Tuition: 320

Course: Ever wonder which insects make all that racket in the summer months here in North Carolina? If so, get ready to spend some time this summer turning over rocks, digging in the dirt, and looking closely in trees and bushes to investigate local insects up close. We'll record what we discover about insects, read books about insects, study insect anatomy, build insects using clay and other materials, and sing insect songs.

Instructor: CFS Middle School Teacher Alice Turner (she/her) is a Chapel Hill native and a Carolina Friends Lower and Middle School alum. She got her B.F.A. in Acting and minor in French from Elon University. She spent three years teaching pre-k, two of them in an experiential, Reggio-based environment, and is now in her second year teaching in the CFS Middle School.

When not teaching or making theater, Alice enjoys reading, cooking, playing ukulele, painting, and spending time with her cats.

Tuition: 295

Course: Ready, set, go for a week of lots of fun playing outdoor and indoor games from South America and around the world. Playing outside keeps kids active, entertained, and socializing. It also helps to build essential skills that go with us as we grow older. In this course students will build their own shelter and play “sapo,” sack race, ring toss, water games (bring your swimwear), and more. We’ll also make crafts every day to play indoors. We’ll end our week with an Outdoor Game Extravaganza. It will be a lot of fun!

Instructor: Kelly Yupanqui is from Perú and moved to the United States in 2005. She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education and her M.Ed. in Educational Administration at Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Perú. She got her certification as a Montessori Teacher from the American Montessori Society.

She has taught different levels of students for 25 years in public and private settings in her native country and in the USA (including now at Carolina Friends School). She loves to dance, sing, play the guitar, cooking, arts and crafts and be outside and enjoys sharing all her talents and her native Spanish Language, during Summer Programs.

Tuition: 295

Course: Come join this crew of phenomenal potionmakers as we create healing herbal potions, flower essences, magic wands, pendulums, and lots of zany concoctions that foam, explode, bubble, stink, and sparkle. Each day of camp we join the ranks of mad scientists, witches, and warlocks, and all good magic-makers as we explore and experiment with different ingredients guaranteed to bring new and fun ideas to life. Be prepared to get messy as we tromp through the woods, swim and walk in magical pools and streams, and gather treasures for our creations. And, of course, you’ll be invited to test out all of our creations at week’s end.

Instructors: Isabel Ríos-Torres was born and raised in a coastal town on the westside of Puerto Rico. She moved 11 years ago to Durham, where she currently lives with her daughter, Paz.

She graduated with a Bachelor in Hispanic Studies from the University of Puerto Rico and a Master's Degree in Romance Studies from Duke University. Isabel has taught Literature, Writing, Critical Theory, and Spanish as a first and second language for the last 16 years. The last couple of years, she has focused her intellectual curiosity on learning and practicing strategies to teach Spanish as a second language to students with different learning styles. When teaching, she emphasizes a growth mindset and provides a safe space for students to create and speak the language.

In addition to her teaching role, Isabel loves dancing Rueda de Casino, gardening and learning about plants, and spending time with Paz and her Durham family.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week Two / June 22-26
Week Four / July 6-10

Tuition: 295

Course: There is an adventure waiting for you just by going outside! Come prepared to engage with the great outdoors through hiking, gardening, and lots of fun games. During our time together we will be leaving campus to travel to the Eno Quarry where we will hike and swim. Students will have a chance to practice leadership and will develop an intuition for wilderness navigation.

Not only can nature teach us a lot about ourselves, but we will also learn lessons in teamwork and the importance of taking care of our planet. Students should bring a notebook and closed toed shoes that can get dirty.

Instructor: Adam Ramsey is a North Carolina native who grew up in Roxboro and moved to Chapel Hill to study psychology and creative writing at UNC. Adam is passionate about working with youth, and especially enjoys helping young people make connections to nature, service, and creative expression. Last summer, he led youth hiking and service trips in the Berkshires. The summer was spent camping, working on community service projects, and sharing lots of riddles and jokes!

Adam is super excited to be working at CFS and can’t wait to share his love of nature, music, and riddles with all of the CFS campers.

Tuition: 310

Course: Mamma Mia! Let’s take a delicious journey through Italian cooking, from homemade pizza dough to hand-rolled gnocchi. Noodles and sauces and cheeses, oh my! Over the course of the week we will learn all about the basics of Italian food, focusing on key ingredients and seasonings that all chefs can bring home and use for years.

Instructor: Coco Casey (she/her/hers) graduated from UNC - Chapel Hill this past May in Sociology and History, with a minor in Education. She’s enjoyed getting to know the CFS community through her time working in Extended Day with the Lower School this school year, and is so excited to spend more time there this summer!

She has worked with Student U Durham in a variety of extended educational roles in the past four years, and is also currently a kids’ bookseller at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. When she’s not reading or spending time with kids, you can find Coco cooking and baking, making crafts, and playing with her cat, Pepper (but don’t bring him up around Coco if you don’t want to spend five minutes looking at pictures of him).

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Kyle Lewis
Week Two / June 22-26, Leslie Atherholt (Girls Zone)
Week Three / June 29-July 3, Markeith Gary
Week Four / July 6-10, Will Anderson (Let’s Play Soccer!)
Week Five / July 13-17, Markeith Gary
Week Six / July 20-24, Natasha Anderson
Week Seven / July 27-30, Markeith Gary
Week Eight / Aug 3-7, Natasha Anderson
Week Nine / Aug 10-14, Leslie Atherholt

Tuition: 295

Course: Pele’ once said, “Soccer is the most beautiful game.” I agree. So let’s play soccer! If you have played before or are just starting, this camp will be an exciting way to increase your knowledge of the game as well as enjoying the game. We will work daily on basic skills, drills, conditioning, scrimmaging, and world cup and other fun soccer related games. Come with an enthusiasm to play and an attitude to work hard while having lots of fun.

Instructor: Will Anderson is a CFS alum and the current Middle School boys and girls Soccer coach. His two sons attend CFS (Middle School and Upper School). Both boys play for the Soccer and Ultimate teams. Will has been an active volunteer coach within the Orange County Community for well over 15 years. He has been coaching soccer at CFS for two seasons. He is a certified ICA Soccer Coach and is completing his Soccer Coach certification through the NFHS.

Tuition: 295

Course: Sharpen your sense of wow! in this hands-on, inquiry based workshop. You are an artist and scientist all in one as you bring together familiar ingredients and transform them into the unexpected. The fun comes when you perform cool experiments that pop, bubble, propel, and fizz! Tickle your senses and start to wonder about...What happens now? How does it work? What if I try this? We’ll explore the science behind your creations as we play and make new friends!

Instructor: Kathleen Rogers loves to understand the hows and whys of our world and enjoys fostering excitement in others about science and nature. Science is a key to so much cool stuff! She studied chemistry and molecular biology at Lynchburg College, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, earning a Ph.D. in cell biology.

She is quite happy when hiking, digging in the garden and bird watching, and participates as a citizen scientist with the Cornell Ornithology Labs Feederwatch program. Quilting and gardening tap into her love of color and design.

You can find Kathleen around CFS working as a substitute teacher, tutor, and Summer Programs instructor. She loves being around the energy and creativity of kids and is looking forward to joining them in their summer workshop fun!

Tuition: 295

Course: Have you ever spent a Saturday afternoon pushing around your bedroom furniture until things felt fresh and new? Have you ever sketched up the most perfect example of a bunk bed that can shape shift into an indoor tree house? Do you ever help your younger brother clean up his bedroom and then gather your family in front of the closed door in preparation for the BIG REVEAL? If so, then Dazzling Design is just the place for you!

In this one week design camp, we'll sketch living spaces, create mood boards, construct 3D models, learn several formal design and decor principles, and even compete in bite-sized interior design challenges! Each day will bring a fresh perspective on interior design and interior decorating, and we'll round of the week with a grand finale where you'll work with a surprise client to help them redesign one of their own rooms!

Instructor: Marissa Minnick is a Durham native who was a passionate young designer herself as a child. She attended Riverside High School and graduated from their Interior Design Career Pathway program, at which point she headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains to attend Appalachian State University. At ASU, Marissa embarked on another lifelong passion: studying education and educator development. She earned her B.S. and M.A. in Elementary Education from ASU before returning to Durham, with her husband. They purchased an all-blue house (inside and outside) and started renovating it while she worked full time as a science teacher. Marissa is a current educator at Discovery Charter School, and returns home each evening to a home that (after many hours of labor) is no longer blue in each of the rooms!

Although Marissa's personal home renovations are nearing completion for the foreseeable future, she is continuing to share her interior design skills by founding Pen & Paper Design Co., an interior design consulting company. When she's not teaching science or splattered in a bit of paint, Marissa enjoys gardening, reading, swimming in the Eno River, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and their two-year-old bearded dragon, Ginny.

Tuition: 295

Course: Let’s Release Your Creativity! This week will be filled exploring multiple art mediums, techniques, and creative styles. The time spent in this week’s class will be guided by the project students want to create.

Release Your Creativity is a student’s opportunity to explore and create a project that they’ve had on their mind for days, weeks, or months. Students will select their own media and use this class as an opportunity to receive guided instruction on their own project. Come with a project in mind or let inspiration spark when you arrive.

Instructor: Nicole Drake grew up in southeast coastal Georgia and attended Young Harris College in the north Georgia mountains, where they got their B.F.A. in Studio Arts (minor in Philosophy and Religious Studies).

After receiving their degree, they worked corporate level jobs in the art field (working in graphic design for a marketing agency in Blueridge, Georgia, managing an art studio in Raleigh, etc). This past year, Nicole has found their way back to the fine arts and now works full-time as an artist in their studio in Raleigh. They look forward to instilling and inspiring an artistic nature in this summer’s young artists.

Tuition: 310

Course: Ever wanted to learn how to write your name in frosting, dust cakes with chocolate powder patterns, create strawberry flowers, use fondant, and create fancy cupcakes and chocolate-dipped strawberries that look like tuxedos, or mold your own chocolate? It is an art form! We'll do all of that and more, starting with easy designs on cardboard before making our own frosting, cakes, cupcakes, and chocolates to decorate. Design your own theme or go wild with abandon and have fun creating edible works of art. Please note that, unfortunately, we may not be able to accommodate dietary restrictions in this class.

Instructor: Karen Clark is a science teacher at Immaculata Catholic School in Durham. She teaches middle school, so enjoys working with other age groups during the summer. She has three wonderful kids and an overprotective mini schnauzer named Heidi that keep her active. In her spare time (yeah, right) she enjoys playing the flute, reading mysteries, and doing puzzles.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week Three / June 29-July 3
Week Four / July 6-10

Tuition: 295

Course: Strap on the boots, take out the sunscreen, prepare to launch into the forest and river basins. We will be exploring the Eno River and New Hope Creek by walking in, around, and up and down these waterways. We’ll interact responsibly with the flora and fauna, observe fish, turtle, and crayfish habitats, splash, swim, float, have lunch on the river rocks, take group river and trail walks, play games, and have lots of physically active outdoor fun as we learn to safely navigate the rivers!

Note: some moderate trekking involved and a great deal of getting wet and muddy. Please bring sunscreen, bug spray and a change of shoes or water shoes (Keens, Crocs, and Tevas are great).

Instructors: Kyle graduated from Durham School of the Arts with a focus in Visual Arts and Spanish. He is currently in his second year attending Durham Technical Community College with a plan to transfer to North Carolina State to study Parks and Recreation Management in the Fall of 2020.

For the past four years, Kyle has been working in Duke Recreation and Physical Education teaching courses for the Aquatics and Outdoor Adventures departments. Among these, he teaches Red Cross Lifeguarding/First Aid/CPR/AED as well as Red Cross Water Safety and belay classes for climbing. Kyle is also trained in Wilderness First Aid and leads a variety of trips for Duke Outdoor Adventures.

Born and raised in Durham, he enjoys writing, reading, running, climbing and spending time with his dogs outdoors.

Tuition: 295

Course: Step into the studio! In this camp, you will recreate hit songs, strengthen your musical ear, and practice your best dance moves using the best musical instrument on the planet: your voice. Students will explore how to arrange their favorite songs using nothing but their creativity and beautiful singing voices. Over the course of the week, performers will work together to create the next A Cappella hit!

Instructor: Phil Riddick is an educator, musician, and artist from Norfolk, Virginia. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Phil moved to Houston, Texas where he currently teaches social studies.

His entire life, Phil has been immersed in the beauty of creativity. With more than a decade of musical experience, Phil believes music and its creation to be the life force of humanity.

As the former assistant director of Norfolk Summer Leadership Camp, Phil comes with a passion for youth leadership development, believing it to be crucial for long term personal success and for the strengthening of global society.

In his spare time, Phil enjoys completing his GoodReads challenge with his local book club, teaching piano, baking pies, and devouring YouTube content.

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 27-30 (Advanced)

Tuition: 295

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, a working illustrator, graduated from UNC-G in Fine Arts. Besides exhibiting his own work, Jamie works at CFS as an art instructor for Middle School students. He is also a champion Capture the Flag leader, having coached his workshop groups to many victories (not that he is bragging). Jamie offers private lessons in drawing and art.

Tuition: 295

Course: Loosely based on the popular meme (and a hit baking competition show), this class will explore delicious disasters, fantastic fiascos, and marvelous messes. Students will work in teams to attempt to recreate picture-perfect crafts or detailed dessert decor that far exceeds the skill level of the average person. At the end of each day, teams will proudly pose with their creative creations and declare they have indeed "Nailed It!"

Instructor: Kristina Krzywonos is the Upper School Chemistry Teacher and Advisor at Carolina Friends School. She has a B.S. in Chemistry from High Point University. Over the last 10 years, she has taught science of all sorts to middle and upper school students, coached Odyssey of the Mind, and initiated ways to support students expressing their knowledge of science creatively. In this course, she hopes to capture her inner Ms. Frizzle by encouraging students to "Take chances. Make mistakes. Get messy!"

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Achiri Acha
Week Two / June 22-26, Jochen Wachter (Soccer)
Week Three / June 29-July 3, Achiri Acha
Week Four / July 6-10, Achiri Acha
Week Five / July 13-17, Natasha Anderson (Girls, Goals, & Glory)
Week Six / July 20-24, Jack Crowley
Week Seven / July 27-30, Sports Action
Week Eight / Aug 3-7, Markeith Gary (Basketball)
Week Nine / Aug 10-14, Sports Action

Tuition: 295

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 CFS 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 seven 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: 295

Course: Taking the time and space to unlock our creative potential is a pursuit best done via poetry! In this course, we will be inside the classroom and outside in the bounty of nature, in our creative process, and taking cues from great poets and inspiring authors as we craft our own works of poetry. Through a variety of activities we will tap into our creative minds and go through the process of transforming inspiration into verse.

Instructor: Matt Arnold joined the CFS Upper School faculty in 2017 as an English and Humanities teacher. He completed his B.A. at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2004 and soon after found himself playing bassoon in the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and at many places in between. He eventually decided to leave the glamorous life of a professional classical musician for the even more glamorous life of teaching high school, and so went to San Francisco State University for his credentials.

After working in schools in San Francisco he moved to Lebanon and taught at the International College of Beirut during a very eventful period, and eventually decided to make the Triangle home. He completed a master's degree at Duke in Liberal Studies, where the focus of his research was Queer Identity in East Asia, and was a recipient of the Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching in 2014.

Dedicated to activism and volunteerism, in recent years he has been working with the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana to expand their outreach to teachers, creating their K-12 education program in the process.

He and his husband live in Durham, where they enjoy yoga, gardening, swimming, and the dog, cat, and many chickens and fish with whom they share a home.

This course is offered in multiple weeks:
Week One / June 15-19, Mary Barber
Week Four / July 6-10, Marshall Wilfong
Week Six / July 20-24, Phil Riddick

Tuition: 295

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 in CFS Summer Programs this year or next, this course is a prerequisite. 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: Marshall Wilfong was born and raised in Durham. An Eagle Scout from Troop 400, he’s been volunteering and working as a summer camp counselor since the age of 12. When he was 15 he got his first job as a merit badge counselor at Camp Raven Knob instructing First Aid, Search and Rescue, Safety, Camping, and Wilderness Survival. His time spent in the Scouts gave him a massive amount of respect for the outdoors as well as for the youth he instructs. Marshall has also been an after-school counselor at the Orange County Sportsplex and Aldersgate UMC.

He now works as the Extended Day Teacher for the Carolina Friends Middle School as well as a substitute for the Upper School.

Tuition: 295

Course: Learn the science behind solving crimes as we explore some of the tools and methods used in forensic science. Physical evidence left behind at a crime scene (such as fingerprints, hair, fibers, and DNA) can provide valuable evidence linking a suspect to a crime and telling the story of the crime. Through a variety of hands-on experiences including finger-printing, microscopy, gel electrophoresis, and fiber burn analysis, we will explore how crime scene investigators collect and evaluate evidence. With this expertise, students will complete the week by working together to solve a crime scenario, then collaborating in small groups to design their own crime scenario for the rest of the class to solve based on the evidence presented.

Instructor: John Bray currently teaches middle school science at Discovery Charter School in Durham and has previously taught high school biology, physical science, and chemistry. He graduated from Appalachian State University with B.S. degrees in both Ecology and Biology Education and from North Carolina State University with an M.Ed. in Stem Education.

While at App State, John worked in a freshwater conservation ecology lab where he surveyed crayfish populations along the Blue Ridge Parkway and sequenced the DNA of freshwater mussels.

After spending three summers at Camp Riverlea--as the tennis counselor for two years and the agriculture counselor for one--this will be John’s third year working at CFS.

Tuition: 295

Course: Come with a project in mind that you’d like to learn how to design--whether that be creating a poster for your room or a flyer for an event, you will gain skills to edit photos in Photoshop, as well as, skills to design and layout in Illustrator and InDesign. The time together will be guided by the projects you want to create! Bring any materials such as paper for drawing, photos, and magazines to help spark your imagination for a project. No prior design experience necessary.

Instructors: Kristin Sadler graduated from James Madison University in Virginia with graphic design skills. She is currently a caretaker and training to be a Somatic Experiencing practitioner. She is imaginative and creative--excited to encourage personal expression, whether it be in the form of print design or playful movement!