Our Winter Training Brought Staff to Brainard Lake for Snow Shelters, Wilderness Medicine Scenarios, and Joyful Learning in Winter Conditions Written by CI Field Instructor Hailey Schmidt. Cottonwood Institute staff kicked off 2026 with a chilly and fun-filled winter training. Though the wintery weather has been lacking in the front range this season, we were… Read more »
We Are All Changemakers; Knowingly or Unknowingly, the Effects of Our Actions Ripple out, Changing the World in Large and Small Ways Each Day. Written by AXL CAP Instructor Harmony Esqueda. Every year since 2013 at the Base Camp Bash, Cottonwood Institute has recognized students from our Community Adventure Program (CAP) classes who demonstrate leadership,… Read more »
The holiday gift-giving season is upon us, so we wanted to share a few ways to gift to your loved ones in an environmentally conscious way. Your time, energy, and creativity are just as valued as a store-bought gift. Give Pre-loved Items Join your local Buy Nothing group to find gently used items like books,… Read more »
A Night of Habitat Restoration Work Became a Tribute to Chelsea’s Time at Cottonwood. Written by New Vista CAP Instructor Lori Powell. Cottonwood staff, instructors, board members, Changemaker students, and Alumni recently gathered on an unseasonably warm November evening to take action for local habitat restoration—and to share a heartfelt farewell to Associate Director Chelsea… Read more »
Read Our Top 10 End-of-Year Suggestions to Help Cottonwood Unlock a $25,000 Match to Support Award-Winning Programs. As we wrap up 2025 and dream about what the future holds, I am incredibly grateful for our Cottonwood Institute community of students, parents, program partners, staff, instructors, donors, sponsors, and funders who have supported us the past… Read more »
At Cottonwood Institute, we believe in fostering the next generation of changemakers, which is why action projects are a crucial component to our CAP (Community Adventure Program) classes. These projects are hands-on initiatives where students identify an environmental issue they care about and work together to lead meaningful activities with local impact. CAP fosters leadership,… Read more »
Our Headlamp Highlights shine a light on the people and organizations that help our Cottonwood community thrive. We are excited to highlight our Cottonwood Institute (CI) Board Member, Candace Richter, who has been on the CI Board since September 2024. Read on to learn more about Candace! Introduce yourself to the Cottonwood Community. Where did… Read more »
I love this time of year when I get a moment to pause and reflect on the positive impact Cottonwood Institute has created in the lives of our students and the communities we serve for the past programming year (August 2024 – July 2025). In a world that can feel divided, a quick scan of… Read more »
What a day on the greens! The Harvard Gulch Golf Invitational brought together 104 players for a fun-filled afternoon of golf and community spirit, all in support of Cottonwood Institute’s mission to awaken the changemaker within every student. Thanks to everyone who came out, we raised an incredible $12,790 to connect more students to nature… Read more »
This year, Cottonwood Institute celebrated our 20th Base Camp Bash fundraising event, thus our theme: Cheers To 20 Years! On the evening of April 5th, 2025, our Cottonwood community gathered for a night of music, food, fundraising, and festivities at Upper Larimer in RiNo in Denver. As people trickled in they were met with the… Read more »
