West Denver Prep Students Embark On A New Adventure

To help launch the Cottonwood Institute‘s year-long Three Trees and a River Project, a group of adventurous 6th graders from West Denver Prep braved the cool mountain air for a special fall weekend camping trip. Despite the fact that many students had never been camping before, they jumped right in to an action packed weekend with activities designed to connect with nature, practice wilderness survival skills, and hone their leadership skills.

With gusts of snow falling on the surrounding peaks, the group stayed dry while practicing sensory awareness skills through camouflage and predator-prey games and exploring native trees in the valley. After giving thanks that the recent fire ban was lifted, students gathered wood and learned several different techniques for making fire. Aspen leaves swirled around us as one student tirelessly worked on his one-match bundle, repeating encouraging words, “to live, or live not.” Indeed shelter and warmth is a top survival priority and we all rejoiced as the flames grew higher!

A highlight for the enthusiastic bunch just before Halloween was the haunted night hike where we used our night vision to explore an abandoned cabin. A forest friend hooted at us in the distance and the students responded to the great horned owl by the light of a full moon. All spooks aside, the next day we returned from a sit spot activity and found a patch of Osha root to harvest for a medicinal post-lunch tea. For this group, learning outside was a breeze and we thanked our new circle of friends for sharing stories and lots of laughs.

In particular, we are grateful for West Denver Prep for making this opportunity available to their students and to their teacher Leigh Garrison for spearheading this program at their school. Cottonwood instructors Clark Patton, Kristin Maharg and instructor-in-training Tim Joynt did an excellent job putting together a phenomenal course. Finally, we would like to thank all of the participants and donors from the 2010 Cornhole Throwdown who helped raise money for this project.

To check out a slide show of our weekend overnight, Click Here.

This article was written by Kristin Maharg and edited by Ford Church.

CAP Students Take A Moment To Reflect

The 26th CAP class at New Vista High School has come to a close with a great project on water quality in Boulder Creek and some fantastic reflection papers.  We faced some challenges and learned a lot this quarter.  Our biggest success as a group was the cohesiveness and friendship we found together.

Melanie Wilkerson said it well, “We played games, hung out, had meals and did things that made it really feel like we were in a group.  A CAP community.”   Of course food always brings people together and this quarter it was the burrito-fests that really did it!

“My second favorite part of the second overnight was making tons of burritos for everyone.  It helped us learn that we are all similar people and we can have a good time together if we cooperate,” said Dylan Brennan.

Overnights were a favorite as usual but it was the teamwork, leadership and journaling that drew out the learning most and revealed what CAP is really all about. Alex Knuckey said, “CAP class is what the students in it make it, which was awesome because I have never helped to design a class before.”   We started every day with a quote so I think I will leave it to the quotes of the 2010 first quarter class. Here’s what they had to say:

“The journal is one of the most important parts of class because it tells us what we have learned and why it’s important.  CAP class was one of the best experiences for me in school.”  Max Levinson

“This leadership position was the biggest learning experience of the whole class for me.  My respect for teachers more than doubled when I realized how difficult it is to get a bunch of kids to focus.”  Leo Louis

“In this quarter I learned a lot about the class and the person I am…”  Adam Bowers

“I care a lot more about the environment than I did before I went through the class, it also changed the way I thought about helping my community and made me realize how much people need to take action.”  Alex Elnagdy

“Throughout the action project process I learned that it is possible for a group of teenagers to make a difference in the community.”  Jo Skulski

And at the heart of CAP is always the natural world….”I enjoyed going outside almost every class, even if it is just for a few minutes sometimes.  It made me feel free, relaxed and happy.”  Nevena Dakovic

Students Dive In Deep To Tackle The Water Quality Of Boulder Creek

After much discussion and many good ideas, Community Adventure Program (CAP) students decided to dive in deep to tackle the water quality of Boulder Creek. As a central part of downtown Boulder, the class thought it was unfortunate that there was visible trash around the creek constantly, so they decided to do something about it!

Why Boulder Creek? Here are some of their values and the reasons they chose this project:

Water is the most important resource.
We want Boulder to live up to its’ name of being environmentally friendly.
We want to preserve the wildlife around Boulder creek and every living thing affected by Boulder Creek.
We want to be able to help a place we all go and enjoy in our  lives.
We don’t want the people downstream to be affected because of what other people do further up stream.
Water is all a huge cycle and if it gets polluted some place, it can affect billions more gallons of water farther on.
The environment is important.
Fish are cool.
We want to make some sort of difference in our community.
It is one of our favorite places to chill.
We want better habitat for wildlife and we want to help make better experiences for anyone who visits Boulder Creek.

To get started students researched facts about Boulder Creek and water pollution. They found plenty of information and shaped it into a power point presentation to help educate other students at New Vista High School. Some findings were pretty grim; such as the fact that fish gender is being changed by some chemicals in the creek. Other information gave them hope for the health of Boulder Creek, including the number of bird species found around the creek. In addition, they discovered that a lot of work has been done to maintain healthy stream flow, such as the rows of boulders set across the creek to create pools and riffles.

Students found that a major factor with creek pollution are the storm drains that bring water into the creek from sites all over town.  In order to help mitigate the pollution in the runoff, CAP participated in the Keep It Clean Partnership Campaign by adding stickers to storm drains.  They added stickers to over 20 storm drains in the neighborhoods west of New Vista High School.

In order to increase awareness, students also created their own posters about keeping the creek clean and free of garbage.  In their final effort to maintain the health of Boulder Creek CAP students donned rubber gloves spent the afternoon filling 7 trash bags with garbage removed from the creek!

Operation Military Kids Course Ignites Passion For The Outdoors

The local fire ban didn’t stop this crew of weekend wilderness warriors from igniting a passion for the outdoors. Cottonwood Institute instructors, Darren Silver, Jason Lawrence, and Aleyna Porreca delivered an action-packed course for children and parents of military families through a collaboration with Operation Military Kids and Colorado Lions Camp.

A fine mix of fun and skills set the platinum standard for this course as we filled our days with survival priorities, shelter-building, stalking, sit-spotting,  service, stewardship, and some tasty grub, including a rare treat of fresh venison!

“I think it was a huge success and should be offered again for military kids. I also asked all the kids what they thought and they all loved it,” commented an Operation Military Kids chaperone who joined us for the first ever OMK Essential Survival Skills course. “I wish it was longer,” said 10 year-old Little John accompanied by military dad, Big John. “Do you offer this for adults?” questioned two enthusiastic parents…

While we quoted General George C. Marshall before dinner Saturday evening: “There’s no limit to the good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit,” we’d like to thank all of the generous sponsors and courageous participants for making tracks with us! Specifically, we would like to thank Operation Military Kids, Colorado Lions Camp, The Kenneth King Foundation, Canvas and Cocktails, and the overwhelming support we received from our donors who made this project possible.

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

This article was written by Jason Lawrence and edited by Ford Church.

Volunteers Wake Up Before Sunrise To Help Rebuild 14,000 Foot Peak

Not many people intentionally choose to give up their weekends to get up before sunrise to sling rock and help rebuild trail on 14,000 foot peaks. But that is just what heroic Cottonwood Institute volunteers chose to do this summer when they signed up for our Mt. Evans Volunteer Project. “The wake up call felt awfully early at 5:30am on Saturday morning, but there was a lot of work to be done that day,” said one volunteer.

Mt. Evans is Denver’s closest “14er,” or peak over 14,000 feet high. Its proximity to Denver and access to the summit via the Mt. Evans Highway, the highest paved road in North America, contributes to Mt. Evans popularity. Hiking trails to the summit have been established by years of use rather than careful trail construction, so parts of the trail are precarious, far too narrow, and are heavily eroded. In addition, some hikers choose alternate paths, which leads to braided social trails and the destruction of the fragile alpine tundra.

That’s why volunteers from the Cottonwood Institute came together to step up to help complete much-needed trail maintenance on Mt. Evans this August. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative led the project and provided us with two awesome crew leaders as well as all the tools we needed to complete our work. We spent two days working near Summit Lake at 12,830 feet of elevation. Our main project was to construct two rock walls below the trail, providing space for a wider trail where it was previously only inches wide. That meant we were going to need lots of big rocks, and there are plenty of those in the Rocky Mountains—you just need to move them. With advice from our expert crew leaders, Ben and Kate, and lots of teamwork, we rolled, scooted, lifted, and flopped rocks into position, stacking them into what would become a beautiful rock wall.

After work, we returned to camp to clean up before heading to town for some well earned grub. After everyone was stuffed full of pizza, we returned to camp to relax around the campfire, reflect on our accomplishments, and rest up for our second day of work.

Participants came from all different backgrounds. There were Community Adventure Program alumni, Summer Course alumni, parents of alumni, Cottonwood Institute Instructors, and other volunteers who wanted to roll up their sleeves and get involved. We enjoyed sightings of alpine wildlife like marmot and pika, and we gave back to the Colorado mountains that we all enjoy and that the Cottonwood Institute uses year round as a classroom. We improved a rough section of trail that many hikers use each year. Best of all, we got to get away from the city for a weekend in the mountains and made new friends that shared our interest in the Cottonwood Institute’s commitment to environmental stewardship. A special thanks goes out to the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative and to all of our hard working volunteers.

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

This article was written by Eric Ellison and edited by Ford Church.

Cornhole Throwdown This Weekend!

Loosen up your tossing arm and get ready for the 2010 Cornhole Throwdown to benefit the Cottonwood Institute. Festivities begin this Saturday, October 9th, 2010 at 11am at the northwest fields of Washington Park in Denver, CO.

Proceeds from this event will help support our courses to help connect public school students to the outdoors. It’s a noble cause, so come out down and “do it for the kids!”

Prizes for the Tournament Winner and Best Team Costume include 2 iPod Touches, 4 tickets to see The Subdudes at the Fox Theater in Boulder, and more.

It’s not too late to register, so check out our event website for more information about cornhole, the tournament, and how to register by Clicking Here.

We would also appreciate help spreading the good word about the event, so post this link to your Facebook page, download and email a copy of our event Flyer, and Tweet on people!