Spring Training Provided the Opportunity for Cottonwood Instructors to Stay Sharp, Confident, and Ready to Lead Meaningful Outdoor Experiences
Written by Harmony Esqueda, AXL Academy CAP Instructor & Social Media Coordinator. Every Spring, Cottonwood Instructors gather for a weekend-long training to learn new skills, games, and activities together. In order to deliver top notch programs for students, we want to ensure we are keeping our skills sharp and relevant.
Our first stop on the way to Leadville, where we camped for the weekend, was a parking lot with 360 degree views of the mountains for a lesson on compasses and triangulation – a skill that takes patience and practice. Then, we headed off to our final destination, Colorado Outward Bound School (COBS). Our long van ride was the perfect opportunity for Mad Libs and a round of “Is it a rock or a potato?” Once we arrived, we oriented ourselves to our campsite while we learned how to facilitate safety talks and camp set-up.
After setting up our tents, we were ravenous for some lunch, which was delicious toasted peanut butter banana sandwichs with fresh veggies. Then, we immediately put our newfound compass knowledge to the test with a lesson on compass courses, which involves learning how to take and follow a compass bearing. At each stop along the course, we found a paper with a bearing, paces, and trivia questions related to our Risk Management Policies. At the end of the course we found a prize of fruit leathers…yum!
Then, we split up into groups to put our Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder skills to the test. We practiced scenarios where instructors acted as sick students and other instructors evaluated them, practicing writing SAMPLE notes and communicating on our Garmin inReach satellite communication device.
For dinner, we cooked up some Chicago-style hot dogs with all the necessary fixings, including banana peppers, onions, pickles, and a side of ranch-style beans! Then, it was time to put on our thespian hats for some role-playing of Trauma Informed Practices in various scenarios. We pulled out a bin of costumes to dress ourselves up in silly outfits and perform our plays, involving various conflict resolution scenarios.
Once the sun set, it was time for all the classic nighttime activities, including a star-gazing night hike, a lesson on night vision, piezoelectricity and triboluminescence using Wint-O-Green lifesavers, and games of deer ears and bat and moth. There are so many exciting activities to get students motivated to brave the outdoors at night in the cold, so it was a great experience to learn new nighttime activities for students to enjoy.
The next day, we tested our knot knowledge by trying different techniques for setting up tarp shelters. To close out our training, our team took to the pond for a refresher on how to facilitate fishing and macroinvertebrate activities.
Our team left feeling so excited for another year of adventures to come!
