Julie Clendenin

Many of our Calleva alumni started their adult life with a Calleva-style “gap” experience. Whether they were with Calleva after college or at some point during their college experience (or all of the above!), these bright individuals will tell you that Calleva was a hugely influential in their earlly adult life. Our alumni have gone on to build careers in outdoor education, the health care professions, sales, finance, or engineering, and many say their Calleva experience helped prepare them for success.

Dave “Brokeback” Harding … Calleva Director

I started my journey with Calleva back in 2007 and have spent my time here in an unending evolution, building new skills and facing fun new challenges every year. My initial Calleva Gap Year turned into a career of its own, giving me the opportunity to grow and develop into the person I am today. From basic construction to outdoor guiding to staff management and wilderness first aid, I’ve gained lots of skills that have been useful in my life as a dad, artist, homeowner, teacher, and true jack-of-all-trades.

Lane Kurkjian … Engineer

My first experience at Calleva was the summer between high school and college and, looking back, it was a definitive pivot point for me. It’s a different type of success to figure something out rather than being told how to do it. It’s also way more fun! At Calleva, I learned that I really love figuring things out and that I value being around people with curiosity and a certain intensity. As both an outdoor professional and civil engineer, those two things still hold true—that intersection of interesting people and creative problem solving has enriched me as a person and as a professional.

Chris “Big Tic” Poticny … Construction Sales & Project Management

Calleva taught me the value of being able to seamlessly adapt between plan a, b, c, d and e and not get stuck on one way to do things.  I learned to think outside of the box and come up with my own solutions to common problems.  Good communication has been a constant in my professional life and it was also essential to nearly every job I worked at Calleva. I developed the ability to communicate effectively,  lead my teams, and run safe and effective programs in the outdoors.  I didn’t realize how much of the soft skills I learned and fostered at Calleva would be used in my daily professional life and I’m grateful for that.

Olivia Murphy … Gap Program Lead

Growing up, my parents reinforced the “do it yourself” model of living – from cooking from scratch and sewing, to blacksmithing, home repair, and more. When I started working with Calleva as a teenager, I really felt at home because this same lifestyle model was in play. To be amongst a community of doers, who will not be held back by any challenge, but instead look for the solution to any problem, is a truly amazing experience. I continually learn new skills every day and I am so excited to share this experience with young adults looking to grow in the world around them!

This fall, Calleva’s first official Gap Year students will learn how to structure and execute projects in culinary arts, woodworking, automotive mechanics, agriculture, and – of course – outdoor adventure! Our Gap grads will come away with a greater sense of self & self-sufficiency, a strong set of life skills, and a solid group of new friendships – all of which will enrich their lives for years to come!

Calleva staff are passionate about the outdoors & committed to fostering a love of the outdoors for our campers. This summer, we’ll be giving you snapshots of our 2019 camp leadership team so that you can get a feel for the stellar team we’ve got leading your kids for the season.  

• Pod leader: AKA “Staff Chief” – a veteran Calleva staff that helps manage a group of counselors, helping with day-to-day camp leadership, including questions or concerns
  
• Instructor: Experienced facilitator for one specific activity who teaches that activity all week (i.e. rafting, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, etc.)
  
• Director: Leads one section of camp (Cubs, EXP, EXPX, Adventure Camp, etc.), responsible for managing instructors, activities, logistics, and other matters.
  

This week’s featured staff: Alice Cook, Horseback Riding Instructor

Where are you from? Gaithersburg, MD (although I go to school in Grinnell, Iowa)

What area of camp you are involved in? Horseback Riding

What is your life outside of camp?  I am in my third year at Grinnell College majoring in Spanish and concentrating in Environmental Studies. Aside from school, I love riding horses (particularly eventing),  hiking with my beagle, Basil, and birdwatching. I also love my job working at my college’s preschool.

As a returning staff what keeps you coming back? The people at Calleva are truly amazing. Everyone is so good at what they do and has such a good time doing it. The support among staff is incredible. Being involved in horses my whole life, I’ve experienced a huge variety of barn environments and Calleva’s barn takes amazing care of their horses and is not only gorgeous and organized, but a happy, friendly, and welcoming place.

What is one of your favorite memories as a Calleva Staff? I will always remember walking among the monuments in D.C. early in the morning during last year’s instructor challenge. Even though I was exhausted and sore, everything was so beautiful and peaceful, it made me feel really lucky to live near D.C. Plus, I learned that the lights of the Kennedy Center turn off at 2am (who knew?!). 

Why is Calleva important to you? Calleva is helping the next generation form a relationship with the outdoors. These are the people who are going to help preserve and live in harmony with nature. 

What is one helpful tip for parents, campers, or new staff? Relax, no one cares if you look weird.

Fun fact about yourself? Rain is my favorite type of weather! (Also, I love chocolate!)

Calleva staff are passionate about the outdoors & committed to fostering a love of the outdoors for our campers. This summer, we’ll be giving you snapshots of our 2019 camp leadership team so that you can get a feel for the stellar team we’ve got leading your kids for the season.  

• Pod leader: AKA “Staff Chief” – a veteran Calleva staff that helps manage a group of counselors, helping with day-to-day camp leadership, including questions or concerns
• Instructor: Experienced facilitator for one specific activity who teaches that activity all week (i.e. rafting, mountain biking, kayaking, climbing, etc.)
• Director: Leads one section of camp (Cubs, EXP, EXPX, Adventure Camp, etc.), responsible for managing instructors, activities, logistics, and other matters.
  

Today’s Featured Staff:  Elie Katz, Director, Island Day Camp

Where are you from?  I was born in Florida but I’ve grown up lived most of my life in Rockville, MD. (With short stints in Israel, Ireland, and Currently in Charleston, SC)

What is your life outside of camp?  I am currently a rising Senior at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, pursuing a double major in English and Anthropology.

Why is Calleva important to you?  I try to run my programs so that the campers can have maximum autonomy and freedom. It’s something they do not get to experience much of in their classrooms at school for most of the year and I think that it is very valuable for young kids to get to practice that in the great outdoors. It’s an awesome thing to get to watch kids express themselves and enjoy the world around them in a fun, silly, and productive way.

How long have you been at Calleva? This summer will be my 5th summer as staff.

What keeps you coming back? There are two things that keep me coming back year after year: the people that I work with and the unique opportunities that Calleva provides for me and for the the children who come through our programs. The people I’ve met at Calleva have become strong long lasting friendships that I’ll carry forever. It’s wonderful to be surrounded by the fun loving and uplifting personalities that much of our staff embody. Calleva has provided me with some of the most important people in my life and for that I am very thankful. With that, It’s a great thing to be able to work outside and get to show young people all the amazing parts of that. I love getting to see someone experience eating something right off the plant or out of the ground at the farm, or watching kids just simply let loose during their time at camp.

A favorite memory of a truly wonderful day at camp:  At the end of last summer, I had a really great day out on the island. Mack (the other IDC instructor that week) and I loaded all the kids in a war canoe and headed out to one of our last full days on the island. It was a little chilly and rain was predicted, so we split up and jumped right into activities so to get them done before the rain hit. It ended up getting stormy pretty fast and the kids were bummed that we couldn’t finish our normal river related activities, however it ended up being the most fun i’d had on the island in a long time. When the rain started coming down it came down hard. Everyone was crowded under the pavilion and Mack was teaching some of the campers about fire building. One kid came up to me and told me to go jump in the big puddle that was forming, and I happily obliged. A bunch of the campers thought this was very funny and then came out to join me. All at once it seemed we had a mud puddle dance party forming, mud slip n’ slide, mud house building competition, and fire building extravaganza. Every kid was doing something different and everyone was having a blast. Rain days always seem to turn out to be the best of days at camp, and that day definitely was.

What is one helpful tip for parents, campers, or new staff.  For kids, be exactly who you want to be, and for parents, encourage them to do so!

Fun fact: Sitting in the back of the war canoe and steering gives you a great vantage point to witness and over hear some funny goings on between campers. Mason was in the front of the boat leading and entertaining through yelling and asking birds very important questions and other general silliness. Amongst the many giggles, one camper, who had been very vocal in his participation with masons silliness, looks around and says to no one in particular “I love this place.”

Baldy (a.k.a Andrew Pratt), our illustrious Explorers Director, shares his perspective on what it takes to make Calleva’s Explorers program the best way to introduce younger kids to adventuring in the outdoors.

It will be hard for some people to believe, but I started with Calleva in the late 1990s – yes, I am THAT OLD.

Now entering my 15th year as the director of Explorers (and as father to three little people), I can honestly say that I love working with Calleva’s youngest campers!

When I came back to Calleva after college in 2005, we initiated Explorers with the goal of meeting the short attention span of a typical 6-9 year old. We already knew that since most younger kids have not yet begun to identify what kinds of play they don’t love, most of them are open to try a little bit of everything if they can count on a short timeframe. Even the most reluctant participant can be inspired to try something new for an hour! The first week of Summer 2005, we led 12 campers; by the last week of that summer, our number had grown to 75. Last year, we led more than 140 kids every week on exciting adventure itineraries designed to inspire and empower them as individuals and teammates.

Calleva Explorers rotate between land and water activities all day long. They ride horses on the farm, play games, experiment with basic rock climbing, sing songs, hike and explore our nearby forests, do art projects, and paddle along the creeks and streams near Riley’s Lock. It’s a dream schedule!

A few years ago, we added EXPX, a more focused adventure camp-style “sampler,” specifically created for 9 year olds who are ready for more focused skill building minus the field games, songs and art projects that help to anchor a true Explorers day. Plus, we developed Calleva Cubs, a play-centered program for 4 and 5 year olds. Cubs get to march at their own beat – the activities are very elementary and super varied. Cubs get to have a pure and simple program that nurtures kids’ natural curiosity and desire to explore.

Since day one, the Explorers team has been focused on giving our youngest Calleva campers a wide range of fun adventure experiences in the outdoors. Our goal is for these kids to experiment in an age-appropriate way. Our staff are experts in their disciplines, whether its as professional educators with early childhood specialties or as adventure sport enthusiasts with a passion for introducing kids to the outdoors. We want kids to have fun, learn something new, make friends, and discover the joy of spending time in the great outdoors. Ultimately, we want our 9 year olds to graduate from Explorers ready to make informed Calleva Adventure Camp selections. We find that campers that grow up in Explorers tend to thrive at Adventure Camp, and we feel great about this success!

When people ask me about my job, I can honestly say that I love what I do. At Calleva, we get to make a difference in kids’ lives every single day. What could be better than that?