On May 11, 2017, two Community Adventure Program (CAP) classes presented amazing project plans and policy change ideas to judges at the Civic Learning and Action Showcase hosted by The Civic Canopy. KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy (NDLA) had 4 students presenting about their project to preserve habitat and create community space on campus. STRIVE Prep – RISE had 10 students presenting about their solar charging station project. Both groups got up early to travel to History Colorado and the Colorado State Capitol to show off their presentations.

Thursday morning started early with a chilly dawn, a warm van, several forgotten lunches, some nerves, and a late arrival. Once both groups were settled in at History Colorado, the learning experiences began! Representative Leslie Herod gave a lively and inspiring talk to begin the day. From there, students grabbed a snack and headed out to watch other presenters, and their competition. The format of the presentations was for groups to explain the problem faced by their school or community, some alternatives to solve it, and the proposed solution they had developed to address it. Students then took questions from the judges and the audience in the room. Finally, each judge gave their feedback about the presentation based on the rubric developed through Civic Canopy. Schools from all over the Metro area and the state spoke about topics from animal testing to social media addiction with a general focus on social issues including immigration and education.

The two Cottonwood Institute groups presented in the last two blocks of the morning and did a fantastic job sharing their information, supporting each other, and answering some challenging questions from judges. After hearing the very thoughtful and helpful feedback, discerning students from KIPP pondered, “Maybe we shouldn’t have messed around in class so much.” If this was the only take-away from the day, the teachers deemed it a worthwhile experience!

After lunch students transitioned to the capitol where awards were given after some time for reflection and evaluation. Each group received an honor for what was special about their presentation, followed by a trophy in each age category; elementary, middle school, and high school. It was the overwhelming majority opinion of the STRIVE Prep – RISE students that, “We definitely would have won if that other high school group hadn’t been there.” Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design took the high school category top honor for their presentation on equity in education. KIPP NDLA was honored for their “detailed planning for co-existence between the school and wildlife,” while STRIVE Prep – RISE was awarded for their “presentation and delivery,” especially considering they were one of the larger groups presenting.

Cottonwood Institute is very proud of both CAP classes for their Action Projects and particularly thrilled with these student representatives who put forth a lot of extra effort to showcase their passion and energy to make real change in the world. Many thanks to their enthusiastic and supportive CAP instructor Erin Angel and her undying support of these, and all of her students!