Week 1: June 15-19

Tuition: 430

Course: Are you raring to creek wade, search for salamanders, and build magnificent forts?  Then this camp is for you!  We will explore the creeks and forest of the amazing campus at Carolina Friends School, finding creatures, adventures, and friends along the way! 

This camp will spend lots of time outdoors and will use one of our Lower School classrooms on main campus for eating, rest, and weather contingencies.

Instructor: Julie (she/her) is the current long term sub for the Lower School Sky teacher. Julie first joined the CFS community in January, 2022, as an Lower School Assistant Teacher (grades 3-4) and LS Extended Day Teacher. During the following school year, she had the joy of filling the same roles at the Chapel Hill Early School location. Julie earned a Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Environmental Education from UNC Asheville, and a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from UNC Chapel Hill. She is passionate about experiential and project-based education, learning alongside her students, and fostering an inclusive, compassionate community. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time in nature, gardening, playing board games with friends, and trying any and all forms of dance!

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Elyse
Week Two / June 22-26, Robinson  
Week Three / June 29-July 3, Robinson 
Week Five / July 13-17, Emmanuel
Week Seven / July 27-31, Shay

Tuition: 395

Course: An active, fun-filled week of sports adventure just for you! We learn how to play a variety of sports, focusing on skills and learning the rules. We work on team building and create some crafts that go along with our new indoor and outdoor games! We concentrate on learning how to play, building confidence, keeping in shape, and receiving guidance and encouragement from our coach. An excellent class for the active or wannabe active camper!

Tuition: 395

Course: Get inside the villainous mind of a classic Disney villain with this workshop! Learn the songs and the characters with the class. Finally understand why those villains do what they do. Students will also create and bring to life their own original Disney Villain! From stealing a mermaid’s voice to brushing the magic hair, the student will do it all with this Disney Villain Workshop!

Instructor: Leigh Ann is an elementary education teacher with 13 years of experience, primarily in grades 3 and 4. She is coming to us most recently from Orange County Public Schools and has training in The Responsive Classroom approach as well as Project Based Learning. She is passionate about creating kind, creative, and engaging classroom communities. Initially, she studied theater at Columbia College in Chicago before deciding to move back to her home state of North Carolina to pursue a degree in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two children, and a wide variety of animals on their hobby farm in Hillsborough.

Tuition: 395

Course: Take a virtual trip around the world as we explore a different country each day! We will find our destination on the globe, acquaint ourselves with our setting through pictures and videos, and then explore the culture through music, stories, games, and crafts. Let’s see how big - and small - our world is!

Instructor: Wren (they/them/theirs) is our current CFS Middle School Language Arts teacher (7th grade). They have over ten years of experience in education and have a deep interest in developing a culturally and historically responsive curriculum that honors and celebrates the identity of every child. When they are not trying to change the world, they enjoy quilting, watching hockey, and reading as much as they can. They are a fierce advocate for their community and proudly non-binary, queer, and neurodivergent

Tuition: 395

Course: Have you ever wanted to make nostalgic sleepaway camp crafts? Here we will travel back in time to the good ol’ days of 90’s themed camp crafts. Classic friendship bracelets, perler beads, tye-dye shirts, shrinky dinks….there’s no shortage of creativity here!

Instructor: Jenna Carlson is a 4th grade teacher in Raleigh. During the school year, she loves teaching reading and social studies. But in the summer, she is a crafter extraordinaire! Jewelry making, cricut projects, coloring…you name it. She also loves all things Disney and Star Wars. If you’re looking for a fun, laid back camp where you can express yourself in different ways, then these camps are just for you!

Tuition: 395

Course: Sun, sky, wind and rain are our most ordinary and everyday experiences of the natural world, and also a window into its beauty and complexity. We will become weather detectives using our senses and also by building simple measuring instruments. We will learn how our ancestors used the signs of nature to predict the weather. Through games, story and art, we will explore how our weather is part of the marvelous global circulation of water, air and sun-heat that makes life possible. 

Instructor: Creating tiny urban gardens as a child and crewing on the Hudson River educational sloop Clearwater as a teenager planted seeds of love and caring for nature which led to helping start and serve on river basin, conservation and urban agriculture organizations, an urban community and foodbank garden, and a native plant conservation garden. A long-time educator from pre-K to college and adult, Susanna McIlwaine has a graduate degree in environmental conflict and decision-making and worked with communities and NGOs in the US and Europe. She has worked with practical applications of natural systems in sewage treatment. A Virginia Master Naturalist, Susanna is working on her NC environmental education professional certification and joining my local Master Naturalist program. She is deeply appreciative of the opportunity to serve as a substitute and Extended Day/Learning teacher at CFS. Teaching children is a deep calling at this time of her life. 

This course is offered in multiple weeks:

Week One / June 15-19
Week Two / June 22-26

Tuition: 410

Course: Let’s stir up some favorite foods using simple recipes! Ever wonder how ingredients come together to create tasty foods? We’ll find out while we make things we love—pizza, omelets, pies, mac & cheese, cakes, and more. Along the way, we’ll learn some important cooking techniques, create some new recipes, and taste our many creations. One word for this class? Yummy!

Certain dietary restrictions and allergies may not be able to be accommodated in this particular camp. If you have questions about possible accommodation possibilities, please feel free to email extendedLearning@cfsnc.org before signing up.

Instructor: Bo Newsome is a musician (an oboist, composer, and educator), teaching students at his home (or on Zoom) and at Duke. He frequently creates and presents programs and residencies for young people, and attended workshops presented by Kennedy Center’s program for teaching artists. He developed a general music program and created original operas with children in a remote public school on an island in Maine. 

To satisfy his sweet tooth in a house with few sweets, Bo started baking pies, cakes, and cookies when he was little. Though he’s really never met a pie he didn’t like, he especially likes lemon, lime, and peach. In addition to cooking, Bo’s been a lover of animals, architecture, and art, and a collector of treasures as long as he can remember

Course Description: Come on a world tour of mythical creatures! We will journey to many lands and learn about the legends and mythical creatures that call each place home. We will meet different types of dragons, check the creek for relatives of the Loch Ness Monster, take a potions class, and see if we fit in a sasquatch’s shoes. Along the way we will document our adventures in our travel journals and cook up some mythical treats. Excitement! Adventure! Snacks!

Instructor: Betsy Ferney (she/her) is a longtime educator and parent of two CFS summer programs super fans. She has a Master’s degree in Innovative Early Childhood Education and over twenty years of experience working with children as a preschool teacher, tutor, and volunteer. Betsy is originally from a small town in Washington State, but has been calling North Carolina home for two decades. She is excited to be a camp instructor this year!

When she’s not in the classroom, Betsy enjoys baking with her children, knitting, reading, and hiking. 

Tuition: 395

Course: In this camp, students will experience an open-ended makerspace using the greatest material available to kid-kind: cardboard boxes! Campers will learn art methods for sculpting things big and small using cardboard. ​From castles to cars, hats to habitats, and everything in between...this is a great camp for the imaginative kid into world building, or for the kid who has art ideas way too big for your living room.​  Let your camper's imagination run wild and their engineering skills blossom! 

Instructor: Martha (she/her) works as a visual art teacher for the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. She loves watching students find their own creative paths in the art room and structures her teaching style with an open, choice based framework. Although she works as an art teacher, Martha has had many other career adventures including sushi chef, vegan baker and farmer.

Martha is an animal lover who fills her free time in her garden with her family...building their homestead with her husband (Dylan), daughter (Ruthie), mother (Ruth), three cats (Gilbert, Simon, and Lucy-Ann) and two speckled herding dogs (Luke and Monty-Don).

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One: June 15-19, Jo for ages 8-12
Week Five: July 13-17, Husnaa for ages 7-11

Tuition: 395

Course: What is a poem and how is it made? This week will be a hands-on exploration of poetry as an expression of our lived experiences and of our relationship to the environment around us. Together we will read work from poets including Mary Oliver, Andrea Gibson, and Danez Smith, while learning about blackout poems, broadsides, zines, and spoken word poetry. The week will culminate in a reading that will be held for friends and family and an anthology for campers to take home. Through a variety of prompts and a daily “Maker Space,” campers will learn about the different tools that poets use as storytellers, artists, and performers so they can add to their own creative toolboxes. No prior poetry experience is necessary—we’ll all be learning together during this week of writing fun!

Instructor: Jo Bear is a poet, scholar, and educator who currently works in the Extended Day program at Durham Academy’s Middle School. They received an MFA in poetry from North Carolina State University in 2025 and an MA in Drama and Performance Studies from University College Dublin in 2022. Their poems are widely published in journals including The Adroit Journal, The Offing, and Poetry Ireland Review and they are a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. Jo loves using poetry as a portal for imagination and play and as a vehicle for connecting with broader local and global movements towards liberation. They are a proud cat dad to Bó and Pippi and they love to crochet, daydream, bake (and eat) desserts, and sing along to show tunes when they’re not teaching or working on their next poem

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Weeks One and Two/ June 15-26
Weeks Three and Four / June 29-July 10

Please register under the Summer Programs Week One drop-down in your CampInTouch account.

Tuition: 780 (covering both weeks)

Course: The spotlight is on you! Calling all actors to help put on a play! In this two-week theater camp we will write and stage an original play. In the first week we will develop acting skills, play theater games, do warm-ups, and practice vocal and movement exercises. We will also create characters and write our play. In the second week, we will design props, sets, costumes, and make-up, all while perfecting our roles. Then we will invite family, friends, and other campers to attend a special performance on Thursday evening and Friday morning.

Instructor: Susan Kincaid began teaching at CFS Summer Programs in 1992! Besides being a writer, playwright, and actress, Susan headed the theater program in the Upper School at Carolina Friends for twenty years, directing and producing plays two times a year. In the fall of 2023, she had the pleasure of directing the Upper School production of “Radium Girls.” Collaborating with younger students as well over the years has been a real joy for Susan.  She is eager to meet a new generation of young artists this summer.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19
Week Two / June 22-26
Week Three / June 29-July 3 (Advanced)
Week Four / July 6-10
Week Five / July 13-17
Week Six / July 20-24
Week Seven / July 27-31 (Advanced)

Tuition: 395

Course: Addicted to comics? Doodle in class? Come create your own comic book characters and stories. Bring creativity, imagination, and motivation along with your pencil. Exchange ideas, receive input, and work on technique with a professional comic artist. There’s also time for Four Square, games, and Capture the Flag. Oftentimes, campers take multiple sessions. Please bring pencils, erasers, and favorite drawing pens. (Two Advanced Comic Design sessions are available for those who want to expand their skills.)

Instructor: Jamie Charles is a visual artist and the middle school art instructor at Carolina Friends School, where he has been teaching for over two decades. He graduated from UNCG as an art major with a concentration in painting. Passionate about fostering creativity and self-expression, Jamie has dedicated his career to guiding young artists as they explore various artistic mediums and techniques. A parent of an alum of Carolina Friends, he has a deep connection to the school community and values the commitment in shaping well-rounded, thoughtful individuals.

Tuition: 395

Course: This camp is all about seeing the world through your lens! Each day, we’ll explore different photography techniques like framing, lighting, and composition through interactive activities and creative projects. Participants will need a cell phone or tablet which they have used to take photos. By the end, you’ll have a personal photo album showing everything you’ve learned and captured!

Instructor: Natanaele is a multimedia producer and visual creator from Switzerland, now living in Durham, North Carolina. He studied multimedia production at the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons. His work includes film, photography, and digital design. He values simplicity, care, and thoughtfulness in his work. He enjoys supporting learning through creativity and time spent in nature, helping others explore and enjoy everyday moments. 

Natanaele brings a calm, thoughtful presence to his projects and to the people he works with. He focuses on being present, listening, and encouraging curiosity, reflection, and confidence in a gentle, supportive way.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19
Week Two / June 22-26
Week Three / June 29-July 3
Week Five / July 13-17 - Volleyball with Miranda Parker 
Week Seven / July 29-31 

Tuition: 395 

Course: Can’t get enough of sports? We totally understand. Some of our students take sports all summer. So we get it. We introduce basic rules, strategy, and techniques of basketball, Frisbee, soccer, and some indoor gym games (as well as Capture the Flag!) for the fun of playing. We focus on technique, skill development, and team building. All activities take place on our outdoor playing fields (using cooler morning temperatures) and in our two air-conditioned gym facilities. Sports experience is absolutely not necessary. Our goal is for you to learn how to play so you’ll feel comfortable knowing the rules, understanding the strategy, and practicing good teamwork. We don’t stress competition. We're here to help you improve your game and have fun!

Instructor: Achiri Acha has been at Carolina Friends School since he was six years old! He mentored with Jordan Shamp in Sports camp, became a Counselor-In-Training, and then moved on to become a camp assistant and instructor for the past eight summers. Achiri has worked in Extended Day at Lerner School and School’s Out Camps at the Jewish Community Center and currently works at USA Ninja Challenge during the school year. Achiri's goal is to be an elementary school physical education instructor and coach.

Tuition: 395

Course: Who says we can’t spend all day thinking and talking about Taylor Swift? Lets live the Eras Tour through exploring each of Taylor Swift's albums. We will listen to the music, watch the movie, craft, sing, and dance. Create your own mini concert through Taylor inspired songs, dances, and costumes. The week wouldn’t be complete without some glitter and friendship bracelets! Everyone is welcome: short skirts, tshirts, cheer captains, bleacher-seaters! Come ready to have a great week!

Instructor: Emlyn Soher (she /her) is double majoring in dance and psychology at Appalachian State University. Her journey at CFS began at age seven as a camper, then a CIT, and then an intern. She is thrilled to return for a second summer to run camps.

Emlyn has taught and inspired children to love dance at Studio A Dance Arts in Chapel Hill since 2021. She especially loves watching the children improve their skills and choreographing their dance pieces for the end of year recital. Emlyn studied dance at Durham School of the Arts for four years and choreographed many modern / contemporary dance pieces including her senior solo. Through it all, she has learned that her love of dance is how she expresses herself and wants to share this through her teaching. After completing her studies at App State she plans to open a dance studio in order to explore how movement can help children understand their world and themselves.  When she is not studying or dancing, Emlyn loves traveling, listening to music, loves musicals, and exploring the town of Boone. 

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19
Week Three / June 29-July 3

Tuition: 395

Course Description: Do you think you’d have what it takes to survive in the wild? Well, we won’t leave you to the elements this week, but you’ll learn some intense wilderness survival tips, tricks, and techniques. This week you can expect to learn how to purify water, build shelters, identify edible plants, and track wildlife.

Instructor: Before coming to North Carolina and, for a time, CFS as a member of the Shop crew, Matt Walters spent 18+ years working in outdoor educational programming at numerous schools, camps, nature centers, and non-profit children's museums. He served as a park ranger for the National Park Service and as an educator for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. While living in Washington, D.C., he founded and directed Outdoors With Friends, an organization committed to facilitating outdoor recreational programming for children with Autism. He is certified as a Wilderness First Responder.​

In his spare time Matt enjoys all things out-of-doors, in particular backpacking, kayaking, climbing, and skiing with his two children. Off campus you can find him playing guitar, wandering aimlessly through the woods, or keeping a keen eye out for the ultimate snowball fight.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Tracy Schledorn
Week Two / June 22-26, Kate Pendergrass
Week Four / July 6-10, Kate Pendergrass 

Tuition: 395

Course: What makes you a more effective leader and team player? Let us show you some tools. Using group building games, art, theater, movement, discussion, and individual reflection we learn and practice leadership techniques. We will work as individuals and as a group to enhance confidence, cooperation, and communication. The workshop is an excellent exercise in developing leadership skills for jobs and community roles. 

If you're interested in being a Counselor-In-Training (ages 13-15) in CFS Summer Programs, this course is a prerequisite. If you are interested in being an Intern, this course is recommended.  We work through some basic “how to deal with” situations, focusing on conflict resolution and effective ways of listening and responding. And no, we do not sit in chairs throughout the day listening to lectures! This is an active course culminating in a "shadow day" as a CIT and a certificate of successful leadership training completion.

Instructor: Tracy Schledorn joined the CFS staff in 2021. She teaches health and life classes across units and is the school counselor for the Middle School. Before that she worked as a teacher and school counselor in Alamance County for 21 years. She enjoys gardening and exploring with her husband and two young children. Tracy adored summer activity camps growing up and is always ready to learn something new. As a life-long athlete, she enjoys a variety of activities and relishes the opportunity to have fun and play!

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Miriam
Week Six / July 20-24, Emmanuel
Week Seven / July 29-31, Miriam

Tuition: 410

Course: If you have an affinity for the culinary arts and a curiosity about the science, then this is the camp for you! We will dive deep into physical and biological forces at play to bring us food that nourishes our body and soul. We will of course be tasting all sorts of things along the way! My hope is that at the end of our time together, you feel as though you have new appreciation for the astounding complexity behind food as well as its perfect simplicity. (Please note that while students will be cooking each day, they should still plan to pack or bring money to purchase lunch each day.)

This course will involve dealing with gluten, yeast, dairy, and other allergens. We want this learning opportunity to be accessible to all students, while also providing a comprehensive experience. If allergies are of concern please reach out before signing up to see if this camp would work for your student.

Instructor: Miriam is a high school science teacher in Caswell County.  A love of nature, gardening, and awareness of the importance of bees to our environment and the threats they face, led her to beekeeping, and she will be a certified beekeeper as of January of 2026.  

Her prior experience is in medical research, so exploring, discovering, and being creative in figuring things out with experimentation are favorite things to do!

Tuition: 425

Course: Get ready to write, storyboard, and create an original stop motion animation using handmade characters, setting, and props! Together we will learn about the history of stop motion animation, and draw on examples from independent short films to beloved favorites such as Wallace & Gromit, and The Nightmare Before Christmas as we create our own animations. Our small but mighty film crew will discover the magic of stop motion animation and create an original short film as the culmination of our camp.

Instructor: Billy Dee (they/them) is a visual artist and educator. They currently work as an art teacher at Insight Colearning Center and as an adjunct professor of art at Elon University and UNCG. Billy loves to collaborate and has worked in theatre as a set and prop designer and puppet builder. They have collaborated with numerous community organizations to create posters, illustrations, and educational materials. Billy is currently working on illustrations for a book, and is very excited to collaborate with campers at CFS this summer! :)

Billy enjoys spending time with their animal friends Cookie and Lyra (sheep), Gilbert and Venus (pigs), and Cowlick, the most wonderful chicken.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Noah of Guild of Adventures for ages 14-18
Week Two / June 22-26, Noah of Guild of Adventures for ages 10-14
Week Three / June 29-July 3, Miranda Parker for ages 8-12

Tuition: 395

Course: Dungeons and Dragons is a game played around a table where students use pencil and paper to create a character with fantastical abilities. This character will have different mathematical stats that represent how skilled they are at different things. The Dungeon Master or DM is Noah Basil. He will explain the scenario and world to the students and the students will decide what their characters do when presented with imaginary challenges. They will roll dice to determine if their characters succeed or fail whenever they try to use their skills. The story develops depending on what the students choose to have their characters do. D&D helps students build their math skills as well as building resilience for recovery from failure, turn taking, and conflict resolution. Students will be provided with dice and small figures to represent their characters on the maps (miniatures). Students will be able to take home a dice set, dice bag and D&D themed sticker. This camp does not play Dungeons and Dragons for the entire time they are present, instead we fill the extra time with Dungeons and Dragons related activities like arts and crafts and miniature painting. However, your child should still expect to play D&D everyday at this camp.

Instructor: Noah Basil is a 2019 graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in Advertising and a BA in Communications. He discovered Dungeons and Dragons in High School with friends who are still in his gaming group today, some 10 years later. Noah has been playing in and running D&D games for a decade now and has enjoyed every second of it. So much so that after a COVID-19 layoff he decided to try something new. He started Guild of Adventures five years ago with the goal of showing the game he loved so much to as many people as would listen. With another specific goal of making the game accessible to students in schools, an opportunity never provided to him during his time in school. Now in 2025 they work with upwards of 10 programs across the Triangle. When he is not playing D&D, Noah enjoys playing sports, specifically, soccer, flag football, and basketball with his friends. He is recently married (November 2025) and he and his wife Deanna have 3 cats at home, Darling, Tamaki and Quinnie. As you might expect, being a nerd comes with the D&D territory, Noah loves video games, board games, card games and Star Wars. He was a marching band kid in High School, playing trumpet all 4 years, which is also where he met his wife Deanna! Noah looks forward to D&D with your students and hopes they get as much enjoyment out of it as he does!