Students in the second trimester Community Adventure Program (CAP) Class at Aurora Expeditionary Learning Academy (AXL) got to experience a magnificent state park that is less than an hour away from their school! Roxborough State Park is a 45 minute drive Southwest of AXL, but as you can see from the photos, it looked like… Read more »
Over fifteen years, the Cottonwood Institute community has grown and spread all over the world. You never know where you’ll bump into an alum, instructor, or other friendly face. Denver, of course, is a pretty good bet—and so it was when Executive Director Ford Church bumped in to CI alum Eric Wesolowski while out and… Read more »
Usually we use this space to check in with Cottonwood Institute alumni, to hear about all of the amazing things they’ve been up to since completing CAP. But we can’t forget about the other important folks who make up the CI community! So this time we’re speaking to Jeremy Dougherty, fourth generation Coloradan, Founder of… Read more »
The Centaurus High School CAP Class had a fun-filled Field Day at Hall Ranch Open Space just southwest of Lyons. Having learned about Leave No Trace (LNT) principles in class, students exemplified the first principle, Plan Ahead & Prepare, by packing a delicious lunch, making sure they had enough water for a day hike and… Read more »
With nine weeks of CAP behind them and only one more week to go, the CAP students at KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (KSPA) spent some time reflecting on their experiences together. Each student wrote what they refer to as a “gist statement”; a few sentences that give a sense of/a gist about their understanding of… Read more »
2019 was a big year for Cottonwood Institute. We connected hundreds of students to the outdoors, watched them create some inspiring Action Projects, were honored as the ColoradoBiz Magazine Top Company in the nonprofit category, and even bought our own 15-passenger van to help us increase our impact! We are excited to share our Best… Read more »
We’ve reached the end of another year at Cottonwood Institute! 2019 was a big one for us (our fifteenth!), and we’re so proud of everything our students, instructors, volunteers, alumni, partners, and community members accomplished this year. Check out ten of our most inspiring stories from 2019 — we think you’ll be amazed! 10…. Read more »
On November 1st, KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (KSPA) CAP students headed out for an exciting fall field day full of snowball fights and primitive camping skills. Due to the cold weather, the group decided to forgo their original plans of camping out near Jamestown. They swiftly switched gears and decided to spend the day adventuring… Read more »
Another group of STRIVE Prep – RISE freshmen headed out to White Ranch Park for their class’ fifth and final orientation trip last Saturday. Due to snowy weather, the group had to deviate from their planned overnight excursion, and instead headed out for a day trip to the beautiful Rawhide Trail just outside of Golden…. Read more »
It was a cool crisp early fall morning when the CAP students of KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy (KSPA) began arriving at the school for their second field day of the semester. As final packing was wrapping up and squirrelly young bodies were finding their seats in the van, one of the students announced “Look at… Read more »
