The Aim High Headlands Environmental Home Program (AH-HEH) provides underserved youth with hands-on habitat restoration experiences that foster environmental awareness, leadership, interpersonal understanding, and ultimately a stewardship ethic that extends into all areas of life.

9th grade students from Aim High's 5-week summer academic program sites spend one week at AH-HEH, the culmination of a three-year curriculum that fosters teamwork and a deep appreciation for community and responsible citizenship. Students from selected SFUSD partner middle schools participate in AH-HEH's environmental program year-round.

The AH-HEH program is a unique partnership between the GGNRA (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) and one of the Bay Area’s most respected education programs. Guided by the Habitat Restoration Team (HRT) of the GGNRA, students and staff propagate native plants and remove invasive species, maintain trails, mitigate erosion and participate in seasonal outplanting. Students also camp, hike, take “solos” (periods of quiet reflection), journal, and learn about ecology and the history of the region from park experts and naturalists.

Part leadership retreat, part service learning project, and part capstone to a multi-year academic experience, the AH-HEH program provides an unequalled opportunity to impact students’ understanding of nature and stewardship. “What is most powerful about the program,” says Founder and Director Richard Lautze, “is the sense of ownership that students feel for their home in Marin County's Tennessee Valley. No longer merely visitors, AH-HEH graduates are park stewards in a chain of service that extends back nearly 20 years.”

Support from the Ayrshire Foundation has been making an impact on Aim High kids and the Tennessee Valley watershed since 2008. As a key funder of the AH-HEH program, the Ayrshire Foundation enables urban kids to access local wilderness areas they have never visited and to experience nature in ways that city life can’t offer. Ayrshire Foundation board member Terry Gamble Boyer is deeply committed to the program, and in 2008, provided leadership support for Aim High to build a yurt in the Tennessee Valley. Thanks to Terry and other key advocates in the community, this Ecology Classroom provides much-needed shelter and storage for the program while serving as an example of sustainable architechture and a touchstone for the sustainability component of the program's curriculum.