Cairn Corner: October 2024

October 17, 2024

Cairn's October Environmental Stewardship Events

Cairn students and mentors were able to choose between two different options for their October monthly event: Attending the Youth Exploring Stewardship (YES) Conference or joining Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership (SCRGP) in their Community Science Project.

Photo by James Tsui

The 6th annual YES Conference was held at Cal-Wood Education Center, led by different organizations of the YES Coalition (including VOC). Cairn students joined other students from all over the Front Range to either attend Saturday only or stay overnight. On Saturday, students were split up into different outdoor skill activities, including: Leave No Trace, forestry & fire mitigation, forest bathing, and orienteering.

Photo by James Tsui

Photo by James Tsui

Afterwards, the students assisted with Cal-Wood's goal to build nearly 5 miles of new trail on their outdoor education campus in Jamestown, CO. The 200 yards of new trail the students constructed runs right through the 2020 CalWood Fire burn scar area. Hard hats adorned, they learned how to use different trail tools, break tread, and remove small trees for the new trail. Their work here will improve Cal-Wood's educational programming for younger students for years to come!

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Photos by James Tsui and Austin Hannon

Overnight students were able to enjoy some s'mores in the evening and continue their learning on Sunday. Hayley from Colorado Young Leaders led a natural resource career workshop before Angie Busby from Cal-Wood led a First Aid class, allowing the students to walk away with a Stop The Bleed certification. Huge thank you to the many program leaders and adult chaperones who made this conference possible!

The following weekend, the other half of VOC's Cairn Program gathered at Sand Creek Park in Aurora to participate in SCRGP's Community Science Project. This project is part of their ongoing effort to monitor the watershed health of the Sand Creek and engage the community in doing so! Students and mentors gathered different data points to test water quality and surveyed the riparian areas for different plant species. They also tried their hand at catching different macroinvertebrates, including water striders and damselfly larvae. The variety and number of macroinvertebrate species will often be an indicator of the health of the water. Thank you to Zoe Bliss with SCRGP for leading our crew of scientists for the day!

Photos by Emily Novack

Dos Chappell Bathhouse in Denver's Washington Park
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After three meaningful decades, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) will be saying goodbye to our longtime home at the Dos Chappell Bathhouse in Denver's beloved Washington Park. In the early 1990s, VOC signed a 30-year lease with the City of Denver to transform the historic bathhouse in Washington Park into a headquarters that could support our growing mission. With generous support from our community, we launched a capital campaign and raised $700,000 to complete the initial renovations, which were finalized in 1996. Altogether, including the original renovations, VOC has invested more than $1 million in improvements and ongoing maintenance, creating a space that is enjoyed by our staff, volunteers, and the broader Washington Park community. In 2000, the building was renamed in honor of Dos Chappell, VOC’s former Executive Director (1988–1999), whose vision and leadership left a lasting legacy on our organization and Colorado’s outdoor stewardship movement. This space has been more than just an office—it’s been a gathering place, a launchpad for thousands of volunteers, and a visible symbol of our commitment to caring for Colorado.
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