Year in Review 2022: After another hike around the sun, it is time to reflect on what Cottonwood Institute accomplished this past 2021 – 22 school year, the challenges we faced, and our vision for the future. Accomplishments: Programming: It was a wildly busy school year emerging from lock downs and pandemic curveballs. Despite a… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute’s annual Happy Hour came back in 2022! The event brought staff, instructors, board members, donors, sponsors, and program partners together for a night of fun. We are so grateful to Jon Underkofler and AllianceBernstein for hosting us this year at their new gorgeous downtown offices. Click here for more photos from the event!… Read more »
A Q&A! In early October, the students from the Centaurus High School CAP class spent two beautiful days in the mountains at Cheley Outpost. They made fires, cooked a feast, went on a night hike, learned about fire ecology, and did a service project. Q&A (question and answer) with the students: Q:What was the most… Read more »
The Angevine Middle School CAP class loved their overnight camping trip to Cal-wood this fall. As part of their trip reflection, they did a custom Mad Libs on the bus ride home. We hope you enjoy their ______ (adjective) re-cap of their ______ (adjective) trip! Escrito en español más abajo. Our Camping Trip One __maroon__… Read more »
Get to know Eeland Stribling (he/him), who has been working with Cottonwood Institute as a field instructor since the spring of 2022! Eeland is an educator, wildlife biologist, angler, and comedian (check his Instagram for upcoming shows: blacksteveirwin). Learn more about Eeland below, and read our other staff and board profiles here! What led you to… Read more »
Get to know Jessie Colin (she/her), who has been working with Cottonwood Institute as a field instructor since Summer 2022! Jessie is a multitalented outdoorsperson and athlete and is known for bringing the most fun and creative games to our programs. Learn more about Jessie below, and read our other staff and board profiles here!… Read more »
STRIVE Prep Westwood’s fall fishing field day. Written by Field Instructor Jessie Colin. Escrito en español más abajo. On a beautiful fall day, 11 CAP students, 2 instructors, and 1 school chaperone from STRIVE Prep Westwood journeyed to Lake Lehow to meet with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). We began the day with a site… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute (CI) is excited to unveil a new equitable, transparent, and thrivable pay structure for our instructors. When I started in the outdoor industry in the late ’90s, I was working for a company that was hiring instructors as contractors and the starting pay was about $75 – $100 per day. Fast forward 25… Read more »
New Vista CAP students contemplate methods and themes surrounding fire while trying to build their own palm-sized fires. Written by Field Instructor Ruthie Cartwright. Silence. For the first time since our New Vista CAP class headed out this morning on our first overnight to Cal-wood. Silence from a group of twelve high school students. No… Read more »
Students explore perspectives from different stakeholders in the Gross Reservoir Expansion Project to understand broader water issues. Written by CI Field Instructor Amy Atkins. See more photos here! In our current polarized cultural climate, it is often difficult to empathize with people who have different viewpoints from ours. Polarization also furthers confirmation bias, an idea… Read more »
