Welcome to the Cottonwood Institute
The Cottonwood Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Denver, Colorado and our mission is to inspire students to become active community leaders and environmental stewards through an exciting blend of adventure, wilderness survival, and environmental service. We teach students the essential camping and wilderness survival skills necessary to comfortably and competently explore the outdoors, while providing them with the tools and resources to tackle important environmental issues affecting their communities.
We offer high quality service learning programs for high school students, public schools, and community organizations that address civic engagement, community leadership, environmental education, and environmental sustainability. For more information about the Cottonwood Institute, go to our About Us page and don't forget to check out our 2008 Summer Course Schedule for adventurous high school students and adults and to Register For A Course Today!
*Register between March 10, 2008 and June 2, 2008 and you will be entered into a drawing to receive 2 tickets to the sold out Jack Johnson show at Red Rocks on August 17, 2008! Click Here for more information.
Educational Programs
In order to achieve our mission, the Cottonwood Institute offers four primary educational programs:
1. Community Adventure Program
The Community Adventure Program (CAP) 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! Please visit the New Vista High School Class Website or the P.S.1 Charter School Class Website and visit the Community Adventure Program Photo Album to get an idea of what we do on a daily basis and how this amazing program unfolds.
The Cottonwood Institute's Community Adventure Program was recently recognized by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education and received the 2006 Environmental Education Award for Excellence in the Citizen and Community category! If you or your organization would like to help underwrite this program for public school students, please click on our Donate Now link.
If you would like to find out how to bring the Community Adventure Program to your school or organization, please call us at 303.447.1076, or Email Us and we will be happy to assist you.
2. Summer Courses
Summer Courses are week-long coed courses that provide 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 2008 Summer Course Schedule includes: Essential Survival Skills, the Stone Age Survival Project, the Horse Caretaker Project, Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking, the Wildland Firefighter Project, and the Mount Harvard Volunteer Project.
To register for a course, please click the Register For A Course Today! link or call us at 303.447.1076.
3. Design Your Own Course
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 include Essential Survival Skills, the Stone Age Survival Project, the Horse Caretaker Project, Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking, the Wildland Firefighter Project, and the Mount Harvard Project. 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.
If you would like to Design Your Own Course with the Cottonwood Institute, please call us at 303.447.1076, or Email Us and we will be happy to assist you.
4. Outreach Programs
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 interactive Survival Skills Clinics at local outdoor retail stores where participants learn survival priorities, tips, strategies, and techniques. For more information, please click on Upcoming Events.
Contact Us
If you would like to Register For A Course, would like to join our mailing list, receive information about our Upcoming Events, or if would like more information about the Cottonwood Institute, contact us any time at:
Cottonwood Institute
PO Box 7067
Denver, Colorado 80207
303.447.1076
Email Us
