At Cottonwood Institute, we’ve got reasons to love every time of year. Winter means plenty of snow for building quinzhees, spring is time for projects in the garden (or more quinzhees if the snow decides to stick around), and summer brings us down to Westcliffe for adventures at Mission: Wolf. But our favorite time of… Read more »
Overview Tucked below the Sangre De Cristo mountains of Southern Colorado resides a unique sanctuary called Mission: Wolf that hosts a group of 40 wolves born into captivity. Wild wolves were once abundant in Colorado, playing an important role in the health of the ecosystem, but today there are fewer than 4,000 wild wolves in… Read more »
What a semester! With five CAP classes, 16 field excursions, and more than 100 students served, Spring 2019 was one of our busiest yet. From taking their frigid first steps on winter Field Days to making incredible strides to improve their communities in their Action Projects, Cottonwood Institute students have achieved so much this year…. Read more »
The fourth annual STRIVE Prep — Sunnyside Mission:Wolf trip may have easily been the best yet. Twelve EXCEPTIONAL middle school students, two teacher chaperones, and two Cottonwood instructors ventured down early Friday morning for a three-day course and a date with the sanctuary’s rescued wolves. Students were excited to take the trip, some joining for… Read more »
On a sunny Monday morning, a group of DCS Montessori students stood outside their school, patiently awaiting the arrival of the chariots that would whisk them off into the wild blue yonder. Beyond Colorado Springs, beyond Pueblo, and beyond Granby, there lies a place called Mission: Wolf, which would be the setting of these students’… Read more »
If you’ve been part of the Cottonwood Institute family for while, Aleyna Porreca will already be a familiar face. After taking a CAP class at New Vista High School, Aleyna returned to CI as a Field Instructor back in 2010. Aleyna has been an amazing advocate for Cottonwood Institute’s mission and has gone on some… Read more »
It’s that time of year again! As the year comes to a close, we are excited to share our top 10 inspiring stories from 2018. What exactly have we been up to this past year? See for yourself and get ready to be inspired! 1. Nature Kids Lafayette First Year Of Programming Returns Great Results… Read more »
The excitement was thick in the air at the idea of making friends with wolves! It was a wet morning at Littleton Academy as 5th graders and parents said their farewells. We had a four and a half hour drive to the Sangre De Cristo range where, a ridge away from the Great Sand Dunes… Read more »
Cottonwood Institute set out with a very excited group of 22 Littleton Academy fifth grade students this May on their much anticipated trip to Mission: Wolf! With bags packed, eager smiles, and helping hands, we loaded the vans and were off! Many songs were sung on the way to Mission: Wolf along with curiously anxious questions… Read more »
Colorado Youth for Change and Cottonwood Institute teamed up to create an impactful experience for ten very lucky high school students from Prairie View and Brighton high schools this summer. We loaded up the vans and were off on an adventure to Mission: Wolf! Students didn’t really know what they had signed up for, although… Read more »
