Staff - 2009 Vermont Session 3
Advisors
Advisors do lots of things: teach workshops; lead games, sports, hikes, fieldtrips, and other activities; help out with logistics; and other stuff. But most essentially, they connect with campers--individually and in small groups. Each advisor meets daily with his or her group of 11 or so campers, and is generally available for support, hugs, and conversation.
Jay Silver, 30
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Advisor, Session 3
Jay is new to NBTSC, except that he visited for a day in 08. Amos discovered him for us one day while riding on a bus.
I currently work on many projects, some of which include joylabs (see http://joylabs.org/hatha for some documentation), drawdio (see http://drawdio.com for full documentation), and scratch (see http://scratch.mit.edu for full documentaiton). I unschooled myself late in life, AFTER college. I was an electrical engineer, so even though the schooling was not compulsory, it had completely engulfed me in a culture I didn't feel good in. I plan to teach workshops on the things I know a lot about and am excited about, like Yoga of any sort (hatha, jnana, bhakti, karma, anything about Yoga), Scratch (a new media expression tool), and Drawdio (a way to MacGyver a musical instrument out of a cat, a pencil, grandpa, a tree, even the kitchen sink). I have only been to NBTSC once before for one day to get a whiff of the culture and facilitate one workshop.
Grace says: Since Jay doesn't say a lot about himself, I'm also going to take the liberty of quoting from one of Amos's emails to me, about him:
"Jay is a PhD student at the Lifelong Kindergarten program here at MIT media lab. He is one of the kindest most open people I've met in the world: a creative tech genius, a yoga teacher, and student support person (advisor / mama bear in camp terms) at a dorm here. I'm getting to be close friends with him and his wife, and there is many a time I've thought - wow: he would be so great at camp. In fact we met on the bus, and the first thing I said to him was : 'I notice you aren't wearing any shoes. The only time I've ever seen people not wearing shoes was at Not Back to School Camp.' He proceeded to flip out, having read your book and written several essays on it, acted out stories from it, and generally gone on and on about it to his co-students, professors, and friends. So that was why we became friends - I suppose you might say you introduced us.
"Here is his website which talks about some of his interests but I don't think gives a complete picture of him (he is unilaterally shaven now). He is a very trustworthy and kind person of great integrity. http://web.media.mit.edu/~silver/"
Jill Menard, 29
Asheville, North Carolina
Advisor, Session 3
Jill grew up in a log cabin without running water in the middle of nowhere (aka Willard, Wisconsin) with her awesome parents and her big brother Jason. Her family moved to New Zealand when she was 20 and she followed them there because they are her best friends and New Zealand is beautiful, awesome, and simply exotic! Jill attended a performing arts center in New Zealand and went on to open her own dance studio and non-profit professional dance company. Her company stands for Freedom of Expression to Rejuvenate and Nurture. Check out www.ferndance.com.
Jill came back to the States last year for an extended visit. She ended up in Asheville, North Carolina and joined the Asheville Aerial Arts. She is currently training and performing on the trapeze, silks, sling, and Spanish Web. Check out her latest performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbKI3bPNFbQ
Her passions and interests include: dancing, writing (finished her first novel in 2008), camping, hiking, backpacking, swimming, skiing, kayaking, juggling, hula hooping, spending time with family, performing card tricks, practicing handstands & cartwheels, creating delicious raw vegan desserts, reading, being silly, laughing, making new friends, standing under waterfalls, eating copious amounts of watermelon, and singing (although this is not one of her talents, she still loves it!).
Jill first became interested in homeschooling after her brother stopped going to public school. She’d hear stories of how he spent his days: sleeping in, eating French toast, reading Calvin & Hobbes in the hammock, climbing a tree, playing with the goats, going for a swim, the list went on and on. "Enough of these 6AM wake-ups and being stuck in a stuffy room all day!" she exclaimed, announcing her new plans to not return for 7th grade. "But I may go back to High School," she said. Ha! Once she experienced her first day learning at home and the freedom that came with it, she never looked back.
Jill is excited to share her aerial dance skills at camp this year, along with acrobalance – the art of learning precarious balances and tricks on a partner, and how to make her original, delicious, melt-in-your mouth RAW CHOCOLATE BLISS TRUFFLES!
Jill worked as an Advisor for Session 1 in 2005 and loved every minute of it. She’s super excited about returning to NBTSC this year!
Vanessa Filkins, 28
Austin, Texas
Advisor, Session 3
I grew up in upstate New York, unschooled by my school-teacher mom and electrical engineer/salesman dad. I "graduated" from high school in 1995 and spent some time living in Central America on my own after that. I moved to Austin, Texas for a job in 1999, and have lived here since, only leaving once for an 8-month stint in St. Louis, Missouri.
I've been a professional nanny, a household manager, manager of a small law firm, and I have started a small business. I currently run my photography business, Common Good Photography, full time and also work part-time at a law firm in client and project management.
I love music, art, dancing, design, logic, philosophy, and getting in touch with my inner child (I know she's in there somewhere!). I love to learn about the law and I like to talk about ethics a lot. In the past, I have led workshops about Finding Answers to Questions, What It Means To Be Smart, How To Get What You Want, Organic Visual Composition, Dancing the Samba, and Portrait Photography. This year I plan on leading as many new workshops about photography and visual composition as possible. It is my biggest passion and I love to learn new things every day.
I have also volunteered for the Education Empowerment Project, which puts on the annual Quo Vadis gathering for self-educated adults and their allies.
I am passionate about being self-educated, and the time I can spend every year with you campers is a total highlight. I believe you are all geniuses and I am grateful for every moment I can spend witnessing your amazing selves!
NBTSC history: Oregon advisor, 2005 - 2008.
Blake Boles, 26
at large (California, Oregon, etc.)
Advisor, Sessions 1,2,3&4
Project Leader, Session 2
2008 was an exciting year for Blake--he signed a publishing deal for his book (College Without High School), led a group of nine teenage unschoolers around Argentina for six weeks, and acted (for two weeks) as the full director of a children’s wilderness summer camp. Never one for a “stable lifestyle”, this year found him living in Portland, Oregon for 4 months, working as an EMT medic for a New England environmental education program, presenting at two homeschooling conferences, and returning to the California High Sierras to work and backpack. Blake is SUPER excited to work all four sessions of NBTSC in 2009 and connect with dozens of new unschoolers!
Blake was a public school student and didn’t get bit by the unschooling bug until he was in college--but it bit hard. After redesigning his major to study alternative education exclusively, Blake went on to brainstorm a cornucopia of unschooler-related enterprises. He is the co-founder (with the famous Abbi Miller) of Unschool Adventures (www.unschooladventures.com), a teen travel company for unschoolers. You can find College Without High School (a great gift for friends in high school!) via the publisher’s website (www.newsociety.com), your local bookstore, or the omnipresent Amazon.com.
Blake is a Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician and an instructor in Wilderness First Aid and Red Cross CPR. When not working with teens, Blake enjoys backpacking, ultimate frisbee, Argentine tango, international travel, and never-ending reading and writing. He has worked as a snowboard instructor, academic tutor, marketing researcher, chef, outdoor science teacher, freelance web designer, homeschool mentor, and windsurfing instructor. He spends time living in both California and Oregon.
Evan Wright, 27
Seattle, Washington
Advisor, Sessions 1, 3, and 4
(photo by Vanessa Filkins, Quo Vadis 2004)
One of Evan’s defining characteristics isn’t obvious at first, although it has a long history. When he was ten years old, he decided he wanted to “stay underwater” and built a diving bell out of an upside-down garbage can, a length of rope, and 75 pounds of weight: he is a creative problem solver to the core. After a decade developing experience as an autodidact, he is even more at home using the tools of stubborn curiosity, independence, and unconventional approaches to arrive at surprising and innovative solutions to all kinds of challenges.
Evan began his practice of self-education after reading The Teenage Liberation Handbook at 15. His curriculum included unlearning many of the unspoken lessons from school and re-establishing his own direct personal relationship to learning. He explored the British Museum; worked at a London soup kitchen run by nuns; raised harbor seal pups, disentangled sea lions from fishermen's nets in Mexico, and assisted in research of 5 ft. long green sea turtles in Costa Rica. Without school he studied the life of Albert Einstein, assisted with research on whales, and explored the writing of educational visionaries and critics.
As an adult, Evan has specialized in creating projects that bring people together. He enjoys facilitating connection among challengingly diverse groups of people and fostering community among those who may not fully appreciate what they have in common. For over a decade Evan has worked with unschoolers and their families, establishing his reputation as a generous mentor, a passionate leader and an articulate advocate of unschooling. He is the founder of The Education Empowerment Project (an unschooling organization) and for five years was the director of an adult unschoolers event called Quo Vadis.
Evan has participated in Not Back to School Camp for a decade: for many years as an advisor, and as a camper before that. He is a total dork and is honored to share a week with one hundred home- and un-schooled teenagers. At camp Evan has led or co-led workshops and discussions on: Marine Biology, How to Build an Underwater Robot, How to Change the World in 90 minutes, Stone Sculpting, Investing, How to Make Homemade Pasta, The Life of Albert Einstein, How to Begin a Project or Event, The Supreme Court of the United States, Barn Raising (a networking activity), Blues Dancing, The Effective Unschooler, and How to Get What You Want.
Jasmine Sheldon, 25
Seattle, Washington
Advisor, Sessions 1,2,3&4
Project Leader, Session 2
If you asked her, Jasmine would characterize herself as an affectionate optimist. She has spent the last year rewriting her life plan dozens of times; at this point she has simply decided to treat herself really well and be open to whatever comes her way. . .
Jasmine originally hails from the great northern state of Alaska, spending most of her adolescence in Palmer, where she didn't attend school, but did play in the woods, learn to cook, work at a bakery, teach swim lessons to cute kids, run around, laugh a lot, and spend many cold winters sledding with her sisters and reading aloud from good books.
Jasmine loves a good adventure. In the past year she has tried on a variety of professions, including working in a major trauma hospital, teaching preschool, making coffee and serving delicious lunches at a cafe, hosting at a back country ski camp, working on and off at a rock climbing gym, and most recently spending her summer rock climbing and backpacking with 8-17 year olds all over Washington State, primarily through Seattle-based non-profit Passages Northwest and Bothell-based non-profit Rite of Passage Journeys.
Jasmine is extremely excited about: Traveling. Finding new ways to incorporate silliness and play into her life. Hiking. Laughing. Rock climbing. Skiing. Backpacking. Swimming. Being true to yourself. Honesty. Playing games. Bringing ritual and gratitude into her everyday existence. Bike commuting. Bike touring. Building strong, supportive communities. Cooking. Baking. Reading new books. Re-reading books that she loves. Looking at the world through curious eyes. Taking pictures. Cutting up old clothes and putting them back together to make new ones. Dreaming. Making art. Writing. Poetry. Staffing at all four sessions of NBTSC 2009.
During camp Jasmine loves to be silly (think pirate olympics, etc.), sing in the sun, play rowdy games, laugh, be a sounding board for your thoughts about life, celebrate your uniqueness, and support you in any way she can.
Unschooling history: An unschooler since birth, Jasmine has spent time learning in a variety of settings. From the cooperative based loosely termed "school" of 10 families in Alaska during the late 80s and early 90s, to a year in a public high school and four years in a college program that pretty much let her design both her classes and her degree. She continues to learn, grow, and unschool in everything she does.
camp history: jr staffer 2003, night owl 2004, 2005-2008 advisor and project leader
Nathen Beryl Lester, 37
Eugene, Oregon
Advisor, Sessions 1, 2, & 3
Project Leader, Session 2
Nathen works as a music recording engineer and record producer, and is also famous (at least in some circles, including the NBTSC community) for Abandon Ship, a band he created with two of his brothers. He says (well, he said--a few years back), "I think I'm a classic unschooler in every way except that I am 32 years old and attended lots of schools during my first 27 years. I do what interests me. That includes writing songs, playing drums in a rock & roll band, making records, researching and experimenting with communication, relationships, nutrition and making money. I get excited about a lot of sciences--anatomy, physiology, psychology, evolution theory, geology and physics. I meditate, swim, climb mountains, read philosophy books and talk about them. I live with a group of adult unschoolers in Springfield, Oregon, where we grow food, compost and have parties and talent shows."
nbtsc history: Nathen has been an advisor at every session but two since 1999. He says, "What I love about camp is the people who come--the staff, the campers--and how they interact, how they share their excitement and inspiration and how they form friendships and communities with the people they meet. I love the talent shows, from nervous, first-time attempts to professional level performances. I love how at camp I'm treated like an interesting person and a friend by people who are younger than me."
unschooling history: Nathen homeschooled during third grade, and also observed four of his younger brothers homeschooling/unschooling.
at camp: Nathen is famous not only for being sincere, friendly, enthusiastic, and sometimes potently amused, but also for the zeal, intellect, and originality with which he teaches workshops on subjects such as the human digestive system. Among his tentative plans for workshops are Metacommunication, The Science of Attention and The Aesthetics of Recorded Music. He will also reprise his popular Session 2 project, in which a group of musicians -- with a wide variety of skill levels and instruments -- co-create a piece of music and perform it for the whole camp.
www.abandon-ship.com
Mike Reddy, 31
Albany, New York
Advisor, Session 3
I went to suburban public schools in second rate midwestern cities my whole life. I rejected the high school social scene and immersed myself in diy/punk culture--becoming involved with the Sitcom Collective, Food Not Bombs, the Animal Defense League, and a burgeoning scene of young graffiti writers. I went to Loyola University Chicago, a Jesuit school, because they gave me a large academic scholarship and because Chicago was the most influential city nearby. It's where my philosophy on hip hop originated, and where my crew was from. I planned to study photojournalism so that I could expose the horrors of industrial growth, but the more I learned about the media and hegemony, the less I wanted to be a part of it. I ended up with a degree in Communication with a concentration in Social Justice and minors in Peace Studies and Philosophy.
I always equated getting a career with selling out and have thus forged an existence outside the status quo. I've worked on collective projects around the world, opening squats, and operating infoshops, social centers, food pantries, animal rescue centers, and collective bookstores. When I needed money I decided to look for a job with a non-profit. I ended up working in a group home for mentally ill adults. I loved the men who lived there and the job came naturally to me. I worked there a year and a half before moving to New York City to do similar work. Though I know I had positive impacts on the lives of the people I worked with, I became convinced that the model of "recovery" and "rehabilitation" was designed to serve the existing economic structure more than the individuals dealing with mental illness. I decided that I could be most effective in creating long lasting meaningful changes by working with children.
I've been working for the last year at the Albany Free School, the oldest inner-city democratic school in the country. There is no set curriculum, no testing or grading, and all participation is voluntary. I've also been working with a group of homeschool kids doing a weekly all-day wilderness class. I can't wait to share my insights with campers and to learn from your unique experiences and perspectives.
Amos Blanton, 34
Melrose, Massachusetts
Advisor, Session 3
Lately I've been learning to be a husband, and working with the Scratch Team at MIT media lab as an online community moderator and doer of electronic odd jobs. Prior to that I was a therapist working with families at risk of losing custody of their children. Before that I was a student, sandwich maker, consultant, teacher, developer support engineer, blimp groundcrewman, motofoto associate, pizza maker, bus boy, student, student (for too long!), baby, foetus, ?, three toed lemur, British Sailor, and the inventer of Baba Ghanouj. Just kidding about the last part.
Right now I want to find a solution to the puzzle of how to make a living doing something I love a) without being stressed and b) while belonging to a community of people who are open to sharing their experiences. I used to know the answer, and now I do not, which is sometimes hard to accept. If I was a sandwich I'd be turkey, and if I was a motorcycle rider I'd be Evil's twin brother, Good Knievel. I have two (2) prehensile thumbs. I am somewhat prone to worrying, a lover of Indian food, often capable of empathy. I admire those who farm. I once borrowed a steamroller in the night and drove it one block and then parked it. I like to listen, and some have even said I am good at it.
I wish to help the human world with its tendency to over-intellectualize, and yet I only dance sometimes.
History: NBTSC Advisor, 2002 - 2005, 2007. Counselor 2007. I love to work at Not Back to School camp because of the freedom and creativity of the environment, and for the opportunity to listen to and support campers.
Ethan Mitchell, 32
Vergennes, Vermont
Advisor, Session 3 & 4
(photo by Allen Ellis, NBTSC 2006)
I live on a sheep farm in Vermont, with my amazing wife, my parents, grandparents, 65 sheep, 17 ducks, 2 cats, 2 dogs, and many, many books. We keep open house so there are usually one or two other people living here as well, sometimes with additional livestock. To make the coin, I used to work mainly as a sculptural stone-carver, but immediately after NBTSC 06 (my first taste) I basically quit my job and started working as a tutor and organizer for the local unschoolers. Oh, and I spend a lot of time rebuilding my house, which used to be a cow barn. And writing. I write way too much, sometimes for money and mostly for fun.
Before I ran into hundreds of bona fide unschoolers (I didn't leave school until college, and that was more an act of revenge than emancipation) I used to think I had diverse interests. I think I can generally arrange my interests around three questions. Viz: What does unschooling mean at the level of the university? How did people fall in love in the 9th century AD? And (paraphrasing the Lester boys) how do we decide what to think about, and what not to think about? More, uhhm, specifically, I am passionate about: welding; free speech; ceramics; recycled building materials; telluric currents; Medieval feminism; ducks; and helping people get through grad school so they can, as someone once said, get a real life and education.
Ethan's resource page for Vermont unschoolers is here.
Kitchen coordinator
Nicole Martin, 29
Albany, New York
Kitchen Coordinator, all sessions everywhere
Nicole's been on the NBTSC staff since 1997 as both cook and advisor. She is full of energy and creative ideas, has a magical way with food and is a sought-after chef/caterer, and comes as a set with her fabulous daughter Lou. Nicole is one of the most physically vital people you'll ever meet -- she surfs, does Capoeira, dances, and is at home in her body in a most inspiring way. She's also an accomplished singer and guitarist, an artist, a devoted activist, and a passionate mother.
Cooks
At camp, our fabulous cooks prepare 3 meals a day, harmonizing with each other and with the many campers who help out in the kitchen. Food at NBTSC definitely does not happen in a factory atmosphere; while making dinner, the kitchen crew is liable to sing together and to discuss life, the universe, and everything--or garlic, blackberries, and pizza crust, which often amounts to the same thing. Anyway, because they have so much interaction with campers we consider them unofficial advisors and hire them with that in mind--they are advisor-caliber folks who can also make magic with potatoes and other miracles of nature.
Joshua Nicoson
Albany, New York
Cook, Session 3
"Josh in a nutshell," by anonymous:
Joshua Nicoson is an utter genius. He was born in Manhattan, and until most recently has lived in such places as New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois and Vermont.
Laughter unabated, the thinnest darn feet, redbeard to be reckoned with, a capacity to meet folks young and old right exactly where they're at in the most allowing of ways, degree in structural engineering, a degree in architectural nerdiness, more knowledge of sports facts than most would give a bleep to know and even the ones who do he knows more than, pool shark--yikes, eats onions like they're apples, has a son named Emmett who if he's lucky will grow up to be much like his father.
Marlene Depierre
Maui
Cook, Session 3
It's a pleasure to welcome Marlene (who happens to be Nicole's mom and Lou's grandma!) back to camp. She once did a fabulous job of coordinating our Oregon kitchen, and Nicole learned many of her own amazing ways with food direct from her mama.
Cameron Lovejoy, 21
Columbia, South Carolina
Cook, Session 3
Cameron left school at age 12 after consulting his parents about being homeschooled, because he was certain that school was interfering with his passions. After much research, his mother found the writings of John Holt; and after two years, he found his love of learning again. Since then he has created a short film about quitting school, presented at numerous unschooling conferences, helped his family with the Live and Learn Unschooling Conferences, joined the Unschool Adventures team as a marketing and advertising intern, and created an online discussion group for parents to ask unschooling offspring about being autodidacts. Along with advocating unschooling, Cameron also enjoys cooking, backpacking, kayaking, world travel, concerts, good hugs, ultimate frisbee, drumming, entrepreneurship, and the nomadic lifestyle. Currently, Cameron is directing an unschooling conference of his own called The Autodidact Symposium debuting March of 2010 in Columbia, South Carolina. He hopes to see YOU there! www.theautodidactsymposium.com
Mel Shaw, 22
Amherst, Massachusetts
Cook, Session 3
Mel is currently studying sustainable agriculture at UMass Amherst, living and enjoying life in Western Massachusetts and is super excited about helping to concoct delicious sustenance for camp! Asides from that, she will also be training to become a conservation law enforcement officer...aka a park ranger in the fall and hopes to move out west somewhere and be a ranger after graduating.
Mel was home/unschooled her whole life up until college, and since then has switched schools and majors three times, after finding the drudgery and strictness of conventional schooling tedious and uninspiring. Also, a west coast girl by birth, she has moved several times, from the west coast to the east coast, traveled across country, been to Mexico and Costa Rica and even lived for a few years in England. She began working/volunteering at an organic farm when she was 11 and since them has worked at a turkey farm, a bakery, a couple coffee shops, a research greenhouse and even worked cleaning windows for a summer. Aside from her continuously evolving educational interests; Mel loves to read, write, knit, chill, sing, bike, hike, kayak, make music,and play games. She is also passionate about all things sustainable, green, recyclable, and reusable.
Mel is ecstatic to be a part of NBTSC again after having been a camper in 2003 and 2004, and Junior staff in 2006.
Dish Queen
Allie Hendrick, 22
Madison, Wisconsin
Dish Queen, Session 3
"I quit school in 10th grade after I read the Teenage Liberation Handbook. Since then, I have been on a journey of unlearning and discovering a more beautiful, creative, genuine and adventurous way of life. I am currently fascinated by cooking with home-grown and local foods, bookbinding, writing without a computer, making zines (ask me about my next issue!), and the alternative education movement in Oaxaca, Mexico and in India. I love to sing and play guitar, ride my bike, and dance. I know my friendships with unschoolers have made me who I am today, and I am so excited to be at camp this year! I hope to connect with many of you and find a way to keep supporting unschoolers throughout the year."
This is Allie's first year on senior staff. She junior staffed in Oregon a few years back, and before that she was a camper.
Night Owl
In early camp years, we had a few vigorous staffers--the most memorable was our beloved Billy (Upski) Wimsatt, also the author of a couple marvelous books--who tended to stay up all night right along with campers. More recently, as our staff aged and wrinkled, this niche didn't get filled as automatically, so we made an official position. Now, at each session somebody sweet and strong stays up late--until 2 or 3 a.m., depending on when most campers have nodded off--to be a reassuring and attentive adult presence.
Alex Rhue, 21
San Francisco, California
Advisor, Session 1; Dish Queen, Session 2&4; Night Owl, Session 3
Growing up, partially, in the middle of rural California was the most instrumental chapter of my life to date, I believe. For it was there that I discovered how, and why, to be curious. I would spend my days and evenings wandering through the forest near my house, with a small pickax, in search of fallen trees, natural springs, and the ever elusive Banana Slug. I think that my parents' unbridled willingness to let me spend quite literally every waking moment in the outdoors, galavanting, conversing with animals, and just... Breathing - is to this day one of the things I am most thankful for. That and the flavor of watermelon.
Ennui was not an emotion I knew until my progression to Northern Michigan, acquiring a television, the invention of the internet, and puberty ( a malicious event in life that refuses to be supportive of you while you're around attractive people). Michigan, though, was the great state that introduced me to acting, being the home to the first play that I was cast in - Aladdin, I believe it was. I played a cloud. Now, surprising as though it may seem, it was not love at first sight. My older brother was actually the one interested in theater; I merely followed in his footsteps with a little stiff handed prodding form my beloved mother. Much like my first year at camp, my mother had to bribe me with some unnamed culinary delicacy, or perhaps the promise of less chores if I would simply try it. I was, and remain, a rather shy child.
After becoming enthralled with the fantastical ways of the stage, I spent the next 8 years learning lines, playing soccer, riding over the international bridge to get to rehearsals and ALWAYS being terrified of both the U.S. And Canadian customs officials, and playing more soccer. If I hadn't found my spark acting, then that's probably what I would be doing. Playing for the USA Olympic soccer team and trying to create some sorely needed dignity that the men's league never had.
I moved out of my house at 19, to another, slightly more racially and culturally diverse city in Michigan called Ann Arbor. I attended a very nice community college for one semester, before I abandoned higher education for the second time (but not the last, I assume) to pursue two "day-jobs" and begin writing what I only recently figured out to be a mildly fascinating screenplay. I then moved to New York on a whim (a proposition was made, with an expiration date of 20 minutes), where I divide my time between another increasingly ill-fated day job and writing down snippets and plot advances for several different screenplays and short films.
(Grace says: Then Mr. Rhue moved to San Francisco and engaged in more ill-fated and fascinating snippets and whims .... but I guess he ran out of whim while updating his bio for 2009. You'll have to sit him down and get a plot update in person.)
Film maker
Allen Ellis, 20
Harmony, Pennsylvania
Volunteer film maker, Sessions 2 and 3
Allen, who was a camper 2002-2007, says:
"I'm a passionate unschooler and videographer with a keen interest in multimedia production. This includes website design, motion graphics, video production, etc. I'm a geek, too - ask me anything about your computer.
I'm also fascinated by the art of communication and sharing ideas. I'm a lover of people and hearing stories, goals, and life lessons to encourage people.
I'm videotaping a documentary about NBTSC so you'll see me with a camera a lot. Please feel free to approach me if I look available - I'm happy to share my time with you.
Logistics puppy
This year our Logistics Goddess, Frankie Cruz (see the aministrative staff bio page), has the luxury of her own well-seasoned, dedicated assistant:
Matt Sanderson, 20
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Logistics Elf, Sessions 1,2,3&4
Matt was born and raised in Philadelphia, where he attended completely nonfreakyoroutoftheordinaryinanyway schools through 9th grade. In his sophomore year he switched to an alternative 'free' school called Upattinas, read Grace's Teenage Liberation Handbook, and fell in love with alternative education.
Matt spent 3 years working on the board of his new school attempting to maintain an equal balance of power between students and teachers while playing basketball with the school team and attending anti-war demonstrations in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Washington DC, and New York City. He graduated through a combination of collecting the required number of credits and putting together a video presentation on the anti-war movement. After finishing high school in 2006, Matt spent the fall in New Orleans gutting houses in the ninth ward, the area hit hardest by Hurricane Katrina.
The next spring, Matt joined two of his friends in founding and co-coordinating a camp called the Young Peoples Empowerment Convergence (www.ypec.org). The idea for YPEC was to create a camp experience entirely created and maintained by youth, a goal which was accomplished through monthly meetings each of the six months preceding the camp's one-week run-time in June of 2007.
Matt spent fall of 2007 working as an art and English teacher for first through seventh graders in Olon, Ecuador. Later in the year he again co-coordinated the 2008 Young Peoples Empowerment Convergence, which happened in late July 2008.
Last year was Matt's first at Not Back to School camp. Hired for the first Oregon session, he liked camp so much that when invited to stay for the next two sessions as a volunteer, he was extremely pleased to accept. Since that time, he has lived with Not Back to school camp staffers Alex, Frankie, Nicole, Josh, Abbi and Zen (not all at once, but almost) in Philadelphia, Albany, and San Francisco. He's now returning to Philadelphia, with an eye on helping to again facilitate the Young peoples Empowerment Convergence (happening mid July).
Junior Staff
The junior staff does all kinds of logistical and grunty stuff that frees up the senior staff to focus on caring for campers directly--they scrub lots of pots and pans; supervise bathroom cleanup, the dish-line, and other chores; wake people up in the morning; count heads twice daily; cook; and do all kinds of other important stuff. We really appreciate and love our junior staffers! Their week on jr. staff also enables us to get to know them in a different context and find out how we think they might do in the future as potential senior staff, and it helps them see what being on staff entails. (Lots of fantasies are dashed, actually, when people discover for themselves how hard the staff works, so not everyone ends the week begging to join the senior staff!) Almost always, junior staffers are 19-21 year olds who have come to NBTSC previously as campers. Once in a while, they are folks completely new to our community. (As a bit of historical trivia, Nicole, Damian, and Jasmine all made their first appearances at camp as junior staffers.)
The Session 3 Junior Staff team is Lauren Scott and Adam O'Sullivan.
Back to administrative staff page
Oregon Session 1 staff
Oregon Session 2 staff
Vermont Session 4 staff