Our Programs
The Cottonwood Institute is excited to offer the following educational programs:
Bear Hang Pose
Students: Our student courses are week-long coed summer courses that provide middle school and high school students with the opportunity to practice essential camping and wilderness survival skills, explore future careers, learn about specific environmental issues, complete meaningful service projects in the backcountry to tackle those particular environmental issues, and learn how to reduce their environmental footprint. Our courses for students include: the Wildland Firefighter Project, the Horse Caretaker Project, the Stone Age Survival Project, Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking, and the Mountain Biking Survival Project. Summer Courses are available for high school and college credit.
Snow Trench
Adults: Survival shows like Survivorman and Man vs. Wild have become very popular and we get a lot of requests from adults for opportunities to get out and practice survival skills like winter survival, survival shelters, and friction fire. Ask and you shall receive! Our courses for adults are 1-2 day workshops for busy adults who want to practice essential survival skills, who want to walk their talk and give back to the land to complete environmental Action Projects to help change the world. Our courses for adults include: Winter Survival Skills Workshop, Survival Shelter Workshop, Survival Fire Workshop, Essential Survival Skills Overnight, and the Mt. Evans Volunteer Project.
Friction Fire Success
Community Adventure Program: Is a coed elective class for adventurous public high school students that teaches them essential camping and wilderness survival skills and how to tackle local environmental issues through an engaging environmental service learning curriculum. Students go on hikes, attend overnight camping trips, brainstorm local environmental issues, choose an issue to address as a class, participate in discussions about how to change the world, and collaborate with other local organizations to design and implement a student-directed Action Project to positively address their issue. Our award-winning curriculum is a huge hit with students!
Physiology of Survival
Schools & Community Organizations: We have designed a series of 1-day field trips for schools and community organizations that do not have the time or ability to incorporate a longer quarter/semester-long program into their existing curriculum or schedule. These programs include: Physiology of Survival, Physics of Fire, Winter Survival, and Avalanche Science. These 1-day programs are perfect for busy teachers that are looking to add value to their classroom curriculum and help provide real world context to textbook concepts. Relax, we handle all of the logistics and planning details. All you need to do is help promote the course to your class, school, or group, and we will take care of the rest!
Friction Fire Workshop
Design Your Own Course: Is a flexible 2-hour, 1-day, or multi-day format for schools and community groups to meet their educational goals and objectives by collaborating with the Cottonwood Institute. Students practice essential survival skills such as friction fire, natural shelters, and winter survival skills and participate in hands on activities to learn specific environmental issues affecting the mountains of Colorado, such as wildfire mitigation, invasive plants, and environmental sustainability. Course models are based on our other courses or we can create something unique for your group. These custom courses are an exciting way to ignite a passion for learning, while exploring academic concepts and achieving educational objectives outside of the classroom.
Inconvenient Truth
Upcoming Events: The Cottonwood Institute provides two free outreach programs to spread the word about the Cottonwood Institute and to help achieve our educational goals. Change the World Movie Nights are free monthly events that occur in Denver and Boulder where we collaborate with local businesses, show films about environmental issues, and facilitate meaningful discussions about how to change the world. We also offer Free Survival Skills Clinics at local outdoor retail stores where participants learn survival priorities, tips, strategies, and techniques.
