Cottonwood Institute is excited to receive a $10,000 grant from Xcel Energy Foundation to help support our CAP Classes at AXL Academy, William Smith High School, Angevine Middle School, Centaurus High School, and New Vista High School during the 2021-22 school year! We are honored to partner with Xcel energy and their commitment to transition… Read more »
What was your favorite part of the trip? What will you always remember? You’ll get different answers to these questions depending on who you ask. Last week, Cottonwood’s Changemakers spent three days in the San Luis Valley exploring Great Sand Dunes National Park, Zapata Falls, and Earth Knack. As the culmination to a yearlong… Read more »
Fire is both destructive and a source of regeneration. The students of STRIVE Prep – Federal took this lesson of the duality of fire to everything they accomplished over the two weeks of their Explore Outside program. They broke down barriers and generated new and incredible skills! The students came together to overcome challenges, spend… Read more »
Beginning my first season as a Cottonwood Instructor, I was thrilled to hit the ground running with one of our Explore Outside programs! On June 1st, our two-week program with STRIVE Prep – Sunnyside 8th graders began. During our time together, we covered all kinds of content that got us exploring the natural world. We… Read more »
In this long, long school year full of challenges, what I was looking forward to most was teaching this group of students at Centaurus High School. I saw the class list at the beginning of the school year and recognized some amazing returning students and a class that was well-balanced between English language learners and… Read more »
The Angevine Middle School 4th quarter class was a hybrid class with some students attending online and the others attending in person. When the quarter started, it was the first time many of the students had been to school in a year and, although the group had been in a cohort all year, they didn’t… Read more »
Years tend to demonstrate themes. Many of the mantras of 2020 and 2021 revolved around perseverance, tenacity, and responding to unprecedented challenges. If one theme were assigned to the Aurora Expeditionary Learning Academy (AXL) CAP class of 2020-2021, it would be complexity. Not only were these students faced with changing schedules and online classes, but… Read more »
In September 2020, Cottonwood Institute partnered with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV), Thorne Nature Experience, Nature Kids Lafayette, and the City of Lafayette to launch a stewardship internship program for nine Lafayette high school students. The goal was to create a paid environmental job opportunity that also supported the students’ social and emotional well-being. The cohort… Read more »
The CAP class at AXL Academy reinstated a sense of normalcy while celebrating the outdoors on a fun-filled spring day at Cherry Creek State Park. After a year of being cooped up at home and in the classroom, it was a blast to spend the day outside all together! The students started off with a… Read more »
Every year we gather our whole CI community for our annual Base Camp Bash—a night of celebration and stories, fun and fundraising. The theme of this year’s Base Camp Bash was “Changemakers,” but who exactly is a Changemaker? We couldn’t have said it better than Kevin Cano, Lafayette Stewardship Intern and winner of this year’s… Read more »
