Cesar Chavez Organic Gardening Project Blazing With Fun!

Produce was harvested, meals were cooked, rivers were explored, and fires were blazing! In fact, two of the students from this course were able to start a fire using the more difficult bow-drill friction fire method on their first try, a Cottonwood Institute record. Some even made bow drill sets from the native cottonwood and willow trees to take home.

Bonfires, night hikes and heartfelt chats under the stars were not the only things taken home by an awesome bunch of FrontRange Earth Force (FREF) youth leaders. Over four days and three nights in early August, the group camped at Beyond Organic Farm, a unique operation along Four-Mile Creek in north Boulder. Here our gracious host, John Hallett, enlightened us about the principles of sustainable agriculture and its benefits for human health, community vitality, business enterprise and a cleaner planet. Indeed our bodies felt much better after munching on sweet and crunchy carrots throughout the course.

Sun-kissed mornings in the vegetable fields were welcomed by intriguing discussions in the shade about the core values of Cesar Chavez, such as self-empowerment, respect for all life, and celebration of community. The FREF students imagined what it would be like to spend full days farming outside and appreciated where their food comes from. To honor Cesar Chavez’ dedication for farmworkers’ rights and as a thank you to the folks at Beyond Organic, the group picked 50 pounds of beans that were sold at the local Farmer’s Market!

In the afternoons, we played sensory awareness and nature appreciation games, while laughing and learning together. Eventually, the chickens started getting used to our nonsense! An adventurous hike all the way up the creek to a diversion structure allowed us to practice animal tracking and we saw signs of raccoon, deer and fox. We ran back to our base camp through the rain to practice wilderness survival skills, deepening our connection to the outdoors and more fully understanding what to do in a survival situation. We wrapped up the course with FREF students cooking a community meal made with fresh veggies that we harvested that day – yum!

A special thanks goes out to our partners for this project, including Senakhu Donald-Riddick from Front Range Earth Force and their incredible group of youth, John Hallett and John McKenzie from Beyond Organic Farm for giving us this amazing opportunity, and Cottonwood Institute instructors Clark Patton and Kristin Maharg.

To check out a slide show of the project, Click Here.

Thank you Kristin Maharg for writing this article, you rock!

Food Miles

“If every US citizen ate just one meal a week composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.” This statistic from Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle inspired 4th quarter Community Adventure Program students at New Vista High School to examine the environmental impact of food miles.

After researching more about food miles, students wanted to increase an awareness about this issue at their school. They volunteered at Flatirons Neighborhood Farm and Growing Gardens to get tomato plants and worked with a member from Square Foot Gardens to plant square foot tomato plots in the New Vista High School community garden.

To help increase an awareness about food miles at their school, students created educational displays about how to buy foods “in season” and prepared an amazing multimedia presentation for their whole school called, “The Imported Food Blues.” Overall they reached over 300 students, teachers, and staff members through their efforts.

According to one student in the class, “we made a difference in our community. We rose above and saw what the actual problem was and how it broke down into many problems. I have started to recycle everything that I possibly can. I ride the bus to school and ride my bike to the bus stop. I never use Styrofoam, ever. All these are small steps, but if I continue with these steps, a difference will be made. I hope to continue being environmentally friendly and to use what I have learned in this class to help show other people how to make a difference in the future. CAP helped me learn that we need to be aware and that we need to change in positive ways. I hope to take this class again and again. I also hope to go on my own camping trips and use the skills I have learned. CAP was a life-changing experience for me.”

To check out a slide show of this class, including awesome pictures from their overnight camping trips, Click Here.

A Day In The Life Of Our Endangered Wolves Course

What is a day in the life of our Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking course like at Mission:Wolf? It is like nothing else you have experienced. It’s a day of making meals with strangers that have become fast friends. It often starts with feeding the wolves and ends with telling stories around a fire. It will challenge you to work harder and feel more passionately about a cause than you ever thought you could. The Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking course will leave you feeling empowered by new skills and experiences and ready for challenges you never before considered. And that is just the first few days.

Fearlessly lead by their Cottonwood Institute Instructors, Ryan Johns, Clark Patton, and joyful volunteer Torie Salley-Rains, a group of passionate and committed high school students decided to spend a week with us this summer to learn more about wolves and to give back to Mission:Wolf. Their days were full from morning until night. Students spent time feeding the wolves every morning. They helped with all the normal day-to-day activities jumping in right along side the other full-time volunteers as if they had been there all summer. Together the students decided to take on a special project to show their appreciation for what Mission:Wolf does by building the foundation for a 12 foot by 24 foot shed to house the tools Mission:Wolf needs to get through the hard Colorado winters. Throughout the week, they put in a combined 300 hours of service to give back to the wolves and improve their habitat. Impressive!

When students were not directly caring for and interacting with the wolves, students were challenging themselves to learn primitive skills long forgotten by modern society. Many students were successful with starting a fire with only friction and a passion for the skill. Students learned the art of self reliance in the back country while gaining an appreciation for the joy spent making meals together and sharing stories with new friends.

Students learned how to identify animal tracks and tune in their senses to see and hear more in the wild than ever before through didactic lessons, group games, and initiatives. During this trip we were lucky to have an instructor who taught us the art of making traps and snares. No animals were harmed, but some beautiful cardboard box deadfalls were created.

One of this year’s students Angel Cruz said it best “Being able to connect with nature and learn how to interact in the wild with wolves and other animals has taught me that we have an animal inside of us, which make us part of nature. But our eyes are closed and the only way to see is by connecting our self spiritually and mentally.”

This is a course that stays with you when you leave. The experiences and lessons learned form the wolves and the staff at Mission:Wolf are never forgotten. And no one leaves the Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking course without a wolf kiss. What’s a wolf kiss? That is something you have to find out for yourself…….

To check out the slide show from this course, Click Here.

A special thanks goes out to Ryan Johns for writing this article.

Welcome to CAP, Fall 2010!

Hello C.A.P.!  My name is Madeline Bachner and I am the new CAP teacher.  I am so excited to be instructing the CAP class this year!  We are going to have a great time learning about local ecology, natural history and environmental issues, along with survival and outdoor skills.  I cannot wait to see what issue we choose to create a community action project around!  Thanks for your interest in CAP.  Let’s make CAP #26 a great one!

A little bit about me:  I grew up in the Sugar Creek Valley in Western Indiana.  I received a B.A. in biology from Earham College in Richmond IN, in 2002.  I then moved to Maine to live by the ocean (life long dream!) and teach natural history.  I worked with the Chewonki Foundation in Maine for four years leading wilderness trips and teaching with rehabilitated wildlife before getting my Masters of Science in Environmental Education with the Audubon Expedition Institute through Lesley University.  That led me to Jackson, Wyoming and the Teton Science Schools.  I learned to ski, fell in love with the mountains and led wildlife interpretation trips in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.  I moved to Boulder in May to teach CAP and try out a bigger city (while still being close to mountains).  In my free time I telemark ski (if its snowy) and road bike (if it is not), I love hiking, cooking, paddling and playing with my dog.

I am eager to get to know all of you at New Vista……say hi, get involved, leave comments, ask questions and think and act positively!

Yours in adventure,

Madeline

CAP Pre-Course Survey, 1st Quarter 2010

Welcome to the Community Adventure Program. Before we get started, we need to get some feedback about the outdoors, the environment, your community, etc. Please answer this survey honestly and to the best of your ability. The good folks who fund this class use this information to assess the performance of the class and this information will help us acquire new grants. Please Click Here To Take The Survey.

Michael Franti Concert Recycled Art Project

We were honored to be invited to table at the Michael Franti and Spearhead concert at Red Rocks on Saturday, July 31st, 2010.

During the concert, we featured a recycled art project and asked folks to share their thoughts and ideas about changing the world. To keep the project as environmentally friendly as possible, we rescued a piece of cardboard headed for the landfill, people wrote their ideas down on squares of plastic grocery bags which can be recycled, and we decorated the sign with non-toxic paint. Funny posts included, “Munch Organic!”

We would love to hear your thoughts about changing the world, so post a comment and share your ideas as well! Here is how the final project turned out:

A special thanks goes out to Michael Franti, Guerrilla Management, Marc Ross at Rock the Earth for making this opportunity possible and Clark Patton and Min Jung Oh for volunteering at the event.