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About Us
Values & Vision
It began with a vision…
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A vision to provide children with learning experiences where they feel at home within their community, revel in the wonders of the outdoors, and be recognized for the unique gifts they carry. We envisioned a place where kids could discover their intellectual and creative gifts outside of standardized test scores.
Care for All People
We include and respect everyone from all backgrounds, abilities, and ages. Come as you are. Be who you are
Care For the Earth
We see ourselves as part of the ecosystem – developing a relationship to nature to learn, grow, and protect the environment for future generations.
Give Back & Share
We give back to the people and planet what we take. Openly sharing resources, skills, and our friendship.
Play & Have Fun
We have fun with all that we do, every step of the way. Enjoy the process and the adventure.
We Listen
We listen to the innate wisdom of children, to nature, to each other, and to ourselves.
What We Do
The Kiva Center offers immersive outdoor experiences focused on experiential learning, socio-emotional wellbeing, and creating community.
We have a farm homeschool program, in-school programming, and afterschool programming.
What Motivates Our Work
When we stop to listen to the youth of our community, the underlying tone of hopelessness, loneliness, and fear is often present. They see it all happening around them, environmental degradation, people and cultures fighting, human rights subjective to identity, and much more. They carry a lot on their shoulders. We also see potential. We see a desire for more inclusion. We see a longing in them for more hope in the world. Our program exists to give hope, connection, and community. We exist to help them connect with the natural world and all the healing that comes with that. We exist to help them connect to one another in an authentic way. We exist to give them a place to practice using their voices and standing up for what matters to them. We exist to empower the next generation of leaders.
How We Do It
Kiva Center partners with schools and farms across the Boulder/Denver area to create programming focused on making actual change in their communities. We create high-quality, immersive programs that leave the participants more deeply connected to their unique nature as well as the big Nature.
What Makes Us Unique?
Our Mission
The Kiva Center's mission is to build inner-strength and compassion in Colorado’s youth through transformational nature-connection experiences.
Just as we value the unique gifts of each of our students, we too offer unique programming you can’t find anywhere else. We balance free time to explore with structured learning. We balance content with socio-emotional learning. We highly value community and creating a sense of belonging. Many students report that Kiva is the only place they feel safe and encouraged to be their authentic selves.
Ways We Engage Community
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We partner with Great Outdoors Colorado and the My Outdoors Colorado Coalition within the Westwood Neighborhood of Denver to offer after-school programming at CMS Community School and Castro Elementary School.
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E-Movement - This is a coalition of public and private sectors that are all engaged in bringing environmental education to all youth throughout their school career.
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McCauley Family Farm - We partner with McCauley Farm to host our homeschool enrichment program to provide a rich learning environment to learn about agriculture, land stewardship, and being in a good relationship with the land.
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Sustainable Resilient Longmont - We partner with this great organization to bring free programming for events within our local community.
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Boulder County Open Space for community volunteer days.
Our Story
Started in the backyard of a picturesque 3.5 acre property in south Boulder, Kasey Schelling, Ashley Kulik, and Garrett Braun heard the call of the community to create a space for youth to authentically connect with their self, each other, and the world around them.