We are so excited to formally welcome Tucker Knight (they/them) to the CI team! Tucker has been field instructing with us since the summer, and they are teaching CAP Class at STRIVE Prep Westwood this fall. Tucker brings a range of experiences to the team, from working one-on-one with students last school year, to creating… Read more »
We are excited to do a little bragging about our amazing Cottonwood Institute (Cottonwood) Senior Instructor, Erin Angel (she/her)! Erin is a woman of many talents, interests, and passions, and we are excited for you to get to know her better! Erin teaches Cottonwood’s core CAP Class and Changemaker Program in Boulder County. Erin helps… Read more »
After three years of leading CAP, DirtWorks, and so much more at Boulder’s New Vista High School (NVHS), CI Instructor Amy Atkins will be moving on and pursuing new adventures this fall. We were sad to learn she will no longer be teaching CAP, but are equally glad to say that Amy is still working… Read more »
Next up in our Staff Profile series is Field Instructor Chelsea Tossing! Chelsea is one of our new instructors in 2020, and while COVID-19 has put the brakes on her first trip season, she has already become a big asset to the CI team by helping to create the Explore Outside Handbook that supports our… Read more »
Between the Ripple Effect Award, Alumni Spotlights, and our community events, we spend a lot of time highlighting the amazing things going on in the Cottonwood Institute community (and there are lots of them)! We thought it might be fun to change it up a bit and share some more about what goes on inside… Read more »
How about this for a Cottonwood Institute connection? Tess Eckert took CAP at New Vista High School three times between 2007 and 2010 (tied for the all-time record, not that we’re counting). She got to learn from CI celebrities Ford Church and Paige Doughty. And after seven years in Australia, pursuing art, work, and exploration,… Read more »
One of the quintessential Cottonwood Institute experiences is learning to build a quinzhee, a simple snow shelter that can be useful in winter survival scenarios. It’s a technique Executive Director Ford Church brings from his survival school days, and one that endures as a winter field day staple (see pictures from our recent Instructor Training… Read more »
Over fifteen years, the Cottonwood Institute community has grown and spread all over the world. You never know where you’ll bump into an alum, instructor, or other friendly face. Denver, of course, is a pretty good bet—and so it was when Executive Director Ford Church bumped in to CI alum Eric Wesolowski while out and… Read more »
Usually we use this space to check in with Cottonwood Institute alumni, to hear about all of the amazing things they’ve been up to since completing CAP. But we can’t forget about the other important folks who make up the CI community! So this time we’re speaking to Jeremy Dougherty, fourth generation Coloradan, Founder of… Read more »
For some students, one semester of CAP class with Cottonwood Institute just isn’t enough. And could you blame them? Connecting with the outdoors, learning critical 21st-century skills, effecting meaningful change in their communities—what’s not to love? And for a certain devoted subset of those students, like Leo Canner, even two semesters of CAP only serve… Read more »
