is expected. A program focus is to serve youth who normally do not have access to outdoor education. Will you join us in this effort to establish a multi-day residential learning experience for youth?