West Denver Prep Students Venture Into the Chilly Outdoors

In a league all of its own, West Denver Preparatory’s Lake Campus (WDP) has risen to the challenge to meet the needs of Denver’s burgeoning inner-city demographics. The students at WDP are offered an excellent education and are shown that success later in life and getting into college starts as early as middle school.  This spring the Cottonwood Institute is proud to continue their partnership with WDP by leading two overnight camping trips.

The first trip in mid-April turned out to be more of a winter experience than spring.  But with the encouragement of our amazing instructors and WDP veteran teacher, Leigh Garrison, we pushed on. To cope with the forecasts of snow and rain, we stayed in a cabin at Highlands Camp near Allenspark, Colorado.  In spite of the cold, the group had tremendous energy and we spent the day exploring the area, learning new plants and animals, navigating streams, smelling pine trees, and building survival shelters.  A few times throughout the day we stopped and listened, contemplating the thick clouds that sunk over the mountains.  Students heard, perhaps for the first time in their life, the sound of utter silence… uncluttered by the noise of automobiles, the hum of airplanes, the clatter of television… only stillness.  It is tremendously important for the future leaders of our world to know what this sounds like.

When we woke up in the morning, the ground was covered in snow.  The morning stories of animals were marked clearly with fresh tracks.  We followed coyotes, foxes, deer, elk, squirrels, mice, chipmunks, and prairie dogs as their trails wound through the forest and intertwined.  Just as we packed the last backpack into the van to come back to civilization, the true storm hit and we drove out as thick snowflakes whirled to the ground.

You would think the second trip, held just last weekend, would offer warmer weather than the first. But once again we were greeted with forecasts of rain and snow, and this time, accompanied by Danielle Matthews, a talented math teacher new to WDP, we toughed it out.  No cabins, just the warmth, or lack there-of, in our tents and sleeping bags, and a wood-burning stove.  The night before, our campsite at Calwood had been covered in snow, but the weather held off for most of our trip.  After setting up camp, we learned how to use our eyes differently in the forest, and to expand our senses.    Later in the evening, we sat around a hot stove, told stories, talked about different ways we could survive in the outdoors, and learned that panic is the most dangerous reaction that can happen in the wilderness.  Once it was dark, the group decided to challenge and master their fears with the blind-drum stalk.  The students wandered out into the forest wearing a blindfold, and then made their way back without their eyes by following the sound of a beating drum.  Terrified at first, they gradually learned to use their other senses and stay calm in the darkness.

The next morning, we went to work on our service project stacking recently-cut wood to prevent severe forest fires in the area.  The group formed a human chain and worked for two hours moving log-rounds.  After a weekend full of laughter and good memories, we packed up, reluctantly returning to the city.

And we are not done yet.  Cottonwood Institute will continue its relationship with WDP over the summer months, teaming up with Mission: Wolf for a 4 day, 3 night adventure at a wolf sanctuary near Gardner, CO.  We will also be collaborating with City Wild for a one day rafting excursion down the South Platte River in Denver.  Don’t you wish you went to West Denver Prep?

Click here for a slideshow of the April overnight.  Click here for a slideshow of the May overnight.

Written by Clark Patton. Edited by April Pishna

Easter Eggs and Turkeys – Another Casa de la Esperanza Adventure

What do you see when you think of Easter Weekend?  Is it brightly colored eggs, frilly pink dresses and blue ties, maybe even a spiral cut ham coated with brown sugar?  For a group of boys from Casa de la Esperanza, a Boulder County Housing Community in Longmont, their memories now include an adventure at Heil Valley Ranch outside of Boulder.

The day was spent trotting after turkeys, climbing over rocks, listening to stories, playing team building and leadership games, and learning about survival and nature awareness.  While the boys were thrilled with those activities, the coolest adventure of the day was discovering an actual archeological site chock full of flint chips. After making their own rock paintings to tell their story (using environmentally friendly “paint” that will wash off in the next rain, of course) it was time to head back home.

The only complaint, “We left so quick.” If you want a taste of nature, go on a day hike.  If you want the full course, go camping.  Thanks to our donors, these kids get another adventure this summer, giving them the opportunity to experience nature up close and overnight – we get to go camping!

So, until next time, remember Easter eggs and spiral cut ham, but also remember the turkeys, the rocks, and all the adventures that nature provides.

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

 

 

Hope and Adventure at Casa de la Esperanza

Six weeks ago a group of boys and girls from Casa de la Esperanza gathered together in nervous anticipation for the first ever Casa CAP program.

Casa de la Esperanza (House of Hope) is a residential community in Longmont dedicated to helping agricultural workers. The learning resource center at Casa provides educational and recreational services to its residents, including an onsite after-school program and academic center.  Cottonwood Institute has teamed up with Casa to offer a mini version of our core academic program, The Community Adventure Program (CAP). CAP teaches students essential outdoor 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 in order to help change the world. We put these two amazing programs together to form Casa CAP.

For the next five weeks, Casa students spent their Wednesday evenings learning about the importance of community, the wonders of nature, and how to survive in the wilderness.  They became leaders while understanding the importance of being part of a team.  They played outside, made fires, roasted marshmallows, created educational posters, helped an injured bird, learned about gardening and seeds, and made  bird-feeders. Most importantly, though, they learned that they have the power to create change.

Casa CAP consisted of many smiles and loud laughter, crayons and paper everywhere, popcorn and marshmallows galore, pine-cones and tiny little seeds, and even one gigantic parachute.  It all culminated into an action project benefiting the community and its winged friends.  The students worked hard creating pine-cone bird feeders giving the birds a safe place to eat and play, while giving Casa residents the beauty of bird-song.  It was a flurry of activities in a short period of time that resulted in building a stronger community and an even stronger sense of purpose.  It only takes a moment!

A huge shout-out to our instructors, Eric and Deb, for their ingenuity, their flexibility, and most of all, their ability to inspire! We also could not have offered this program without funding from the Brett Family Foundation and the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.

And even more thanks to the entire Casa de la Esperanza community.  You are all a grand example of true community spirit.  Thanks so much for your support and we wish you continuous hope and adventure!

Until next time, relive the smiles and laughter by clicking here for a slideshow of the program’s activities.