(by Claire Adams)

The 2024 Summer Nature Day Camp season is underway with our first session running from June 24-26. With such a great start, we are excited to have hundreds more campers participate in our camp sessions between now and the end of August, which is in no small part to the amazing staff running camp this summer.

Starting at the McLane Center in Concord, we have Maya Fabozzi joining us for her first summer as the Assistant Camp Director. She attended NH Audubon Camp as a young child and has come back after graduating from college to help facilitate camp and run the Leaders-in-Training (LIT) program at the Friends of the Eagle Camp. Maya’s lively personality, kind heart, and attention to detail has made her a fantastic asset to the camp team and the LITs are already letting me know how they appreciate her leadership.

Our Camp Educator team at McLane is made up of a combination of returning staff, former campers/LITs, and folks that are totally new to NH Audubon. Each of them brings their own unique talents and backgrounds to connect with the campers and make each day fun and meaningful. Their knowledge and love of the outdoors and passion for getting kids to enjoy learning about nature is truly infectious and inspiring. It has been great to see them work as a team to make this summer the best it can be.

Moving to the Massabesic Center in Auburn, we have Alex Felisberto joining us for the first time as the Assistant Camp Director. Alex comes to NH Audubon with eight years of camp experience through YMCA Camp Lincoln. Their wealth of knowledge and experience in all things camp has been invaluable in preparing staff for interacting with campers, organizing the day-to-day logistics, and enthusiastically leading circle time and camp songs. The Camp Wildside staff, campers, and LITs are looking forward to a fantastic summer under Alex’s guidance.

Like the McLane staff, the team of Camp Educators at the Massabesic Center are also a mixture of new faces, returning staff, and/or former campers. Some bring childcare and education experience while others are new to the camp world, but so far all of them have been amazing at interacting with campers, settling conflicts, and making camp activities fun and engaging for everyone. Their love of nature and desire to share that with the campers in meaningful, age-appropriate, and collaborative ways has helped them create great lesson plans as a team to lead the campers throughout the summer.

Here’s to a great summer of safety, fun, and learning!