For Parents: Ages, Safety, What You Sign

Youth Med-Surg Discovery

Ages 10 and upFour to six weeks · weekends, ending in a live labFree

A full morning inside a professional medical environment. Students work with real heart and lung tissue, practice 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.

Before the workshop: Your child runs a simulated residency on their own phone. They are the intern on night float: the nurse pages them when their patient changes, and the patient reacts to what they decide — including what they decide not to do. They choose how long it runs, four to six weeks, counting down to the lab day. It is free, it runs in a browser, and there is no app store involved. It is built and being tested and has not yet been run with a cohort, so there is no link here yet. The workshop runs as described either way.
No account, no name, no email: Your child does not create an account and never gives an email address. They pick a callsign and a cohort code. We hold no personal information about your child in it.
When it can reach them: No notification ever arrives overnight. There is no exception and no override on that window — not by your child, not by a teacher, not by us. School hours are held the same way, with one deliberate exception: a teacher running the simulation live in class can open that window for a few hours with a session code, and the overnight window is never touched by it. You can make the quiet window tighter; you cannot be asked to make it wider. While your child is unavailable the ward keeps running — a covering resident manages the patient and hands it back with a written signout.
If they get it wrong: The patient never dies because your child missed something. The team steps in, and your child sees exactly what happened and why. They lose progress, never the patient.
In a classroom: A teacher can run it live with a whole class using a session code. That never switches on phone notifications and can never touch the overnight window.
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.

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.

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.

Global MAPMusicDiscovery program

Music Production Discovery

Ages 12 and upFour to six weeks · weekendsFree

Students build a track from nothing — writing, recording, arranging and mixing it on the same tools working producers use. They learn what a session sounds like from the inside: how a vocal gets tracked, why a mix falls apart, what a producer is listening for. Every student leaves with finished audio that is theirs.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Nothing. Recording, production and monitoring equipment are provided. Students who already write are welcome to bring lyrics or ideas.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Global MAPCulinaryDiscovery program

Culinary Arts Discovery

Ages 10 and upFour to six weeks · weekendsFree

Knife work, heat control, seasoning and plating, taught by people who cook professionally. Students learn to read a recipe like a plan, hold a station, and cook food they would be willing to serve someone. Kitchen safety and sanitation are taught first and enforced throughout.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Nothing. Ingredients, tools and aprons are provided. Closed-toe shoes and hair tied back. Tell us about any food allergy when you register.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Global MAPMoneyDiscovery program

Money Sense & Entrepreneurship

Ages 12 and upFour to six weeks · weekendsFree

The money education most schools no longer teach. Students work through earning, saving, credit, interest and what a paycheck actually looks like after deductions — then build a small business idea and pitch it. They finish able to read a pay stub, a price and an interest rate without guessing.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Nothing. All materials are provided.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Global MAPStudyDiscovery program

School & Studies

Ages 11 and upFour to six weeks · weekendsFree

How to learn, not what to learn. Note-taking that survives a test, reading long material without drowning in it, breaking a project into a schedule, and preparing for exams without an all-nighter. Students bring their own coursework and leave with a system they keep using.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Their own schoolwork — a textbook, a syllabus, an assignment they are stuck on. Everything else is provided.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Global MAPDebateDiscovery program

Intro to Debating

Ages 11 and upFour to six weeks · weekendsFree

Students learn to build an argument, evidence it, deliver it under pressure and take apart someone else’s without taking it personally. They argue both sides of the same question on purpose. It is the fastest way a young person gets comfortable speaking in front of a room.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Nothing. All materials are provided.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Global MAPDanceDiscovery program

Dance Discovery

Ages 7 and upFour to six weeks · weekendsFree

Technique, rhythm and choreography taught by working dancers, building to a piece the group performs together. No experience required and nobody is cut. For a lot of students this is the first room they have been in where moving is the point.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Clothes and shoes they can move in. Everything else is provided.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Speed, Agility & Conditioning

Ages 9–18 · grades 4–12Four to six weeks · weekendsFree

Coached movement training — acceleration, change of direction, footwork, landing mechanics and conditioning — built around how young athletes actually grow. Progressions are scaled to age and training history, not to whoever is already the fastest. It runs as its own program, not as part of anything else.

When it runs: Weekends, over four to six weeks depending on the subject. Register and we email you the dates for the next session as soon as they are set.
What they need: Athletic clothes, training shoes and a water bottle. All equipment is provided.
Supervision: Taught by working professionals with Foundation staff present throughout. No student works unsupervised.
What you sign: The same parental consent and waiver, including photography permission.

Free programs. Real professionals. Limited places.

All ten programs, open to any young person in San Diego County