While learning about shelters, fire skills, thermodynamics, and environmental issues, more importantly, we built relationships: connecting not only with each other, but with the land and its resources. Working together we create curriculum for our students that go above and beyond your typical outdoor education courses.  We create change-makers!

A special thanks and huge shout-out to all of our rock-star instructors!  Without you programs like the Community Adventure Program, Earth Task Force, Cesar Chavez Organic Gardening, and Endangered Wolves and Animal Tracking, to name only a few, would not be possible.  Thank you for making Cottonwood Institute courses what they are: creative, fun, inspirational, empowering, action-packed, and of course, educational!

“Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, usually do.” (Unknown) Until our next training in June, stay crazy!

How many instructors can you fit in a quinzhee? Check out the amazing video below for the answer:

Click here to view a slideshow of our hard work throughout the day.

Recycling is one of the simplest environmental actions we can take, but it’s got some complicated rules, and they change often. That’s why in early November the Earth Task Force (ETF) hosted a relay race to educate their peers about recycling.

After learning that improper recycling can cause whole loads of recyclable materials to be sent to the landfill the ETF came up with a fun and educational way to teach their school—New Vista High School (NVHS) how to practice the three R’s with style, and the Recycling Relay Race was born.

Every Advisory, which includes every student at NVHS, participated in the competition and had a chance to battle it out and either continue on the next round or be kicked to the curb!!

Over the course of two days, the ETF brought every advisory to NVHS’s Community Room to sort out recyclable or non-recyclable items and place them in the correct receptacles. Students were given tricky choices, such as greasy cardboard pizza boxes, glossy magazines, and plastic cups.

ETF had a recycling expert on hand, from local non-profit Eco-Cycle, which handles the recycling services for the school. Eco-Cycle was able to explain tricky items and judge the results. Students had a great time and gained knowledge about how to help keep as many materials as possible out of the landfill.

With a $50 prize on the line, for the winning Advisory, the competition was fierce. In a statement after the winner was announcement, the triumphant Advisory Leader declared,

“We learned what goes where and how to effectively minimize our waste. I feel like this was a great opportunity for us to practice these skills in a really fun way… Ultimately I think that the race was a positive thing, because it made us really focus on what we throw out and how. And it’s always fun to win!”

As for what they’ll do with their grand prize? The students plan to buy snacks and materials for their advisory projects and celebrations throughout the year.   In an effort to continue to educate incoming students and remind returning students about what goes where, ETF has decided to make the Recycling Relay Race an annual event.

This is Gracie Currier-Tait, ETF member, signing off!
Edited by Paige Doughty

The Earth Task Force (ETF) is a Cottonwood Institute-supported program at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO designed to give students an opportunity to take the lead to implement sustainability initiatives at their school.

1. Earth Task Force Recognized for National Green Prize and Receives $10,000 Check!

2. Cottonwood Institute Wins $25,000 and 2011 Markham Mark of Distinction Award

3. A Meal For Many: New Vista High School and The Kitchen Restaurant Host Local Lunch 2011

4. Earth Task Force Students Win the Center For Resource Conservation’s Youth Conservation ReWard

5. Green Dress Exchange: Earth Task Force Re-Thinks Prom

6. West Denver Prep “Whips” Into Shape This Spring!

7. West Denver Prep Students Learn About Liquid Gold

8. Casa de la Esperanza Girls Gobble It Up

9. “Sit and Listen” – Operation: Military Kids Overnight Teaches More Than Just Survival

10. Cottonwood Institute Hosts Environmental Leadership Summit With Johnson & Wales

The Cottonwood Institute would like to thank all of our students, parents, instructors, board members, educational partners, donors, supporters, and cheerleaders for making 2011 such a success.

To help ensure we have an extraordinary 2012, please consider making a tax-deductible donation by December 31, 2011 by Clicking Here.

We do a lot more that just connect kids to the outdoors. In the words of one of our instructors Madeline Bachner, “Our courses are centered around cultivating direct action for positive change, appreciation for nature, an interest in environmental issues,  a passion for community involvement, and inspired service.”

As you and your family consider supporting your favorite charities for Colorado Gives Day and during the holiday season, here are a few reasons to invest in the Cottonwood Institute:

STRONG PARTNERSHIPS: We served over 350 youth and delivered over 13,000 program contact hours in 2011 and we couldn’t have done it without strong partnerships from:

• West Denver Preparatory Charter School serving low-income public school students in Denver, CO.
• New partnerships serving diverse students from Casa de la Esperanza, Lakewood High School, GOAL Academy, Johnson & Wales University, Buckley Air Force Base, and Welcome Home Warrior.
• New Vista High School serving public school students in Boulder, CO to deliver the Community Adventure Program and support the Earth Task Force. 

ACTION PROJECTS: Our students recorded over 6,000 environmental service-learning project hours completing “Action Projects” to help address local issues in their schools, the community, and the environment. Here are a few highlights:

• A Meal For Many: New Vista High School and The Kitchen Restaurant Host Local Lunch 2011
• West Denver Prep Students Learn About Liquid Gold For World Water Monitoring Day
• Gardening Made Simple and 100 Ways To Change The World
• West Denver Prep “Whips” Into Shape This Spring

AWARDS: The Cottonwood Institute and our students received three key awards in 2011 and it is great to see our hard work be recognized on a local and national level:

• Cottonwood Institute Wins $25,000 and 2011 Markham Mark of Distinction Award
• Earth Task Force Recognized for National Green Prize and Receives $10,000 Check!
• Earth Task Force Students Win the Center For Resource Conservation’s Youth Conservation ReWard

AMAZING INSTRUCTORS: Anyone can write a lesson plan, but it takes gifted instructors to deliver and facilitate a high impact program. We could not do what we do without April Pishna, Madeline Bachner, Paige Doughty, Paul Dreyer, Clark Patton, Tim Joynt, Kristin Maharg, Ryan Johns, Jason Lawrence, and all of the other phenomenal instructors we have the honor and privilege of working with each year.

Finally, I wanted to share a quote we read to  students at the end of our courses:

“Don’t be on the sidelines, be on the court of life. Don’t go through this world on autopilot. Don’t always take the easy path. Don’t go through this world with blinders on. Go through this world with wide-angle vision, be a leader, challenge yourself, walk your talk, take the initiative, step up when others won’t, because in the end that’s what life is all about. Your community needs you, the environment needs you, the world needs you. We need your energy, your voice, your perspective, your optimism, your hope.” – Anonymous

Happy Holidays!

Ford Church, M. A., Founder and Executive Director
Cottonwood Institute

What is Colorado Gives Day? Thanks to the generous support of the Community First Foundation and FirstBank, Colorado Gives Day is a campaign designed to encourage people like you to “give where you live” to support your favorite local charities like the Cottonwood Institute!

How You Can Help Right Now: You don’t have to wait until December 6th, you can schedule a donation for Colorado Gives Day right now by Clicking Here. Please make sure you check the box that says: “Schedule Donation For Colorado Gives Day.”

How Your Donation Will Help: Your donation will help students like Jesus and his classmates from West Denver Prep explore the outdoors and address water pollution issues at Sloans Lake in Denver, CO.

More Reasons To Give: 100% of donations made through GivingFirst.org will benefit the Cottonwood Institute and our programs with no credit card or administrative fees. Donations made on December 6th will help the Cottonwood Institute receive a percentage of a $300,000 fund set up to encourage people to donate on Colorado Gives Day in addition to bonus bucks and other prizes announced throughout the day.

If You Already Made A Donation: If you already made a donation in 2011, thank you so much! Please encourage your family, friends, and colleagues who care about youth, education, and the environment to donate to the Cottonwood Institute on Colorado Gives Day, by Clicking Here and spread the word through Facebook, Twitter, and Google +!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it was only fitting to find wild turkeys on our first outing with our newest partner, Casa de la Esperanza in Longmont, Colorado.  Casa de la Esperanza is a residential community owned and operated by the Boulder County Housing Authority, dedicated to helping agricultural workers.   Their learning center provides educational and recreational services to Casa residents, including an onsite after-school program and academic center.  Cottonwood Institute has teamed up with them to offer a girls empowerment course and plans are in progress to offer a boys program as well.

On an unusually warm fall day in early November, the girls, ranging in age from 8 to 14, headed to Heil Valley Ranch just outside of Boulder for a day hike and an introduction to survival skills.  While the turkeys and their tracks were the highlight of the trip, the girls also sipped on some pine needle tea, practiced fire skills, enjoyed a yummy lunch, and even managed to find time for a hike.

At the end of the day, nobody wanted to leave.  One of the girls was especially excited to stay, “I wanna go home, I mean right here in the woods, I wanna live here!”  And they all followed that thought with, “We wanna go camping!”  Here’s to more adventures with the girls from Casa de la Esperanza.  Who knows?  Maybe a camping trip or two could be in their future!

Click here for a slideshow of the day’s adventures.

For Cottonwood Institute, an early snowfall doesn’t hinder survival courses; in fact, they just become more exciting. On a late October day, a group of Lakewood High School students and their teachers headed to Conifer for a day of survival skills and snowballs. While most focused their efforts building a quinzhee shelter by piling up massive amounts of snow and then digging out the inside, a few remained dedicated to the constant snowball fights that kept everyone entertained throughout the course.

The quinzhee did take up most of the course, but there was still time to work on fire skills, discuss survival scenarios, and enjoy a hearty lunch under the bright blue Colorado sky. All in all, it was a successful day as evidenced by the amazing quinzhee shelter built and the few snores that accompanied the bus ride home.

Click here for a slideshow of the day’s adventures.

A special thanks goes out to Wildland Awareness Educational Institute for use of their land outside of beautiful Conifer, CO!

As the group drove into the mountains they took stock of how much snow had accumulated in hopes of building a quinzhee shelter.  The construction is quite simple, but requires some labor.  It is built by piling snow then hollowing out the pile after it has settled.  The dome shape and strength of the settled snow combine to make a structurally stable shelter that can be quite warm for 2 or 3 people. After setting up camp the group got to work piling snow for their own quinzhee.  A hike up the hill to take in the view of Long’s and Meeker’s Peaks gave enough time to let the pile settle and after just over an hour of trading off digging out the shelter they had created a sturdy quinzhee.  For the ultimate test, one adventurous student even slept in it overnight.  The group took it down the next day and everyone was surprised at the strength of the structure as 8 students stood atop the quinzhee and could not break it down without shovels and a lot of energy!  Check out the video below.

A few other highlights of the trip included an amazing moment watching clouds move quickly over the waxing moon, changing the light in a beautiful nighttime display. The group also had a great time playing a camo game and honing their stalking skills, as well as learning to use senses other than sight in the evening drum-stalk.  CAP students had a wonderful time and learned a great deal that they can put to use on their next winter outing in December!

A big thanks to the Cheeley Family for the use of their land and the drivers who helped us get to our site.

After setting up camp at Calwood Outdoor Education Center near Jamestown, the group went on an interpretive hike to learn more about their surroundings and become more attune to nature.  They learned how to foxwalk, played a variety of nature awareness games, and practiced several ways to make fire. But wait, the fun was not over yet.  Students were eager to try out their foxwalking skills in the dark while participating in the blind drum stalk, in which students are blindfolded and then proceed to find their way through the woods back to camp using only the sound of the beating drum.  As the stars lit up the night sky, everyone gathered around the campfire to enjoy smores and reflect on an active, yet exciting day.

The next morning dawned bright and early, and after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal and all the fixings, it was off to give back to Calwood for generously donating their land for our overnight.  The students worked together, lifting and dragging logs to cover up an old trail.  Their strong work ethic continued over into the first part of making debris shelters.  But as the afternoon wore on and students became worn out, their efforts waned and shelters took a backseat to rest and snacks.  While the students were tired at the end of the adventure, there were still smiles and laughter to be had by all as everyone clamored into the van and headed back into the wilds of the city.

Click here for a slideshow of the weekend’s adventure.

The trip was planned and facilitated by students and ETF mentors with borrowed gear and organizational help from The Cottonwood Institute to help them pursue their goal of rekindling their passions for environmental sustainability while also reconnecting with peers outside of school. The ETF knows that time in the wild is an important part of staying grounded while working on the tough issues that environmental sustainability can pose.

The group enjoyed hiking, climbing, and exploring in the breathtaking landscape of the Colorado Rockies.   They also partook in cooking adventures, playing in the woods, and singing around the fire.  While many stayed in cabins, a few of the braver students slept in tents.  In the morning, they awoke to snow on the ground with delicate flakes still falling.  The superheroes spent time talking about what inspired them to make change in the community and about their plans and ideas for the coming year.

One member said, “You can hear the most depressing stories, but when I see a group taking action to make change, no matter how small, I am never depressed.”  The retreat achieved the goals to reconnect and plan for the coming year.  The time away reminded students and mentors of the precious land they are working to protect.

Click here to read more about what motivates these amazing teens!

Article written by Earth Task Force member, Raina Galbiati, and edited by Paige Doughty.