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Into the Labyrinth: Changemakers Summer Trip 2025

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 »

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Community Connection at the Ancestral Skills Gathering

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 »

A Changemaker student displays tools for ski repair during the gear repair workshop.

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Fix It, Don’t Ditch It: Changemakers Host Gear Repair Workshop

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 »

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Changemakers Winter Overnight Adventure in Quinzhees

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 »

Photo of the Changemakers Alumi gathered for a hike in the snow

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Reunited and It Feels So Good!

The Changemaker Program continues to have successful social and leadership development gatherings for CAP high school alumni, who enjoy each opportunity to be reunited. Written by CI Senior Instructor Erin Angel. Cottonwood Changemakers Alumni reunited this weekend for the first-ever Alumni Hike. They caught up with each other’s lives, schools, and jobs, and exchanged stories… Read more »

Malcolm Marshall Alumni Spotlight

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Alumni Spotlight: Malcolm Marshall

We recently caught up with Cottonwood Institute alum Malcolm Marshall, who was involved with CI at New Vista High School until he graduated in 2012. It’s incredible to hear about the longterm impact of our programs, and what our former students are up to! You can read more Alumni Spotlights here. What CI program(s) did… Read more »

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