Any student that’s taken a CAP Class with Cottonwood Institute can tell you that  Action Projects are of the highlights of their experience. Typically, students choose an issue that they want to tackle as a whole class. Together, they find solutions and work to plan an action in their community; classes in the past have taken on car idling, takeout trash, toxic cosmetics— they’ve even made bee nest boxes!

Adapting Action Projects for virtual learning required a little creativity, but this quarter students at New Vista each designed their own personal Action Project right from their homes. With issues ranging from food waste to plastic pollution, students wrote stories about their connection to the issue, interviewed friends and family about how it affected them, planned out possible solutions and, finally, went out and took action.

From volunteering at the local fire station to support hardworking wildland firefighters to writing letters to the editor about the impact of fracking on air quality and running in Boulder, individual projects meant that students got to make their issues both local and personal.

Did you know that typical reusable bags are often as resource-intensive as their single-use counterparts? Or that flour lasts longer when you store it in the fridge? Inspired by issues we learned about in class, other students made custom-designed reusable bags and posted signs in their yard with tips to reduce food waste. Students tapped into their talents by painting, sculpting, drawing, and writing to embody the idea that Gift plus Passion really does equal Change!

There’s no better time than now to take action for what matters to us, and I’m super proud of the work that students have done to make a meaningful change in their communities. Thanks to my whole crew for such a great quarter!

Written by New Vista High School CAP Instructor Chelsea Tossing

See more Action Project photos HERE!