Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.)

How old is R.O.C.K.? ✨3️⃣0️⃣✨ As we close out 2024, we thought it was only fitting to share the sweet, energetic, and downright hilarious comments from our students in celebration of our 30th anniversary. Happy birthday, felicidades, and congratulations, R.O.C.K.! Thanks for celebrating 30 years with us in 2024, and here's to an even more impactful 2025! From our R.O.C.K. family to yours, have a safe, healthy, and prosperous New Year! 🎉 #HappyNewYear #NewYearsEve #30YearsOfROCK #Congratulations

What does it feel like to complete the 18-mile Crosstown Trail? Like we’re on top of the world! 🥾🌁💫 Our second annual R.O.C.K.-a-Thon was a huge success thanks to our stellar community. We had 31 people walk with us, and we’ve raised $1,455–double what we raised in 2024! We’re so excited to keep growing this event and sharing the joy of the Crosstown Trail with the Bay Area 🫶 Special shoutout to Bob and Ken from Crosstown Trail, Kellie and the team at Mission Blue, Fran from the Visitacion Valley Greenway, and everyone who walked or donated. You made 18 miles feel like a party! 🎉 See you all next year! #ROCKaThon #CrosstownTrail #SanFrancisco #UrbanHike #Community #YouthDevelopment #Walkathon #Fundraiser

On June 1, R.O.C.K.'s Associate Director of Development, Hayley Walker, MNA, completed the iconic Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon! After nearly two decades of R.O.C.K.'s charity partnership with the world-renowned race, Hayley became the first R.O.C.K. staff to take on this grueling challenge. Not only did Hayley complete Escape, she also earned bragging rights because this was her very first triathlon! 🏃♀️🚴♀️ 🏊♀️🏅 Check out this episode of #ROCKwrap to learn about Hayley's journey from race partner to race finisher, how the support from the Athena Triathlete community and fellow racers gave her the extra push she needed to cross the finish line, and what completing this triathlon means to her personally. Congratulations on this incredible achievement, Hayley! We are so proud of you! #EscapeAlcatrazTri #Triathlon #Triathlete #CharityPartner #SanFrancisco

Thanks to our friends at Bon Appétit Management Company, our elementary and middle school students went on field trips to STEM Kitchen & Garden for some outdoor cooking adventures! As participants in Bon Appétit’s Healthy Kids program, our students had the opportunity to explore the garden and prepare two garden-to-table meals, which included from-scratch pizza and rainbow fruit kabobs 🍓🍊🍏🍇🍉🍈 Thank you Bon Appétit and STEM for hosting us, we had a blast!

🥾 Get ready to lace up your hiking boots (or your sneakers 👟) and join us for our second annual Crosstown Trail R.O.C.K.-a-Thon! In collaboration with the Crosstown Trail, Visitacion Valley Greenway, and Mission Blue, we're excited to invite you to experience the iconic 18-mile San Francisco Crosstown Trail as we raise funds for the 900 youth we serve each year. 📍 Highlights include the Visitacion Valley Greenway, where you'll meet some R.O.C.K. friends and Greenway volunteers, as well as trails through Glen Canyon and Laguna Honda, tiled staircases, the Presidio, and Baker Beach. Finish it off at Lands End and celebrate your huge accomplishment 🌁 ✨ RSVP at https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/gSvYvpcU (sliding scale tickets available) and join us as we #WalkForROCK! #ROCKaThon #UrbanHike #SanFrancisco #Walkathon #Community

For the past two years, we have had the wonderful opportunity to partner with Kristi Yamaguchi's Always Dream. Always Dream provides our TK and kindergarten students with tablets, books, and curriculum to encourage family reading. Thanks to this amazing program, on average our families read over 200 hours each month! To celebrate the success of our students and families, Kristi and the Always Dream team joined us at El Dorado Elementary for an end of year Always Reading event. Kristi read her book, "Cara's Kindess," to our students, and everyone received a certificate and some yummy treats. Thank you, Always Dream, for your dedication to early childhood literacy! We are so grateful for your partnership! #Literacy #NonprofitPartner #EarlyChildhoodLiteracy #Impact #Reading

Thank you Alaska Airlines for helping the TK and K students at El Dorado Elementary soar through a year of reading with Always Dream! ✈️ Alaska Airlines sponsored one of the classrooms at El Dorado this school year, and joined in on the fun at our end of year Always Reading celebration by reading a story about Amelia Earhart. We’re also grateful to our partners at Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.) for making our work at El Dorado possible. As we know, literacy is the foundation of pursuing dreams...like maybe even becoming a pilot one day! #AlwaysDream #AlaskaAirlines #alaskacares #ROCKSF #earlyliteracy #bigdreams #familyreading

A heartfelt thank you to our incredible partner, Kristi Yamaguchi's Always Dream, for visiting El Dorado Elementary this week to read to our youngest learners as we celebrate the end of the school year. 📚💫 In collaboration with Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.) we've shared a meaningful year of literacy partnership — sparking curiosity, building confidence, and cultivating a lifelong love of reading. We are so grateful for your time and commitment to supporting our students. Here's to the power of reading and the community partnerships that make it possible!

In 2024, R.O.C.K.'s Board of Directors approved a sabbatical for our Executive Director, Curt Yagi. At the same time, our Board and Executive Leadership Team worked to introduce a sabbatical policy for all R.O.C.K. management staff. After 10 years of service at R.O.C.K., our Director of Programs, Gina Patterson, has returned from her month-long sabbatical feeling refreshed, renewed, and ready to dive back into the important work we do. Check out this episode of R.O.C.K. Wrap to hear about Gina's sabbatical and what she learned while she was away. As we continue to prioritize the wellbeing and growth of our staff, we are inspired by Gina's dedication to her physical, mental, and spiritual health. We're glad you had a great sabbatical, Gina! But... we're glad that you're back because we missed you so much!

We're excited to share that R.O.C.K. is featured in a special Impact Spotlight 💡 from UpMetrics! For 30 years and counting, R.O.C.K. has been a steady hand and joyful presence for youth in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley. From after-school programs to summer adventures, we are dedicated to creating consistent, caring spaces for kids to learn, play, and grow. We’re grateful to have our story featured in UpMetrics' Impact Spotlight series—because equitable opportunity should never be a roll of the dice. 🎲 Dive into how R.O.C.K. is helping youth rise → https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.phubs.la/Q03gGKQn0 #ImpactSpotlight #YouthDevelopment #UpMetrics #SocialImpact