Eight months ago, Cottonwood Institute embarked on a new journey, Mini CAP, with a group of sophomores from FAST Tracks, a dropout prevention program at Lakewood High School. Mini CAP is a spin off of our core curriculum at New Vista High School in Boulder, the Community Adventure Program. We took our CAP curriculum and… Read more »
Imagine a place where kids roam with the wolves and sounds of giggles fit right in with the howls. Strange? Maybe, but to Mission:Wolf staff and volunteers, this is just another day on the job. And for the 18 kids and 3 teachers from Logan School, it became part of the normal routine as we… Read more »
Can you recycle frozen food boxes? What about the crates that strawberries and tomatoes are packaged in? Did you know that aluminum is mined from under the rainforest and that it can be recycled an infinite number of times? Recycling is one of the simplest environmental actions we can take, but it’s got some complicated… Read more »
It’s that time of year again and we are pumped! Cottonwood Institute will be teaming up with Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI) to help complete much needed trail maintenance and ecological restoration projects on the beautiful and majestic Mt. Evans the weekend of August 12-14, 2011. This free volunteer opportunity is for adventurous and mellow folks… Read more »
People often ask me about the impact Cottonwood Institute programs have on our participants and the communities we serve, and I am reminded of a quote by Paul Loeb, the author of Soul of a Citizen, we share with students at the end of our programs: “We never know how the impact of our actions… Read more »
In February 2011, the Earth Task Force (ETF) put together a team of students and adults to write an application for the National Environmental Education Foundation to help fund sustainability initiatives at their school. Despite the stiff competition nationally, we are thrilled to announce that New Vista High School (NVHS) has been awarded the Green… Read more »
Another quarter of the Community Adventure Program has come to a close, but we inspired another all-star group of outdoor enthusiasts as well as old and new environmentally minded students. We had tons of fun on the overnights bonding with this small group. The weather was unseasonably warm for December camping and, while we talked… Read more »
If ‘change the world’ means bringing a positive change to some corner of the globe– affecting the lives of one, ten, a hundred, or a thousand people, then, in my opinion, the answer is yes. -David Bornstein, author of How to Change the World. As we reflect on another amazing year at the Cottonwood Institute,… Read more »
Community Adventure Program (CAP) students unleashed their inner worker bee this quarter to create a great two-pronged Action Project that focused on honey bees and cold-frames. Based on early class discussions, the plight of the honey bee was a hot topic within this group, which was duly noted. However, they just couldn’t let go of… Read more »
People often ask me about the impact that Cottonwood Institute programs are having and I am reminded of a quote by Paul Loeb that we share with students at the end of our programs: “We never know how the impact of our actions may ripple out. We never know who may be touched. That’s one… Read more »
