Written by Chelsea Tossing (Escrito en español más abajo) When we first began the Changemakers program in the summer of 2020, the world felt as if it had been turned upside down. Students had been out of school for months, and the lockdowns that extended into summer proved even more isolating. As we began thinking… Read more »
What was your favorite part of the trip? What will you always remember? You’ll get different answers to these questions depending on who you ask. Last week, Cottonwood’s Changemakers spent three days in the San Luis Valley exploring Great Sand Dunes National Park, Zapata Falls, and Earth Knack. As the culmination to a yearlong… Read more »
Every year we gather our whole CI community for our annual Base Camp Bash—a night of celebration and stories, fun and fundraising. The theme of this year’s Base Camp Bash was “Changemakers,” but who exactly is a Changemaker? We couldn’t have said it better than Kevin Cano, Lafayette Stewardship Intern and winner of this year’s… Read more »
Trail games are the spontaneous games you play when you have infinite time and imagination and easy rapport with good friends. On CI’s first overnight trip since the pandemic began, the students in our Changemaker Program craved nothing more than being outdoors together. As we wandered up to Solitude Point at Cal-wood, we started playing… Read more »
This past weekend, students from our Changemaker Program got off their screens (finally!) and into the field for a chilly Saturday afternoon of practicing primitive skills. “We’ll be lucky if they make a little smoke,” we told the land managers that had given us permission to teach bow drill fires at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat…. Read more »
Ah January—a time to reflect, set intentions, and cave on your New Year’s resolution by January 3rd. Wait, what? If you’ve ever failed at a New Year’s goal, you’re not alone; studies show that nearly 80% of resolutions get dropped by the end of the year. We all know that big sweeping changes are hard… Read more »
