Detroit Outdoors has taken a group of students and teachers to Yosemite National Park for the second time. 

The Detroit to Gloryland journey is designed to introduce youth to outdoor activities like camping and rock climbing and pick up on some history.

The group travels to Yosemite in late July so they are in there during National Buffalo Soldier Day, and within reach of the park system’s expert on the history of Buffalo Soldiers in the park.

Shelton Johnson is a native Detroiter, an alum of Cass Technical High School and a park ranger. He has worked to collect the narratives of the Black and other non-white soldiers who served as Yosemite’s first rangers and share their individual and collective stories. 

WDET’s Sascha Raiyn got to travel with the students both years. You can hear stories from the first Detroit to Gloryland trip and learn more about Shelton Johnson in 2024 here.

'Gloryland' veterans speak

It was Cass Tech High School Junior Tiffany Orr’s first-time camping and first-time in Yosemite. She interviewed the 3 students who came on the trip for a second time: Jaiden Nedd, Cameron Thomas and Arcia Quinn.

Expressing Yosemite: a poet's guide to being in nature

Poet and author Jacqueline Suskind traveled with the students. Suskind’s work focuses on her relationship to nature – and on teaching others to explore their own relationships to nature — through writing.

Students had an inside guide to Yosemite this year

Robel Fessehatzion is a landscape photographer who works at and with Yosemite National Park.

He met the students who traveled from Detroit to Yosemite on the 2024 trip.

This year, Fessehatzion introduced the students to the people, places and history that shape his relationship to Yosemite.

He also gave them a little lesson in landscape photography.

A look at how Detroit Outdoors gets it done

Moving more than 20 people across the country to camp — many for the first time — is a big undertaking. We take a look at the logisitcs of the trip.

'Gloryland' first-timers speak

Sascha Raiyn gave her recorder to Pershing student Eva Effinger and Hamtramck High grad Nora Algahaim. They interviewed each other — on the one night the campers had very loud neighbors. They talked about their first camping experience and starting the trip not feeling so well.

To learn more and see photos of the experience, check out the Detroit Outdoors Instagram account. 

Michigan’s teachers’ unions will gather in Lansing Wednesday in an effort to get lawmakers to pass a budget.

The American Federation of Teachers-Michigan and Michigan Education Association “lobby day” happens just a week before the state deadline to pass a budget. Public schools, community colleges and public universities have started the academic year without information about their funding. 

If the Republican House and Democratic Senate don’t agree on a budget by October 1, the state government could shut down.

AFT President Randi Weingarten will discuss state and federal education issues at a public education town hall at Eastpointe High School Monday.

Additional headlines for Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Detroit schools recognized for reducing absenteeism

Pulaski Elementary-Middle School in Detroit has had the biggest decrease in chronic absenteeism in the state. Chalkbeat Detroit is reporting that chronic absenteeism at the school has dropped more than 47.5 percentage points in the last six years.

In a report released last week, 14 of the top 15 schools with the most success in addressing the problem were Detroit schools.

The state considers students who miss about 18 days of the typically 180 day school year chronically absent.

Applications open for entrepreneurial Trailhead program

The Arab American Chamber of Commerce Tejara Innovation Hub has opened applications for its Trailhead program. The 6-week course provides support for new and aspiring entrepreneurs with up to a thousand dollars in funding and $2500 in support services.

Applications close October 7.

National Public Lands Day

Entrance to Michigan’s National Parks is free on Saturday in honor of National Public Lands Day.

National Parks in Michigan include Isle Royal and Pictured Rocks in Lake Superior and Sleeping Ber Dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan. River Raisin National Battlefield Park in Monroe is the closest national park to Detroit.

Mountain Bike Ramble

The Friends of Rouge Park are hosting the third annual Mountain Bike Ramble October 11 from noon to 5 p.m. at Tireman and Outer Drive.

Rouge has the only mountain bike trail in the city and started the event in 2023 to give youth and inexperienced riders a chance to learn from seasoned mountain bike riders.

The event is free. Bikes and helmets are provided, as are hot chocolate and snacks.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.