New Camp Director Alert - MK Conner!
You know those people in your life that are so good at getting things done? And they have an insane sense of creativity and play? Oh AND they are amazing at connecting with other people and making them feel valued? Wait that is a lot of amazing character traits… and our latest Camp Director, MK, has got them all! They are a force when it comes to working at summer camp and we could not be more delighted they are joining the year round team. But enough from me, read below to learn from MK themselves! - Ray
Hey Team!
My name’s MK and if we haven’t met, I cannot wait to meet you. Camp has been a huge part of my life for over two decades! My mom dropped me off at my very first day camp the summer after 2nd grade and at pick-up time I was convinced that I was just supposed to stay there! I spent the next 10 summers of my life attending that camp and other camps until I was finally old enough to be hired.
I spent 3 summers at an outdoor Lutheran camp, 3 summers at an academics-focused camp at my college, and after that I transitioned into teaching. When I was in school, I was really good at explaining things to my friends, so I figured I would just keep on doing that. What I really wanted to do - and what I’d tell anyone in my education program - was work at a summer camp year-round. The problem was, I didn’t know where to start!
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved teaching (and I’d still help any of y’all with algebra if you asked me to), but it was never my dream. I thought I’d left the camp world behind me, but at least I still got to work with kids.
Then- enter Stomping Ground. Thanks to the stars aligning (and my incredible friend Kenzie), I met Laura and came up to work for a summer. I was immediately obsessed. I love how Stomping Ground is about as kid-led as you can be. I think camp (especially OUR camp) is such a magical place because there’s no pressure to be anyone but yourself. We don’t get a lot of those places in our world today.
This summer at Stomping Ground, I hope to focus on accessibility all around our site. There’s a lot of ways we can go about this, and I’d love your ideas too! While we have a lot of fun at camp, I hope that we are able to take serious time to talk about and understand the need for restorative justice in our communities. I also love and want to continue our all-gender spaces. That’s something I experienced last year that was incredible to me (Cedar 4, y’all have my heart always).
When I’m not walking around camp looking for mushrooms or building fires, you can find me hanging out with my animals or at an indoor spin studio. I can’t WAIT for summer ’22.
See y’all on the Pirate Ship.
Cheers,