Swimmin’ with Sonic

Number of years at Camp Shaw: 4
Positions served in at Camp Shaw: Cabin Counselor, Dinner Director & Waterfront Director
Favorite camp meal: Taco Tuesday
Favorite camp song: Pink Pajamas

Hold your breath as we get ready swim through this celebrity staff reveal! For those who know Sonic, you know that her ‘fun in the sun’ personality adds extra sunny rays to the waterfront program! Sonic has been involved with Camp Shaw since 2011 and has worn many hats, but she returns to her favorite role through serving as our Waterfront Director this summer!

Sonic shares that she is most looking forward to reconnecting with campers that she had a few years ago who are now serving as a staff member or Counselor in Training Candidate. She also looks forward to meeting new campers so she can share her love of swimming with everyone. Sonic is a teacher in Washington state and has been a swimmer for the majority of her life. She enjoys the freedom that the water gives her. She has recently taken up water aerobics as a stress reliever and plans on bringing her skills and knowledge to the Camp Shaw pool!

As Sonic prepares to head back to Illinois for another swim-tastic summer at Camp Shaw, she reflects back on her own camp experience as a young girl in Michigan. She shares, “Going to camp as a young child opened up my eyes to what a wholesome life could be. I love the social development opportunities that come from attending an overnight camp. I will always love Camp Shaw!”

Swim on, Sonic! Swim on!

We still have open spots in ALL of our camp sessions! Register for overnight camp at www.campshaw.org

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Meet the Marvelous Maple!

Number of years at Camp Shaw: 3
Positions served in at Camp Shaw: camper and Cabin Counselor
Favorite camp meal: sloppy joes
Favorite camp song: I’m a Nut

Maple joins our staff  after attending Camp Shaw as a camper! Her energy and love for working with children has brought her back to change some lives this summer!

Maple is no stranger to working with youth. She is currently studying elementary education at North Central College and has over one hundred volunteer service hours in various classrooms. She has made a great effort to gain as much field experience as possible to make herself the best teacher possible.  She has served as at tutor and went on a mission trip to Peru to build homes for families.  Maple’s desire to work with children runs extremely deep and she loves how kids can be extremely honest. She will bring a fun energy to Plains Village this summer as she impacts the lives of many campers through her fun and energetic disposition!

Maple enjoys reading, baking and going on nature hikes. Who knows?  Maybe she’ll incorporate all of those passions into one big fun Free Choice this summer!

We still have open spots in ALL of our camp sessions! Register for overnight camp at www.campshaw.org

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Get Ready to REC on with D’Orange!

Number of years at Camp Shaw: 5
Positions served in at Camp Shaw: camper, Counselor In Training candidate, Cabin Counselor
Favorite camp meal: chicken nuggets (current record: 25 nuggets!)
Favorite camp song: Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic

D’Orange is no stranger to Camp Shaw! She has come to camp as a camper, has gone through the leadership programs and joins us this summer as the Recreation Program Coordinator! Her high energy and excitement for organized sports will surely make the Rec program the place to be this summer!

D’Orange shares with us, “My favorite thing about working with kids is listening to them. Kids are so creative. I just love listening to the stories that they create. They always find a way to make me laugh.” One of her best memories as a child is her first year at Camp Shaw. She never felt more included by both campers and counselors in her life. She felt like she could be whoever she wanted to be. She now gets the chance to spread that love and acceptance into the lives of campers.

D’Orange is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She is studying actuarial science and hopes to one day be an actuary.

Will D’Orange lead the Rec campers to victory in the ongoing battle between the Pool campers? Find out this summer!

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Give a big Camp Shaw Hello to your
Archery Program Coordinator, Bubba!

Bubba joins us for another summer filled with adventure, fun and memories! He has been a counselor at Camp Shaw for the last three summers and will take on the adventurous role of Archery Program Coordinator this summer!

Bubba is a pro when it comes to connecting and interacting with our younger campers. He makes an effort to get to know all of the campers in his cabin and truly takes interest in the little tykes that he has grown to love working with.

Some of Bubba’s favorites:

camp meal: chicken patties
camp night activity: the Ugly Pageant
camp song: Desperado

Bubba shares with us, “I really enjoy bow hunting and I  want to influence our campers with positive programming on the fun and safety that comes with shooting a bow and arrow.” Bubba is certified as a Level 1 Archery Instructor.

Some of Bubba’s responsibilities this summer will be to oversee the safety and programming components to the archery program. He will implement a progression based curriculum where campers are set up for success through  mastering their skills.

Bubba is a freshman at Heartland Community College and is studying Criminal Justice. He hopes to one day be a game officer or a conversation officer.

It’s not too late to get your camper in the archery program! We have sessions in all of our camps for 8-10 year olds and another for 11 years of age and up! Try something new this summer! You won’t regret it!

www.campshaw.org

Meet Smilez & Angus

Are you ready to meet our SUPER STAFF lineup for the upcoming summer? Well, let’s start with our leadership team members!

For those who have been coming to Camp Shaw for the past few summers, you have probably had the privilege of having Smilez and Angus as a counselor in your cabin, in your program areas, or BOTH! For our new campers and parents: get ready to meet some pretty great people!

This summer Smilez and Angus will serve as your Head Boy and Head Girl Counselors!

Smilez –

Number of years at Camp Shaw: 4
Positions served in at Camp Shaw: Office support, Cabin Counselor & CIT Program Director
Favorite camp meal: Chicken patty and french fries
Favorite camp song: The Penguin song

Smilez has a kind and nurturing spirit that makes her a natural at connecting with campers of all age groups. She loves serving as positive influence to campers who are working on their teen leadership skills. To Smilez, camp is a place where anybody can come, regardless of their past, and celebrate the many differences that we all bring to the table. When Smilez is not positively influencing the lives of youth and teens at Camp Shaw during the summer, she does the same thing during the school year by serving as a Corps Member with the City Year Chicago program. Smilez is going to be a wonderful Head Girl Counselor. She will be a great mentor to our staff members, while working diligently to ensure our campers have a life changing summer!

Angus –

Number of years at Camp Shaw:  8
Positions served in at Camp Shaw: Camper, CIT, Cabin Counselor & Barn Program Director
Favorite camp meal: Breakfast sandwiches
Favorite camp song: Ickey Gooey

Angus has been a lifelong 4-H member who has experienced the fun and development that Camp Shaw offers campers. He has been a camper and has gone through the Camp Shaw leadership training programs! Angus loves Camp Shaw not only because it is fun, but because campers are able to experience social skill development along with problem solving skill management.  Angus spends his free time on his family farm and is in school studying Agriculture Education with a concentration on the sciences. Angus’ passion and dedication to experiential education and learning will make him a great Head Boy Counselor! His strong background in camper relations is going to make for a great camp season!

Together Angus and Smilez will supervise camp staff members as well as plan and facilitate camp-wide night activity programs. A large part of their job is to make sure campers and staff members are following all rules and being safe while having fun! These two are going to make the 70th summer of camp the BEST summer yet!

Stay tuned for next week where we will introduce our Archery Program Coordinator!

What’s that? You haven’t signed your camper up for camp yet? Register here and save $50.00 on camp before April 24th!

Attend the Camp Shaw Open House on Sunday the 24th of April from 1pm-5pm! Meet our staff, tour our grounds and try our activities!