A clinician showing two students the torso trainer
For parents and guardians

Free programs. Real professionals. Limited places.

Everything you need before you sign your child up: what happens on the day, who supervises them, what ages each program takes, and what you will be asked to sign.

Register your childSee dates
Running now

Three programs, open to any young person in San Diego County

A student in scrubs and cap working a specimen

Youth Med-Surg Discovery

7th grade and upOne day · 4 hoursFree

A full morning inside a professional medical environment. Students work with real heart and lung tissue, practise suturing, run mock operating-room exercises, use microscopes and learn hands-only CPR — rotating through stations run by practicing physician assistants, nurse practitioners, surgeons and anesthesiologists.

What they need
Nothing. Scrub caps, masks, gloves, instruments and all materials are provided.
Supervision
Every station is staffed by a licensed clinician. Adults are present throughout and no student works unsupervised.
What you sign
A parental consent and waiver, including permission for photography. We will send it to you before the day.
Register for the next session
Students painting at easels through the gallery

Intro to Art Discovery

Ages 7 and upOne day · 3 hoursFree

A painting intensive held inside a working commercial gallery in downtown San Diego, taught by exhibiting artists. No experience is required and none is assumed. The day ends with a show of the students’ own work hung in the gallery, with live music. For most of them it is the first time anything they have made has been on a wall.

What they need
Nothing. Canvas, paint and all materials are provided. Clothes that can get paint on them.
Supervision
Taught by professional artists with Foundation staff present throughout.
What you sign
The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.
Register for the next session
A film crew of students shooting a scene in a classroom

Filmmaking Discovery

Ages 12 and upSix weeks · weeklyFree

Six weeks from a blank page to a finished short film screened in front of an audience. Students write, shoot, direct and edit their own work, taught by our founder — an award-winning independent filmmaker — with working crew alongside them. This is a proven program with four years of completed cycles behind it; the Foundation now offers it at no cost, with the curriculum, the crew and professional camera, lighting, sound and editing equipment all made available to the program at no charge.

What they need
Nothing. Cameras, sound equipment, lighting and editing systems are provided. Students who own a laptop are welcome to bring it.
Supervision
Taught by professional crew with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign
The same parental consent and waiver, including permission for photography and for the finished film to be screened.
Register for the next session
Calendar

When the next sessions run

Sessions are announced roughly six weeks ahead and fill quickly, because places are limited by the number of clinicians we can put in a room. Add your name below and we will write to you first.

TBC
Youth Med-Surg Discovery
Grossmont Healthcare District · date to be confirmed
Notify me
TBC
Intro to Art Discovery
Walter Redondo Fine Art Collection · date to be confirmed
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Done
Intro to Art Discovery
Walter Redondo Fine Art Collection · 20 students · 3 hours
Completed
Done
Youth Med-Surg Discovery
Grossmont Healthcare District, La Mesa · 33 students · 4 hours
Completed
Registration

Put your child’s name down

One form for every program. Choose the workshop below — if it has no date yet, register anyway and you go on that program’s list and hear before it is announced publicly. There is never a charge, and we never share your details.

Before the session we email you a parental consent and waiver to sign, covering participation, medical emergency contact and photography. Your place is confirmed once that comes back.
Stay in touch

Hear about the next session first

We announce dates about six weeks ahead and places are limited by how many clinicians and artists we can put in a room. Subscribers hear before anyone else.

Program dates, what we have delivered, and how to take part. A few emails a year, never more. We do not share your address with anyone, and you can unsubscribe from any email. For parents and adults — students should ask a parent to sign up.