The centerpiece of every CAP class with Cottonwood Institute is the end-of-semester Action Project, which gives students the opportunity to address a local environmental issue of their choosing. Action Projects allow students to synthesize the lessons they’ve learned in class and on their field trips, and use them to create meaningful change in their communities…. Read more »
Did you know that native bees live in solitary “apartments” instead of bee hives? Or that plastic caps can now be recycled in Boulder as long as they are attached to empty bottles? Or that fashion industry “trends” are really just a ploy to get you to buy new clothes when you have perfectly good… Read more »
If you would have seen this Centaurus group at the beginning of the semester, you never would have thought they’d end up friends, let alone the close-knit, always-joking group that they have become. This cast of characters has a set of distinct personalities that could have come straight from a John Hughes movie. Their bonds… Read more »
The week preceding the Angevine Middle School spring trip to Cheley Outpost was snowy and sleety and miserable, enough to make the weak-willed have second thoughts about sleeping in a tent. But this group from Angevine has more Will than most (they have two!) and they were undaunted. They just threw some extra layers in… Read more »
On a sunny Monday morning, a group of DCS Montessori students stood outside their school, patiently awaiting the arrival of the chariots that would whisk them off into the wild blue yonder. Beyond Colorado Springs, beyond Pueblo, and beyond Granby, there lies a place called Mission: Wolf, which would be the setting of these students’… Read more »
Expedition Behavior (EB) is a set of group practices that help a group reach the goals of a trip while also getting along. After learning about EB in class, the KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (KSPA) CAP students developed a list of attainable group goals for their rock climbing field trip: Support each other to go… Read more »
One cold yet sunny day in April, AXL Academy CAP students left school to go somewhere better. Somewhere with no internet. Somewhere where they could get lost in its beautiful views. The woods. They got into the van and took off towards the mountains. When they got to the campsite, some students recognized the spot… Read more »
The New Vista High School CAP Class class went out for their second and final trip this weekend, volunteering at the Columbia Cemetery, hiking near Allenspark, and day-hiking at NCAR in Boulder. Fortunately, the weather was excellent and the group got to enjoy some springtime sunshine and early wildflowers. At the Columbia Cemetery, students helped… Read more »
After completing their service project at Re:Vision in Westwood, students Arely and Olivia from KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (KSPA) held a meeting in the conference room to present to us what they learned. “So,” started Arely, “what is Re:Vision?” A bullet-point list of facts written on a whiteboard was then pointed out: They help you…. Read more »
Cottonwood Institute’s (CI) mission is to connect underserved students to the outdoors and empower them to take action to improve their schools, their community and the environment for future generations. On New Vista High School’s first CAP overnight backpacking trip, we mixed things up a bit by empowering them to take action on their outdoor… Read more »
