Although the 2020-21 school year is shaping up to be very different from any other in Cottonwood Institute’s history, it has presented us with an opportunity to work collaboratively with other organizations and reach students in new ways. One of these new programs, which launched in September, is our Lafayette Youth Stewardship Internship. Ten high school… Read more »
Before Cottonwood Institute takes students out for winter field days, they have to practice what they preach and teach. An eager group of CI veterans and newcomers met up early on a Saturday morning, packed lunches, and then packed themselves into CI’s shiny new van and drove to Caribou Ranch Open Space in Nederland for… Read more »
We’ve reached the end of another year at Cottonwood Institute! 2019 was a big one for us (our fifteenth!), and we’re so proud of everything our students, instructors, volunteers, alumni, partners, and community members accomplished this year. Check out ten of our most inspiring stories from 2019 — we think you’ll be amazed! 10…. Read more »
Another group of STRIVE Prep – RISE freshmen headed out to White Ranch Park for their class’ fifth and final orientation trip last Saturday. Due to snowy weather, the group had to deviate from their planned overnight excursion, and instead headed out for a day trip to the beautiful Rawhide Trail just outside of Golden…. Read more »
It was a cool crisp early fall morning when the CAP students of KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (KSPA) began arriving at the school for their second field day of the semester. As final packing was wrapping up and squirrelly young bodies were finding their seats in the van, one of the students announced “Look at… Read more »
Students from Aurora Expeditionary Learning (AXL) Academy’s Community Adventure Program (CAP) class packed up their bags and spent Thursday and Friday out of school, cell service, and their comfort zones at Cal-Wood Education Center in Jamestown, CO. The group pulled out of AXL Academy singing along to the Lizzo song “Truth Hurts” on the radio,… Read more »
As Cottonwood Institute (CI) enters our third year of programming for Nature Kids / Jovenes de la Naturaleza (Nature Kids) Program in Lafayette, CO, it is time to look back on what we have accomplished the previous two years. Nature Kids is a five-year, $10 million collective impact project led by Thorne Nature Experience that… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute Staff and community members joined up with the CAP class from KSPA for a volunteer project at Re:Vision, an urban farming co-op in Westwood. KSPA CAP instructor Eva put together this video of the day! See more photos and videos from the day here! Thanks to Re:Vision for having us. Learn more about… Read more »
STRIVE Prep — RISE sent their second group of freshmen out to Sylvan Dale Ranch last weekend for an orientation trip full of fun and adventure! The group had a chance to bond with friends and with the natural world while playing outside, learning about stars, and enjoying delicious meals and s’mores around the campfire…. Read more »
Squeezing in one last bit of summer fun, the CAP students at Angevine Middle School spent two adventure-filled days at Cheley Outpost near Estes Park. Sergio, one of the students, reports on the trip for us: So what happened first is that we got to school at 7:45 and we played a name game then… Read more »
