America's Greatest Idea By Any Other Name

If you follow the organization formerly referred to as Birthright America on Facebook, you probably got a notification late last week that we have changed our name.  We are excited to officially share our new name, as well as to to provide a bit of the rationale behind that change, now that all the necessary logistics that are required have been completed.

While our mission remains the same, we will now be known as... drum roll, please...

We opted for this new name for several reasons:

• The definition of "breakthrough" touches on both the philosophy of and the goals of our organization.  While it shouldn't be "a sudden, dramatic" discovery that our public National Parks are intended for all of us, regardless of whether we have the financial means to actually be able to experience them, for too long there has been little done to insure that these public lands are, indeed, accessible to all the public.

• For many of the students who have and will attend our programs, exploring these National Parks opens new worlds for them, so their experience "removes a barrier to progress" in terms of what they know and believe may be possible.

• We also liked the idea of our name capturing how children from under served communities get to take a break through America; in other words, they are devoting part of their spring, winter or summer school break to travel through our great country.  Since we often refer to travel in terms of a "break" from our normal daily activity, this secondary meaning resonated with us.

• Finally, for our first two trips, we have taken scholars from two affiliates within the Breakthrough Collaborative.   With Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, we explored Joshua Tree, Sequoia and King Canyon National Parks.  With Breakthrough Miami, we explored Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks.  The Breakthrough Collaborative is committed to equitable access and transformational learning communities, so they are a natural partner for us and our mission to insure that all of America's children can visit - and explore - their National Parks.  It is through such exploration that these young people not only become more confident and educated, but also that they begin feeling a sense of stewardship for our public lands.

In addition to our desire to adopt a new name that more fully realized our mission, we also recognized that there had been some confusion with our original name.  You might recall an earlier post from April of 2018, not long after our nonprofit was first formed, reflecting on the possibility of a name change, as Birthright America was sometimes mistaken with the Birthright Israel foundation which sponsors trips to Israel for young Jewish men and women.  Since our two organizations do share a common belief, which is that exploration of one's country should be considered more of a right than a privilege, we didn't initially find that confusion too worrisome and assumed it would eventually dissipate as people became more familiar with our organization.

What became an even greater concern over the past two years was that some potential supporters thought our name might have misleading political implications.  Since we are an organization that aims to appeal to all Americans who recognize the value of exploring our country's public lands and National Parks, the last thing we would want to do is label ourselves in a way that might send a message that was contrary to that mission.

As we embark on a new decade, we are excited to start a new chapter as Breakthrough America.  You will find our social media accounts in all the familiar places, though you may have to refresh the page a time or two before the new name appears.   If you have been supporting us on Amazon Smile, thank you!  Your support will continue to come to Breakthrough America even if you still see "Birthright America" as your charity of choice.  If you would like to see our new name, simply click on "change the charity" you support and select Breakthrough America as your "new" charity.

We are hopeful that with our new name will come an exciting new group of donors and sponsors who are less confused by our name and more eager than ever to support our mission.

For those of you who have been on board from the start, we thank you for your continued belief in our organization.  Your generosity is what enables children who would otherwise never get to experience our country's majestic National Parks get to do so.  You make all the difference, and we are so grateful for you.  For those of you who are just discovering our nonprofit for the first time, welcome to Breakthrough America. 

Summer of 2018 - Joshua Tree National Park at sunset

Breakthrough SJC students at the Joshua Tree NP visitor center

Breakthrough Miami students explore the Everglades NP visitor center.

Breakthrough Miami students at the remote Dry Tortugas National Park.

On Fire and Flexibility - The Inaugural Birthright America Trip Is a Week Away!

     After approximately ten months of planning, and just a few stumbling blocks along the way, we will take our first group of students to explore a few of our country's magnificent National Parks beginning next Friday, August 10th.  While we will certainly explore Joshua Tree and Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, our final intended destination - Yosemite National Park - currently looks something like this...

Current view of Yosemite Falls from the Yosemite Conservancy webcam

Birthright America was founded with the mission to enable students from financially underprivileged families to explore our country's National Parks and also to learn about them.  Ms. Cynthia Hori, the science teacher who will accompany us on our inaugural trip, has provided the group with a chance to learn about The Ecology of Fire that may cause us to have to make a change to our itinerary if the Ferguson Fire that has been raging since July 13th is not contained soon.  I encourage you to check out her lesson to learn a great deal more about the importance of these headline grabbing fires than you may have ever known.


On a beautiful day, Yosemite looks a bit like the photograph below, taken by Cynthia Hori on a previous trip to the magnificent park, so it is easy to understand why the fire has been devastating to so many, claiming the lives of two firefighters and injuring many more who are attempting to contain it.

While we are reluctant to make a final decision to cancel our visit to Yosemite, we are equally concerned about bringing students into an area with such poor air quality.   Therefore, we find ourselves checking several times a day the National Park Service's website for information regarding the current state of the park and the fire that threatens it.

Meanwhile, we continue to provide learning opportunities for the students.  In our virtual Google classroom meet students in San Juan Capistrano, a science teacher in Utah and a humanities teacher in Florida.  In addition to our recent science lessons, we have learned about John Muir, discussed some of our favorite nature themed poetry, and analyzed why some citizenship ceremonies take place in National Parks.  We will all meet up in person exactly one week from today, when we have one final evening meeting with the students' parents and go over their packing list one last time.  On Friday, August 10th, we will head out to Joshua Tree at sunset and the Sky's the Limit Observatory for a preview of the Perseid Meteor Shower.  After the following morning in the park, we will head to Sequoia and Kings Canyon, where students will hike, paint, take photographs and learn about the mighty sequoia trees.

Whether we will be able to experience Yosemite on this trip remains to be seen.  Safety is, of course, our first priority, so we will opt for an exploration of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and an extra day in and around Cannery Row, learning about John Steinbeck, and Monterey, where we will visit the famed Monterey Bay Aquarium, if time spent in Glacier Bay and Mariposa Grove does not appear to be in the stars for this trip.

An August star chart to help the students decipher the sky above them.

To share the excitement, please follow us on Instagram and Facebook, where we will post regularly during the trip.  We will also share students' words and images, as many of them experience these national treasures for the very first time.  We look forward to sharing with you all our adventures!

What's in a Name?

As Shakespeare once famously said, and I paraphrase, a nonprofit by any other name still fulfills its mission.

In the past several months, the first of 2018, several changes have occurred for Birthright America, but its name has not yet been one of them.  First, after an unexpected change in the leadership team of Breakthrough Miami caused them to have to delay their trip with us, we partnered with Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano.

Next, with our students now coming from California, a shift from Yellowstone and Grand Teton to Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, and Yosemite, the great national parks within the state of California, became a natural decision for this inaugural trip.

Finally, with our new partners, a change in date from June to August became essential.  Details about our August trip can be found on our website.

These shifts have all been exciting, allowing me to meet and work with the wonderful team at Breakthrough SJC and their amazing students, who have just completed the application process for the trip.

As we've navigated these changes during the past three months, I have had the chance to have many conversations with potential sponsors, donors and applicants, and I've begun to notice some common questions about the name of our organization, which leads me to today's blog post.

While Birthright America has absolutely no connection with Birthright Israel, aside from a similar desire to provide travel opportunities for young people, there are some who mistakenly believe the two organizations are related.  We are not.  In fact, Birthright America has no religious affiliation whatsoever.  Over the coming years, we hope to bring students from all different backgrounds to explore America's national parks.

The other question some have had was whether we are connected to any movements regarding citizenship and immigration.  Again, we are not.

Birthright America was founded on a basic principle - that young people living in America, regardless of their financial resources, should have the opportunity to visit and explore the national parks that have been protected and preserved for the appreciation and enjoyment of us all.  When I chose the name, I was thinking of the following definition of the word birthright - "a natural or moral right, possessed by everyone."   Since enjoying the national parks in America is supposed to be just such a right, I chose the name, along with the tag line that "America's best idea just got better," as a reference to Ken Burns' wonderful documentary about the history of our national park system.

In recent months, I have considered changing the name to something that might cause less confusion, but I've yet to settle on something I like better.  Still, I'm certainly open to suggestions!

Meanwhile, I've started a Go Fund Me campaign to spread the word further about our little nonprofit and its big mission with the hopes that the more people who learn about us, the more people will want to do their small part to help provide opportunities for children who otherwise wouldn't be able to explore these parks the chance to do so.  The good news is that the campaign is trending, with over 81 shares on Facebook alone in just a single day.  The disappointing news is that despite all those shares, only six people have donated, all of whom have donated in the past.

What would make this campaign a huge success in my estimation is if new donors would show their support for the idea and for the students who will be heading to Yosemite this August.  No donation should be considered too small.  Consider today Minimum wage Monday and donate $7.25 (the national minimum wage) or $11.00 (the minimum wage in California).  This week there could be $10 Tuesday,  Whatever Feels Right Wednesday, $1,000 Thursday, and $50 Friday.  The amount matters far less than your support does.

So... what's in a name?  I hope not the difference between your willingness to donate or not.  After all, your financial support, regardless of the amount, smells sweet, indeed.

Thanking Our Donors for Planting the Roots of Birthright America

When it came time for Birthright America to create donor recognition societies, it seemed only natural to turn to the many exotic and impressive trees found in America's national forests and parks to find inspiration for the names of those societies.

I turned first to my own memories (and photographs) of my family's visits to Washington and California...

Then we researched some of the most rare and impressive trees that can be found in America's national forests, preserves and parks to select the names for the rest of the societies.   Since Birthright America was founded in Florida, with many of our initial donors coming from this state, it also seemed appropriate to have the Mangrove Society represent those early supporters.

Birthright America eventually plans to take students to parks all around the country, so we wanted to be sure to represent trees from a wide variety of places throughout America, so you will find trees found near volcanoes in Hawaii and from a preserve in South Carolina among our named societies.

Finally, since part of our mission is to educate students while providing them with the opportunity to explore their national parks, the chance to provide some interesting facts and information to Birthright America's donors was the final factor considered when selecting each name.

So, without any further ado, a look at the trees inspiring the donor recognition societies:

Mangrove Society: 

Known for offering the first line of protection during a hurricane, mangroves can be found throughout Florida, especially in Everglades National Park.

Sitka Spruce Society:

The staggering Sitka Spruce trees love the damp and mild climate of the Pacific Northwest, making the Hoh Rain Forest the perfect home for them.

'Ohi'a Society:

The 'Ohi'a Lehua (pronunciation can be found here) tree has particular importance in Hawaii and has recently become vulnerable to a fast spreading disease in the past few years.

Education is essential in helping to protect these colorful trees that are usually the first to grow on new lava flows.

Laurel Oaks Society:

Congaree National Preserve is the home of many champions, the largest known tree of its species, including the Laurel Oak.

Lodgepole Pines Society:  

The most common tree found in Yellowstone National Park, the destination for Birthright America's inaugural trip in June of 2018, the lodgepole pine thrives in the sun.

Bristlecone Pines Society:

Considered among the oldest trees on earth, the ones found in Great Basin National Park in Nevada are over 3,000 years old!

Sequoias Society:

Our trip to Yosemite and the iconic California "tunnel tree," in Mariposa Grove, home to the 1800 year old Grizzly Giant, among hundreds of sequoias, made a lasting impression.

Redwoods Society: 

Long considered the most awe-inspiring of the many trees found in national forests, the Redwood can be damaged by "too much love."  Still, appreciating this majestic tree in a way that also preserves it is an experience to be treasured.

Here's to the many donors who are planting the roots that will enable Birthright America to grow and flourish.  Donor Recognition Societies are just one way we can show our gratitude, which is as immense as a champion sequoia.

The Gift of Travel

First, a very Happy Holidays from Birthright America!

If you have read about how and why Birthright America was founded, it will come as no surprise that the image serving as the  picture for our first holiday postcard comes from my family's first trip to Yellowstone and a moment that crystallized for me why the national parks must be shared with all.

Yes, there are certain lands in this country that are protected as public lands, yet that does not mean that they are equally accessible to all the public.  Creating an organization that would make its mission to insure that all America's children can explore their national parks was a dream born as I watched my Floridian children play in the snow, off Beartooth Highway, that June afternoon so many years ago, when Yellowstone in the summer became an impromptu winter wonderland.

Now that we are thick into the planning of Birthright America's inaugural trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton this coming June of 2018, we are also deep into the fundraising phase.  This morning we received a generous donation from Pediatric Associates, an association of pediatricians that has been serving Florida since I was their patient many decades ago.  My own children have been their patients for the past two decades.

Receiving donations from friends, family, colleagues and professional associates is gratifying beyond measure.  Since nonprofits traditionally have difficulty securing grants during their first couple of years, the philanthropy of individuals and the support and sponsorship of companies becomes the fuel that enables nonprofits to thrive until they can successfully procure grant money in subsequent years.  Therefore, the support of companies such as Pediatric Associates will enable a student who otherwise would not have been able to explore Yellowstone National Park the opportunity to do so.

As you light the candles on the menorah or the kinara, trim the Christmas tree, or celebrate the holiday season in myriad other ways, do consider making philanthropy a part of your holiday tradition.  The Miami Herald's Wish Book has been part of our family's philanthropic tradition for years.  This year, we will add donations to Breakthrough Miami and Birthright America.  

Whether you have supported the same nonprofit for a very long time, look to support new organizations that foster missions in which you deeply believe, or have never before thought to make a donation as part of your holiday giving tradition, perhaps this year you might imagine a young man or woman who has never ventured outside of Miami suddenly coming upon the staggering vistas in Yellowstone and Grand Teton.  What greater gift could you ever give?

Photograph of Grand Teton Range by Schwabacher Landing
by Cynthia Hori, science teacher and chaperone on Birthright America's inaugural trip

We thank you for your support and wish you a very happy holiday season and a joyous New Year!

Feeling Grateful on this #Thanksgiving Eve

On the eve of Thanksgiving, as the founder and president of Birthright America, I have much for which to be grateful.

From those who have discovered us on social media to friends and family to potential business partners, all have greeted - with support and enthusiasm - the idea of a non-profit company with a mission to ensure that all children can visit their national parks.  In just over two months, Birthright America went from a concept to a 501c3 nonprofit organization readying to accept its first applications and take its first group of students to Yellowstone and Grand Teton in the summer of 2018.

In this post, I would like to introduce you to two of our key partners, companies and people with whom I am very proud to associate Birthright America.

Rising 10th grade students from Breakthrough Miami will be Birthright America's first travelers.  Working with CEO Aubrina Mumford and Managing Program Director Lauren Kellner Rudolph to fine-tune the curriculum and partner on grant applications is an ongoing pleasure.  From my years at Miami Country Day, one of the five host sites where Breakthrough scholars take enrichment classes on Saturdays throughout the school year and during the summer, I know firsthand the great work they do.  Their 1200+ scholars take full advantage of Breakthrough's goal "to help our scholars 'break through' the social, cultural and economic barriers to high achievement."   Therefore, I am extremely grateful for the honor to provide some of those scholars with the opportunity to "break through" the barriers that keep so many from fully exploring our country's national parks.

To make this inaugural trip an extraordinary experience for our students, I reached out to Jeff Shulmin, Director of Putney Student Travel.  Jeff and I share the goal for our students to "be travelers, not tourists," so I knew Putney was the ideal partner for Birthright America.   Despite having their own robust slate of programs, in addition to noteworthy collaborations with National Geographic and The New York Times, Jeff and his team got right to work to create a meaningful  journey for Birthright America, one that will enable our scholars to live the curriculum they will have begun learning in the classroom this coming April.   For their expertise, their passion, and their collaboration, I am enormously grateful to the team at Putney Student Travel for helping to bring this trip to life.

On this Thanksgiving eve, through meaningful collaboration with some truly remarkable people, Birthright America is ready to make a profound difference in the lives of children.  For this I am enormously grateful.

The Craft of Creating Impactful Curriculum

In addition to providing the opportunity to travel to and explore the national parks, Birthright America will prepare its students to fully appreciate and enhance their experience through an ongoing classroom and distance learning component.  Experiential learning may be a buzz word in education these days, but for lifelong educators, it is the substance of most of the meaningful work we accomplish with students.

As an educator for twenty-five years, creating impactful curriculum is something I love to do.  Understanding what students will enjoy and how to translate that enjoyment to deep learning is my passion.  Therefore, creating the curriculum to accompany the students' first trip to Yellowstone and Grand Teton has been one of the most rewarding (and easiest) parts of getting this first trip planned.

Below are some of the contenders being considered.  In addition to studying excerpts from books and documentaries about the parks, students will study photography and science, historic documents and current events, as well as learn some practical tips about traveling they may not have known before.

Partnering with me in creating the curriculum is Cynthia Hori, a science teacher I have known since we worked together at Miami Country Day School.  Her ability to make students excited about science inside a classroom is dwarfed only by her own passion for experiential learning in the national parks.

Of course, there will be ample opportunities for additional lessons in health and physical education, as students go horseback riding, rafting and hiking through the parks.  

Needless to say, having a classroom without walls is one thing; having Yellowstone and Grand Teton as your classroom is something else entirely!  Most students are excited for the school year to end and summer vacation to begin.  Those lucky students who travel with us next June will be eager for the school year to end in order for the experiential learning to begin.

Books on all of the national parks...

Books on the Grand Canyon...

Books on Yellowstone...

Just for fun...

If you are familiar with any of the books featured here, or have other suggestions you would like to share, please leave a comment below or contact me through the website.  

As the detailed itinerary for the trip is finalized, we will share that planning process here as well.  In the classroom next May and throughout the trip, the students will share their questions and insights, which will be shared with you all.

Through this blog, I hope that labels such as experiential and distance learning become concepts that the non-educator comes to understand and appreciate.  Tying the traditional work of classroom learning to the 21st century educational expectations of getting students out of the classroom, effectively using technology as a tool, to become creative and critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and innovators, is as much Birthright America's goal as the mission of providing these students with the opportunity to visit their National Parks.   

Thank you for your ongoing interest and support.  To make a profound difference in a child's life, you can donate here.