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Casa de le Esperanza Explores Another World

A couple weeks ago, Cottonwood Institute teamed up with Casa de la Esperanza, a housing community in Longmont hosted by Boulder County Housing Authority, and engaged seven kids, one chaperon, and two Cottonwood Instructors in a weekend adventure exploring new lands.  As the bus pulled away from the city and entered the luscious green of the Boulder… Read more »

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CAP Class Builds Group Cohesion and Raises Team Morale

The Community Adventure Program (CAP) students from New Vista High School in Boulder, CO gladly scurried to the mountains for their first overnight trip of the quarter last weekend!  The group was more than ready to enjoy the CAP class outside classroom walls.  Cottonwood Institute’s CAP program provides outdoor excursions throughout the quarter where students… Read more »

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Fossils, Fun, and Camping with Military Kids and Families

A bus full of excited and energetic military families emerges from the traffic and craziness of the cities of Denver and Colorado Springs into the wonder that is Colorado wilderness. Thanks to Sanborn Western Camps and Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, these amazing families and their instructors learned not only about nature awareness and camping, but… Read more »

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STRIVE Prep Sunnyside Hosts Bike to School Day

This spring, over 20 students enrolled in Cottonwood Institute’s Mini-CAP course offered at STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside as an Enrichment course for students. All but three students were in the sixth grade, and together they learned about issues affecting their community and took action to improve some of the problems they observed. Passionate about air quality in their… Read more »

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Backpacking, Hiking, and Exploring with CAP

This spring, the Community Adventure Program (CAP) at New Vista High School had many amazing outdoor experiences! Each adventure built upon the last, as the students grew into competent and excited outdoor enthusiasts. On most Friday afternoons throughout their few months together, CAP class headed to the nearby trails at the base of the Flat… Read more »

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Camp Wondervu was Wonderful: STRIVE Excel Goes Camping at Camp Wondervu!

October 26th, 2013 was not an average Saturday morning for Strive Preparatory Schools’ Excel Campus ninth graders enrolled in the Outdoor Education Enrichment with Cottonwood Institute’s mini-CAP. No sleeping in, no television, and no morning menudo. This morning was different. It was the beginning of their camping adventure. After five weeks of intense preparation for this… Read more »

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STRIVE Prep Westwood Experiences Nature Close to Home

For the month of October, students from STRIVE Preparatory Schools’ Westwood campus participated in a mini-CAP course to explore the world around them and forge a deeper connection to the natural environment. In the beginning of the course, students were excited about getting to go outside at the end of their school day, and they… Read more »

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Wings and Wilds and Wind!

Logan School 3rd graders had quite an adventure with the Cottonwood Institute last month.  On May 9th a group of 18 eager students, 3 remarkable teachers and 2 able bodied Cottonwood Institute instructors embarked on an epic road trip.  It took them throughout the wilds in and around Denver and up to the windy prairie… Read more »

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Students Were Deeply Impacted By CAP This Quarter

Community Adventure Program (CAP) students at New Vista High School were deeply impacted by their outdoor experiences this quarter.  In CAP class, one of our goals is always to awaken students to their gifts and abilities to make change in their own lives and the lives of people in their communities.  The reflections of this… Read more »

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What’s CAP up to? First Post

What’s this quarter’s CAP class been up to? let’s take a peek! A guest speaker talked about environmental issues surrounding Open Space on a hike, and they’ve had many guest speakers already. Students are way stoked about their action project, which will address Genetically Modified Organisms, or GMOs. More information on that soon — stay… Read more »