H

igh school dropouts finding purpose. Quiet gang members opening up to a crowd after a night under the stars. Image-conscious teenage girls letting their hair down to slide down waterfalls. Eight-year-olds realizing that they are on their first adventure.

  • Andrew Lindsey leads a student down a bluff toward the beach.

These are all true tales from the Wilderness Youth Project, a nonprofit launched in Santa Barbara 20 years ago to take our desk-bound children outside and teach them all of the wonderful lessons offered by the classroom of nature. Through after-school programs, summer camps, and more, WYP (pronounced “whip”) was quickly embraced by Santa Barbara parents seeking to open their kids’ eyes to the great outdoors.