Project overview: Partner with youth-serving organizations to help Bay Area middle school students connect with nature and public lands through digital photography, hikes, and camping trips. Parks in Focus is a Udall Foundation program. 

How your support helps: Photography helps people see nature in new ways. With a camera in hand, you can zero in on a butterfly wing or see patterns in a vast landscape of mountains and valleys — noticing shapes, colors, and textures that wouldn’t otherwise catch your eye. And slowing down to frame a shot can create space for other senses to pick up the drumbeat of a distant woodpecker or the scent of fresh sap.  

For participants in Parks in Focus, cameras become a core tool for observing, learning about, and experiencing nature. Program managers work with San Francisco Bay Area youth organizations to help middle school youth from underserved and underrepresented communities explore and connect with the outdoors through photography. For many participants, the Parks in Focus five-day summer camping trip is their first time hiking, camping, or visiting a national park. Support from Yosemite Conservancy donors during the past decade has helped more than 260 students spend time in the park. 

Parks in Focus helps kids feel comfortable and empowered outside, while giving them space to express their creativity. Throughout their time in Yosemite, students use digital cameras as a tool for creativity and outdoor exploration. They also meet with rangers and photographers, tour The Ansel Adams Gallery, and complete stewardship projects. At the end of each year, students have the chance to see their work in a slideshow, in a calendar, and displayed on gallery walls through special exhibits in Yosemite Valley and at Bay Area venues.  

This year: In 2025, your support will provide free Parks in Focus programming for up to 36 Bay Area middle schoolers in the park through a five-day camping experience and other educational activities. Photo exhibits, publications, and family events are planned to celebrate the students’ achievements and showcase their artwork. This year, we also plan to host another in-person Parks in Focus Train-the-Trainer curriculum training for NPS staff, volunteers, and other partners. 

Read our “Growing Heroes” blog post from 2017 for a behind-the-scenes look at a Parks in Focus summer in Yosemite. 

Project partners: Yosemite National Park, Udall Foundation, Western National Parks Association, The Ansel Adams Gallery, Boys and Girls Clubs of the Peninsula, Real Options for City Kids, and Sequoia YMCA 

Laura Goforth

Interpretation and Education, Yosemite National Park

Project Notes

"Thanks to the support of Yosemite Conservancy, we have been able to sustain and improve our annual Parks in Focus program at Yosemite each summer since the program's inception in 2010."