When you arrive at the Denver North campus that houses STRIVE Prep – Excel, unfortunately, one of the first things you notice is the trash that has blown up against the fence and dots the school yard. This reduces school morale and sends a (wrong) message that the students just don’t care. In fact, the… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute is more than excited to welcome Vicki Whisenhunt to join our team as our new Administrative & Logistics Coordinator! This role has been a long time in the making and is much needed to support our growing programming needs. In addition to helping with administrative demands, she will work alongside our Program Manager, Taryn… Read more »
What to do with a stairway with south-facing windows and a warm radiator that is in plain view of passing students? Build a window garden, of course! Students in the Community Adventure Program (CAP) at STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside perceived a lack of access to healthy, fresh food in their community and wanted to inspire their fellow… Read more »
It has been another energizing and successful year! We are excited to announce Cottonwood Institute’s annual top 10 inspiring stories from 2016. Thanks to all who voted on our Cottonwood Institute Facebook Page! So what were our students up to this year? Check it out! New Cottonwood Institute Video: Watch. Like. Share. Do You Believe in… Read more »
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) announced that the Nature Kids/Jovenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN) Coalition in Lafayette, CO, which Cottonwood Institute is a lead partner for, won a $2.8M Inspire Initiative grant! NKJN will focus on a one-square mile area, in a network of public schools serving the lowest income children in the Boulder Valley School District…. Read more »
2016 has been an incredible year and we have big plans for 2017. Here are our “Top 5 Reasons To Invest In Cottonwood Institute” for #GivingTuesday and #COGivesDay this year: 1. We are connecting students to the great outdoors: “My weekend [camping trip] was super peaceful. I enjoyed myself up in the mountains because I… Read more »
Sparkling caverns, trickling waterfalls, a troll’s den, and a bear peering through a window. Does this sound like a fairy story? Settle in while I recount the tale, Dear Reader… Once upon a time, four valiant youths left the city to seek their fortune in the mountains. They boarded a big white carriage which bore them… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute (CI) has been delivering environmental education and service learning programs for the past 13 years and we were curious: What are the CI alumni we taught years ago up to these days and how did our programs impact them reflecting back years later? So we set out to re-engage our alumni what we… Read more »
Recently, STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside Community Adventure Program (CAP) students headed up to the mountains outside Fairplay to explore the Beaver Ponds Environmental Education Center. They started off the trip on a beautiful Colorado morning by stopping at Staunton State Park for a short hike. The students learned about compasses and navigation and led the way to Davis… Read more »
For Cottonwood Institute (CI), 2016 has been a wildly successful year! CI coordinated 32 programs, served 391 students, delivered 18,163 program contact hours, and over 6,700 service learning project hours. This would not have been possible without the support of generous donors who help CI connect underserved students to the outdoors and empower them to make… Read more »
