STRIVE Preparatory Schools recently wrapped up two of our “Mini-CAP” 6-week Community Adventure Programs.  The Westwood campus and the Lake campus both had a great time during their 6-weeks together, which concluded with a final overnight camping trip.  During the accelerated version of our Community Adventure Program, the students played games, learned more about each other, gained knowledge about local environmental issues, and created two Action Projects to address them as a group.

Westwood campus decided to work on the environmental impact of graffiti.  They were confronted with graffiti in their neighborhoods every day, wanted to learn more, and wanted to do something about it.  The group spoke to Denver Parks and Recreation and clean-up professionals to learn more about the process of how graffiti is eliminated. They then choose to do a little cleaning up themselves and spent an afternoon covering graffiti in their neighborhood.

Lake campus elected to learn more about local food and revitalize a garden at school.  The group dove into the idea of growing food yourself and after securing supplies, tidied up an existing garden at school and got it ready for the spring growing season.

Students had been looking forward to the overnight camping trip for six weeks, which most students shared was their favorite part of the course. Both campuses were able to join together to create a fun filled weekend and make some new friends!  The weather was a little chilly but they had a great time anyway, exploring Cal-Wood and learning the basics of low impact camping.   One often mentioned highlight was a hike to the Mica Mine at Cal-wood.  On the way there the group spotted a bunch of old bones and had fun reconstructing creatures, both real and imaginary.  The mine itself  is an old dig into the hillside where mica was extracted.  The area and the hole in the hill glitter with the left-over mica and at night it is quite an experience…especially with a night hike for the return trip!

Thanks to STRIVE Preparatory Schools, their enthusiastic teachers, our amazing Cottonwood Institute instructors, and Cal-Wood for hosting us. Our programs with Strive would not be possible without our donors and supporters, including Avnet Technology Solutions, New Belgium Brewing Company, and The Kenneth King Foundation.