Programs

How do we facilitate the bond and the love that will inspire ongoing stewardship for Angel Island?

We believe that learning opportunities extend far beyond the classroom, but many schools find it more and more difficult to bring students to museums, historical sites, and cultural organizations. And it’s even more challenging when your destination is an island in the middle of San Francisco Bay. Our field trip grants help give children these unique, firsthand learning experiences.

American Civil War Living History School Program (ELP)

The Overnight Living History Program (also known as the Environmental Living Program or ELP) gives students a chance to role-play the life of Union artillery soldiers stationed at Camp Reynolds on Angel Island during the Civil War. Through hands-on experience, students learn what life was like for 24-hours in a typical soldier's day, including activities such as baking bread and finishing with a cannon firing before they depart. (A mandatory Teacher Training Weekend is held in September)

Program Capacity: 20-44 People (No more than 11 adults)
Program Length: 24 hours
Program Availability: September to mid-June.

Appropriate for 4th, 5th, and 8th grade levels.

Additional Information:
Plan for a 30-minute walk one-way (1 mile) to the site from Ayala Cove. Applications go out in early spring for the following school year. For more information about this program, contact the program coordinator at: elpp.angelisland@parks.ca.gov

The ELP Manual can be found HERE.

If you would like to support the Living History Program, visit our join+give page!

TITLE-1 SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The Programs Committee runs AIC's Title-1 School Scholarship Program to help bring low-income schools to this island on field trips. If you are from a Title-1 School please apply by following this link and filling out the form.

Angel Island Field Trip Scholarship Application

To date, because of generous donations from individuals and Corporate grants, AIC has awarded "scholarships" to over 2,000 students and their 360 chaperones.

PURPOSE:

Angel Island Conservancy (AIC) seeks to engage, educate, and inspire the next generation of youth through its Student Service-Learning Scholarship Program.

This program enables disadvantaged youth from qualifying low-income Title I schools to visit Angel Island State Park for educational and recreational purposes, as well as to participate in volunteer service opportunities in which they help to restore and maintain this unique environment.

OUTCOME:

The desired outcome of this program is to develop an awareness, appreciation, and a connection to nature and history, and to provide a hands-on experience contributing to restoring and maintaining, and hopefully sparking a desire to continue caring for one of the Bay Area’s most treasured resources.

The Scholarship Programs are run by Angel Island State Park Interpreters and include the following choices:

- Tour of the United States Immigration Station
- Camp Reynolds Guided Tour
- Fort McDowell Guided Tour
- Explorer’s Tour in Ayala Cove

RESERVATIONS:

Please contact the Angel Island State Park Tour Coordinator

(415) 435-5537 or email them at Tours.AngelIsland@parks.ca.gov

Volunteer Service Projects

Volunteer groups play an increasingly important role in enhancing, maintaining, and restoring our California State Parks. At Angel Island State Park, we welcome your interest and support in caring for the Island’s environment while preserving its history. Please contact the park if you have a group of 15 or more people, ages 12 years or older who would like to do a one-day volunteer project. Projects will be chosen based on park needs and staff availability. One adult for every 5 youth is required. All tools provided.

CONTACT & INFO:

Please reach out to us at tours.angelisland@parks.ca.gov or 415-435-5537 and provide us with the following:

-Group name

-Requested Date

-Alternate Date

-Number of youth

-Number of adults

-Grade level

-Ferry (Tiburon or San Francisco)

-If group is planning to stay for the day only or camping overnight

If camping please make a site reservation through www.reservecalifornia.com before requesting a service project. Please share the date of arrival and date of departure with us.

PORTS Virtual Field Trips

Program Topic: Immigration Stories told from Angel Island State Park

General Description: The walls of the detention barracks at the US Immigration Station, Angel Island are filled with poetry, written and carved by immigrants expressing their feelings of frustration, anger, and hope.

Historically called the “Guardian of the Western Gate” by staff, the U.S. Immigration Station, second in size only to Ellis Island in New York, was built to enforce immigration laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act. People from over 80 countries, were detained on Angel Island between 1910-1940, the largest groups were immigrants from China, Japan, Russia, and India.

Students go on a virtual tour of the detention barracks and learn about the people, poetry, and history of immigration on Angel Island.

To learn more visit the California State Park website at www.parks.ca.gov/ports