With the US presidential election less than a week away — don’t worry, this is NOT a political post — I wanted to take an opportunity to share Cottonwood Institute‘s (CI) State of the Union in 2020. We are now 8 months into the COVID-19 pandemic and like many, CI’s world has turned upside down…. Read more »
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… Read more »
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 »
After three years of leading CAP, DirtWorks, and so much more at Boulder’s New Vista High School (NVHS), CI Instructor Amy Atkins will be moving on and pursuing new adventures this fall. We were sad to learn she will no longer be teaching CAP, but are equally glad to say that Amy is still working… Read more »
We are all changemakers; knowingly or unknowingly, the effects of our actions ripple out, changing the world in large and small ways each day. Every year since 2013 at the Base Camp Bash, Cottonwood Institute recognizes the ways our students make change in their schools, their communities, and the world. The Ripple Effect Award celebrates… Read more »
With schools transitioning to distance learning and students spending (understandably) less time outside, Cottonwood Institute has been faced with the tough question of how to make environmental education accessible and relevant in a time when we can’t do many of the things that normally make up a CAP Class. Fortunately, our team has quite a… Read more »
How about this for a Cottonwood Institute connection? Tess Eckert took CAP at New Vista High School three times between 2007 and 2010 (tied for the all-time record, not that we’re counting). She got to learn from CI celebrities Ford Church and Paige Doughty. And after seven years in Australia, pursuing art, work, and exploration,… Read more »
How many times in your life do you get to set your art project on fire during class? For the students at New Vista High School, this teachable moment became a reality during the art presentations for their Activism Through Self Expression workshop. Now that we have your attention, we’ll go back to the beginning…. Read more »
One of the quintessential Cottonwood Institute experiences is learning to build a quinzhee, a simple snow shelter that can be useful in winter survival scenarios. It’s a technique Executive Director Ford Church brings from his survival school days, and one that endures as a winter field day staple (see pictures from our recent Instructor Training… Read more »
One of the hardest aspects of climate change is staying positive and proactive in the face of a huge, scary, global problem. It often feels too big for one person. Students in New Vista High School’s (NVHS) Activism Through Self-Expression Workshop used the scary side of climate change to their advantage by playing on this… Read more »
