Just before school let out for the summer, 11 adventurous girls from Colorado Academy set out on a final mission: wolves. On a warm spring day in May, although the van was stuffed full of fuzzy pillows, makeup bags, and iPods, it was the adventurous spirit of these girls that filled the air with confidence,… Read more »
People often ask me about the impact Cottonwood Institute programs have on our participants and the communities we serve, and I am reminded of a quote by Paul Loeb, the author of Soul of a Citizen, we share with students at the end of our programs: “We never know how the impact of our actions… Read more »
Whether you are camping out for a weekend or climbing to the top of Longs Peak, surviving in the wilderness can be an empowering, humbling, and enriching experience. However not many people in this day and age choose to spend their lives relying only on what the natural landscape has to offer. Yet that’s exactly… Read more »
New Vista High School’s Earth Task Force (or ETF), held a successful (and delicious!) second annual Local Lunch on May 6th, 2011. This special event, put on for New Vista’s 300 students, had been planned for months and turned out to be great! ETF collaborated with the staff at The Kitchen Restaurant to create an… Read more »
On Saturday, June 11th the Cottonwood Institute joined many other outdoor minded groups to be part of the National Get Outdoors Day event in Denver City Park. It was a beautiful day and thanks to great weather, in combination with the hard work of Get Outdoors Colorado, the event was the most well attended yet…. Read more »
Although the students from Logan School in Denver were eager to go, it was the teachers that were ready to jump out of their skin from the excitement of the upcoming trip. All 24 of us – including 19 rambunctious and highly energized 8 and 9 year olds – loaded into our caravan of vehicles… Read more »
During a rainy weekend in May, the Cottonwood Institute teamed up with students from West Denver Preparatory Charter School and their teacher, Leigh Garrison, for a spring overnight course at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield. This course concluded the extensive Three Trees and a River Project, in which students participated in a water testing field… Read more »
It was a wonderful final quarter with the Community Adventure Program at New Vista High School this spring! The class joined together to create an action project around gardening and the appreciation of simply grown local food. We visited Growing Gardens and the Flatirons Neighborhood Farm to glean some local information from amongst the many… Read more »
Spring time is upon us! On a beautiful April weekend, I went along with the 4th quarter CAP class up to the mountains at Calwood for the first weekend overnight. Upon our arrival, the howling wind sent shivers up our spines, but that was only a slight set-back for the weekend that lay ahead. After… Read more »
Prom is a tradition known around our nation and celebrated by high school students of every caliber. Often times, high school students buy a brand new outfit for every prom they attend. According to Annie Leonard, voice and face behind “The Story of Stuff“, only 1% of the “stuff” Americans buy is still in use… Read more »
