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Green Your Holidays Campaign

From Thanksgiving to New Years Day Americans throw away 25% more garbage than any other time of the year! That extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of trash. Did you know…If each family in America wrapped only three presents in re-used materials it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields! In preparation… Read more »

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Top 10 Inspiring Stories From 2012

We are wrapping up another incredible programming year with the Cottonwood Institute and have been blown away by the students we have served and the Action Projects they have taken on to improve their schools, the community, and the environment. In 2012, we served over 375 youth, logged over 15,000 program contact hours, and recorded… Read more »

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The Buzz from CAP this Quarter!

This past quarter of CAP, the class has learned many interesting things. They learned about bees, pollinators, survival skills, and tips on camping. One of the main things CAP focused on was colony collapse disorder (CCD), which is the disappearance of worker honey bees. Another is wilderness survival skills, which is teaching the class how… Read more »

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Lakewood High School Students Change Their World

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 »

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Earth Task Force and the Science Adventure Program Join Forces

“Ask Questions, Make Mistakes, and Get Dirty!” In the second half of the 2011-12 school year the Earth Task Force (ETF), sponsored by the Cottonwood Institute, teamed up with the Science Adventure Program (SAP) for games, mentoring, and exploration. SAP is an after school program for elementary school students, which inspires student to: “Ask questions,… Read more »

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2012 Base Camp Bash Was A Rockin’ Success!

The Cottonwood Institute’s 2012 Base Camp Bash was a rockin’ success. On Saturday, April 28th, 2012, Artwork Network was transformed from an art gallery into a vibrant base camp packed with outdoor enthusiasts who gathered to help raise money for the Cottonwood Institute’s 2012 programs to connect underserved kids to the outdoors and empower them… Read more »

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CAP Explores The Impact of Population Growth

This quarter CAP students at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO explored the environmental impact of population growth. They researched how overpopulation is affecting Boulder County and came across the following topics: Open Space and Mountain Parks trail usage, food production, water use and treatment facilities, waste management, family planning and population density. The… Read more »

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Earth Task Force Shows Off! (In a good way)

On February 27th, 2012, attendees of the Green Schools National Conference came to visit New Vista High School (NVHS) and the Earth Task Force (ETF) got a chance to show off in a good way. About 50 people from all over the nation participated in the tour. The ETF visit was part of a larger… Read more »

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Together We Can Change the World!

Earth Task Force and Cottonwood Institute Present at National Green Schools Conference The Earth Task Force (ETF), the environmental club at New Vista High School in Boulder, sponsored by the Cottonwood Institute (CI), took part in a whirlwind of events, workshops and speeches at the National Green Schools Conference in Denver February 27th-29th. A tremendous… Read more »

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CAP Reconnects to Nature

Every quarter offers something new for each Community Adventure Program (CAP) student at New Vista High School in Boulder, and this past one was no different.  While traipsing through the snow on both overnights, the students learned a lot about themselves, each other, and how to be comfortable outdoors in the Colorado winter! Read what… Read more »