A Day of Service, Gratitude, and Community Rooted in Social Justice and Collective Action Written by Erin Angel, CI Senior Instructor, Changemakers & Alumni Coordinator. On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Cottonwood alumni, Changemakers, and family members came together to turn inspiration into action. Nine of us gathered at Denver’s City Park to listen… Read more »
As the Year’s Shortest Day Arrived, Cottonwood Alumni Came Together for a Solstice Hike Rooted in Reflection and Connection Written by Erin Angel, CI Senior Instructor, Changemakers & Alumni Coordinator. We gathered in the afternoon at Golden Gate Canyon State Park and began our solstice hike to Panorama Point, arriving just in time to watch… Read more »
While Many People were Recovering from Thanksgiving Dinner—or Braving Crowded Stores—Cottonwood Institute Alumni Chose a Different Kind of Black Friday Tradition: an Opt Outside Hike. Written by Erin Angel, CI Senior Instructor, Changemakers & Alumni Coordinator. The day after Thanksgiving, Cottonwood alumni gathered in beautiful Eldorado Canyon for a hike, games, and time to simply… Read more »
A Night of Habitat Restoration Work Became a Tribute to Chelsea’s Time at Cottonwood. Written by New Vista CAP Instructor Lori Powell. Cottonwood staff, instructors, board members, Changemaker students, and Alumni recently gathered on an unseasonably warm November evening to take action for local habitat restoration—and to share a heartfelt farewell to Associate Director Chelsea… Read more »
Cottonwood Alumni Mix Laughter, Labor, and a Little Mud While Building Beaver Dam Analogs at Caribou Ranch. Written by CI Senior Instructor Erin Angel. Our group of Cottonwood Alumni gathered together for a weekend of hard work, adventure and much-needed silliness over the weekend of October 11-12. The group of college freshmen and sophomores and… Read more »
Exploring Ancient Cliffside Dwellings, Volunteering Along the Rio Grande, and Uncovering the Layers of History in New Mexico’s Red Earth. Written by Changemaker Alum Lahja Wise. As a Changemaker Alum, I am incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to continue learning from and working with Cottonwood. That all culminated in a final trip that kicked… Read more »
Experiences in Labyrinth Canyon and with Regenerative Agriculture Provided Changemakers with Opportunities to Show Grit, Growth, and Share Plenty of Laughs. Written by Changemakers Senior Instructor Chelsea Tossing. We spent our first day in Dinosaur National Monument trying to find fish scales and instead discovered a thousand similar lizards. We sat on warm rocks, crawled… Read more »
Under blue skies and the shade of towering cottonwoods, Cottonwood Institute alumni and Changemaker students teamed up to host our second annual Cottonwood Ancestral Skills Gathering at Ollin Farms—a day full of hands-on learning, cultural connection, and community building. Inspired by the success of our student-led gathering last year, our alumni invited participants to reconnect… Read more »
In a world where broken gear often means buying new, Changemaker students decided to take a different approach: repair, reuse, and keep it out of the landfill. As part of their spring action project, our Changemakers tackled two big issues in the outdoor industry—waste and accessibility. Outdoor gear isn’t cheap, and when it breaks, it’s… Read more »
Building Quinzhees for the Winter Overnight Kept Everyone Sheltered from the Cold. Written by Changemakers and Senior CAP Instructor Erin Angel. Changemakers met at the crack of dawn to beat ski traffic to the Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS) in Leadville for our winter overnight trip. We snowshoed to our site and got to diggin’… Read more »
