|

A Rainy Pondside Retreat with New Vista CAP Students

Six New Vista High School Community Adventure Program (CAP) students and three instructors braved the wet weather as we left Boulder heading toward Allenspark. When we arrived at the trailhead, the sun was shining through the clouds and it ended up being a great day for our hike near Taylor Mountain. Instructors gathered our group to… Read more »

|

Peaceful Power: STRIVE Prep-Westwood Overnight

Recently, CAP (Community Adventure Program) students from STRIVE Prep-Westwood had the opportunity to use all of the skills and lessons they’ve learned over the course of the semester in one spectacular, culminating event: an overnight camping trip at Cal-Wood Education Center. We spent the weekend exploring old mines, hiking up mountains, building fires and watching stars, all while braving the… Read more »

|

Facing Fears and Shining Bright: STRIVE Prep-Montbello Overnight

On the first purely sunny weekend this Spring, STRIVE Prep Montbello students made the most of it as they joined another STRIVE campus for a fun-filled and adventurous overnight camping trip as part of their respective CAP classes. On the way up to Cal-Wood Education Center, they got to see some of the powerful damage wreaked by the flood in Lefthand Canyon,… Read more »

|

KIPP Montbello Students Singin’ in the Snow

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas,” twenty-plus Kippsters harmonized in the snow at the beginning of May. As many of us know, flexibility is the key word in education and we got to practice that with the abrupt change of venue for the Spring overnight trip for Community Adventure Program (CAP) students at KIPP… Read more »

|

Westwood CAP Field Day at Garfield Lake Park

The Community Adventure Program (CAP) students at STRIVE Prep – Westwood were so excited about their upcoming overnight camping trip that they just couldn’t wait to spend a day outdoors! Cottonwood was happy to accommodate this request by scheduling a day trip at a local park. On April 9th, four students, two instructors, and a STRIVE teacher spent six… Read more »

|

CAP Students Living in the Moment

Snug as a bug, students packed in among backpacks and gear, eager to see what awaited them on their new adventure.  This last weekend the Community Adventure Program (CAP) of New Vista High School headed to beautiful Cal-wood Education Center near Jamestown, CO.  They were met with snowy hilltops and sunshine bright enough to create lots of rosy sun-kissed cheeks…. Read more »

|

Fire Fury and Snow Flurries with STRIVE Prep – Excel

The act of making a fire connects us back to our ancestors of more than 100,000 years ago. Huddling around a fire for warmth, sustenance and community is something that too few of us get to experience in our modern world. But on a snowy day at the end of January, in a sheltered grove… Read more »

|

STRIVE Prep Sunnyside’s Upcycled Art Project

The Middle School students at STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside are creative visionaries. Their interests in art, writing and self-expression have allowed them to cultivate an authentic experience through the Cottonwood Institute’s Community Adventure Program at their school during fall of 2015. After spending several weeks on team-building initiatives, nature awareness activities, and an exciting overnight camping trip… Read more »