Liz Schweber, a senior at New Vista High School reflects on her experience in C.A.P. so far this quarter: “The Community Adventure Program is an amazing class that is offered at New Vista in conjunction with the Cottonwood Institute. It is such a fulfilling opportunity that I decided to take it for a second time…. Read more »
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 »
CAP students were quite busy this quarter. Before their first overnight they learned about camp setup, packing their bags, proper camp nutrition, and basic outdoor overnight essentials. Most of them already had a great deal of camping experience for high schoolers. Or so they said, as they arrived for the overnight with overstuffed backpacks –… Read more »
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 »
Six weeks ago a group of boys and girls from Casa de la Esperanza gathered together in nervous anticipation for the first ever Casa CAP program. Casa de la Esperanza (House of Hope) is a residential community in Longmont dedicated to helping agricultural workers. The learning resource center at Casa provides educational and recreational services… Read more »
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 »
As I reflect about the impact the Cottonwood Institute had this past year, I am delighted to see our impact surge in 2011. We do a lot more that just connect kids to the outdoors. In the words of one of our instructors Madeline Bachner, “Our courses are centered around cultivating direct action for positive… Read more »
The Community Adventure Program (CAP) rounded out 2011 with a great project on healthy alternatives to fast food. The students researched and used experience with their peers eating habits to shape a project based on finding healthy and affordable alternatives to the easily accessible fast food chains near the school. CAP students became interested in… Read more »
As Community Adventure Program (CAP) students reflected on another amazing quarter, they came together as a class and had a blast learning and playing on their overnights and at school. They researched food issues and developed a great sense of what goes into making and eating quality food. But, as usual, the main takeaway was… Read more »
With wind chills predicted at 0 degrees Fahrenheit, the brave students from this quarter’s Community Adventure Program (CAP) at New Vista High School headed to the mountains near Allenspark, CO to take part in their first overnight of the class! Several students had never camped before and many had never been winter camping. With a week… Read more »
