What do Cottonwood Institute students go on to do later in life? What are these folks doing today to feed their passion for the outdoors and the environment? Well, over the past few weeks I have been getting back in touch with Cottonwood Institute Alumni to see what they are up to. The first alumnus… Read more »
2nd quarter CAP is in full swing! We’re a small group, but we have a lot of inspiration. The past few weeks have been an inquiry into the local environmental issues of the city of Boulder and Boulder County. We began with a visit from Ghita Carroll, BVSD’s new sustainability coordinator. Ghita led us on… Read more »
After many long hours and a lot of hard work, the Cottonwood Institute is excited to announce the launching of its new website! In addition to being much easier to navigate, the site offers a variety of new features and course listings that we can’t wait to share with you. Under the Courses Section of… Read more »
Welcome to your first web journal question! Now that we have completed our preliminary course work: you’ve learned a little bit about your environmental footprint, spent some time getting to know the natural world, and begun to think about reducing energy use at school… How do you feel? Are you inspired, overwhelmed, hopeful, confused? Do… Read more »
In class we read the article “Multiplication Saves the Day: How just a few of us can save the planet” by Bill McKibben. One of the pieces of advice he gives, in order to multiply the impact of individual citizens own actions, is to join a movement larger than yourself. McKibben writes: “So here’s the… Read more »
Issue: The Community Adventure Program (CAP) is a unique course that the Cottonwood Institute has implemented into local middle and high schools. Through this program students learn about outdoor awareness and environmental sustainability. They are also provided with the opportunity to make real change in their communities by addressing a local environmental issue. firths quarter… Read more »
Our first overnight to Golden Gate Canyon State Park was a blast! For most of the students it was their first time camping overnight in a tent. We practice many skills including map and compass skills, fire skills, leave no trace principles, cooking, and nature awareness. We also went on a long hike and few… Read more »
Welcome to the Cottonwood Institute Store where you can shop with a conscience! We have partnered with amazing organizations to set up an online store so our students can get the gear they need for our courses and visitors can shop for the holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. Everyone can feel great about their purchases… Read more »
The Cottonwood Institute’s educational philosophy is based upon two major tenets: environmental education and service-learning. We wanted to take the opportunity to define these and other pedagogical approaches and techniques used to teach our educational programs. These definitions offer a very broad explanation to complex terms, but attempt to synthesize these key terms into understandable… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute educational programs address a variety of topics including essential camping and wilderness survival skills, environmental education, and changing the world. We have had several requests for book recommendations, so we have compiled the following list that we have in our library. We recommend buying your books through a company called Book Sense, an… Read more »
