The Middle School students at STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside are creative visionaries. Their interests in art, writing and self-expression have allowed them to cultivate an authentic experience through the Cottonwood Institute’s Community Adventure Program at their school during fall of 2015. After spending several weeks on team-building initiatives, nature awareness activities, and an exciting overnight camping trip at Cal-wood Education Center, they dove in to learn about and discuss local environmental issues, such as ecology and energy.

Along with STRIVE Prep Sunnyside teacher Jenny Nelson and Cottonwood Instructor, Kristin Maharg, the group collaborated with each other and local organizations to design and implement a student-directed Action Project to positively address their issue. Using their unique skills, the class investigated how public art installations with ecology themes create emotional connections with an audience, inspire a personal environmental awareness, and build community understanding of environmental stewardship.

Over the next several weeks, the students brought in local artists from Altitude Steel, Bryan Buikema at C8 Projects and Sargent Studio for inspiration and volunteer assistance on the culminating project, which is an original up-cycled sculpture using donated and salvaged metal objects. Called “Renew,” it helps make connections between renewable and non-renewable resources, writes one of the 7th grade students, “the students and teachers who participated in this group wanted to make a change to help make the environment a better place. We put a sculpture together to show the death and life of nature.” Each side of the re-purposed steel oil drum includes objects to stimulate those thoughts and feelings around death and life. The sculpture will be installed in the school yard this spring and used as a garden bed for flowers and plants. Congratulations, STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside creative visionaries, for going above and beyond with your awesome Action Project!

This video is a 7th grade STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside CAP participant explaining their Action Project.

Written by CAP Instructor: Kristin Maharg