July 30-August 3 (Week 7)
All courses are dependent on minimum enrollment. For more information, please see our Courses page.
Counselors-In-Training (CITs) and Interns do need to register through our CampInTouch system.
When enrollment is three students from full capacity, we'll indicate the number of remaining spots next to the title of the course or that the class is waitlisted. CampInTouch always has real-time numbers as you move through the enrollment process. The numbers here are current as of 2:06 pm on Wednesday, July 26.
Happy exploring!
- Garden Gurus (4-5) | Waitlist
- Budding Artists: Painting with Acrylics (6-8)
- Fort-Building, Hideouts, and Such (6-9) | Waitlist
- Friends Slide-in (6-9)
- Sports Shorts (6-9) | 3 spaces
- LEGO Explorers (6-10)
- I Built It! Working with Wood (7-9) | 2 spaces
- Time Machine Adventures (8-10) | 3 spaces
- Backyard Broadway (8-11)
- Desserts Around the World (8-12) | Waitlist
- River Adventure: Explore, Play, Fish (9-14) | Waitlist
- Advanced Comic Design (9-15) | Waitlist
- Minecraft Community (9-15) | Waitlist
- Improv 101 (10-14) | 3 spaces
- Sports Action (10-15) | Waitlist
- Weave It Wild (10-15) | Waitlist
- Sous Chef (11-15)
- CSI at CFS: Forensic Biology (13-18)
Garden Gurus (4-5) | Waitlist
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 290
Instructor: Nylah Jimerson graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2017 with a B.A. in Psychology. As a Durham native, she has always been familiar with Carolina Friends School, but was so excited to become a part of the community in 2013 as a UNC work-study student at CFS' Chapel Hill Early School; she now is the Extended Day teacher there. In her free time, Nylah loves hiking with her brothers, crocheting, and spending time with her adorable cat, Sebastian, and dog, Kovu. She is so thrilled to spend part of a summer making art, exploring outside, and learning with the students.
Budding Artists: Painting with Acrylics (6-8)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
Course: Let's explore acrylic paint. Not sure how to mix that particular color? Want to develop your drawing skills? We’ll teach you! We’ll look at a variety of styles while you create your own painting of a landscape, still life, self-portrait, and work of abstraction. Let your imagination run wild while we attempt a variety of techniques that will enable you to express your view of the world in acrylic paint on canvas.
Instructor: Melody Smith teaches Spanish in the CFS Upper School and Middle School. After receiving a B.F.A. from UNC Greensboro, she spent three years in Central America as a language teacher and academic coordinator for a non-profit that connected education and sustainable farming. She then moved to Wisconsin where she taught Spanish at a Waldorf high school and also worked as the programming director for Driftless Folk School. She has also spent significant time in India and teaching Spanish in a Montessori school. Her extensive international background deepened her beliefs in environmental integrity, local and global interconnectedness, and the incredible importance of education. In her free time, Melody enjoys exploring nature and collecting new hobbies.
Fort-Building, Hideouts, and Such (6-9) | Waitlist
Week: 4 (July 9-13)
Week: 5 (July 16-20)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
Creating hideouts and discovering wildlife hideouts go hand in hand. We’ll be exploring the nearby woods and the Eno River state park on Cole Mill Road to see what hideouts we can find and where we can build our own shelters and secret places. Be prepared to wear some not-so-favorite shoes and bring an extra tee shirt in case you get muddy (or just wear your mud with pride!). We’ll be busy all day so bring an extra snack and don’t forget that water bottle. Wading, gathering, exploring, and trekking are all on the agenda!
Instructor (Week 4): Nurtured by the woods of Southern Orange County midst winding sourwoods, pine thickets, and blackberry brambles, Lucas Brown was blessed to have been steeped in the joy of woods-rambling and fort-building throughout his childhood. As an adult, he's trekked arid hills with youth in Nicaragua in the Peace Corps, roamed the Sierras with aspiring outdoor education leaders, and facilitated nature experiences for the Expedition School (where he worked with CFS graduate and long-time staff member Tim Wells!). Lucas currently supports young adults with wilderness skills in the water-rich DuPont Forest of western North Carolina. In his words, Nothing fortifies the heart and spirit better than spontaneous, creative nature play!
Instructor (Weeks 5, 7): Daniel Okeniewski is excited to be spending his fifth summer at Carolina Friends School! A transplant from the Buffalo, NY area, and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Daniel made an early career transition from working with the Olympic Sports Program at UNC-CH to working with kids of all ages. Since then, he has run a number of health and wellness programs for kids and young teens at the Chapel Hill/Carrboro YMCA, worked as an educator with kindergarteners and fourth and fifth-graders at Carrboro Elementary, and forth and fifth-graders enrolled in the LEAP program at Seawell Elementary. When he isn’t working on a graduate degree in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program at North Carolina State University, or working with kids in some other capacity, you can probably find him cycling on some back roads in the area or hiking the Eno River trails with Mrs. O and his trusty sidekick, Blue.
Friends Slide-in (6-9)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
Instructor: Carly Chapman has been teacher of young children for over 15 years. In 1999, she earned a degree in Human Development and Family Studies and B-K teaching licensure from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Upon completing her studies, she spent several years dedicated to her interest in developmental research and to her intimate work with infants, toddlers, and their families. She humbly joined the CFS staff in 2000. Carly's love for teaching coupled with her dedication to learning about the development of young children, continue to bring a wealth of joyful inspiration to her work. A Chapel Hill native and CFS graduate herself (1994), she and husband Mike are the proud parents of three amazing children, Jonah, Julia, and Jason, who are among the smaller members of the CFS community.
Sports Shorts (6-9) | 3 spaces
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 3 (July 2-6)
Week: 5 (July 16-20)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Week: 9 (Aug 13-17)
Tuition: 280
Instructor (Weeks 3, 9): 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 six summers. Achiri has worked in Extended Day at Lerner School, 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.
Instructor (Weeks 5, 7): Leslie Atherholt works in the Durham Public Schools. She came from Washington, DC where she taught physical education and other subjects to elementary school students. She has also worked in schools in Central and South America. Leslie attended East Carolina University for her undergraduate program and holds a Master’s degree in Education. She has been teaching for 20 years. Leslie has spent many summers in camps and loves camp! When not working Leslie is learning and exploring North Carolina with her family.
Instructor (Weeks 1, 8): Markeith Gary returns for another year in Summer Programs, but during the year is CFS' Upper School varsity boys basketball coach.LEGO Explorers (6-10)
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 3 (July 2-6)
Week: 5 (July 16-20)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Course: LEGO camp is just around “the block” for us! We’re going to have a fun-filled week of challenges building with LEGO. Imagine you are floating on the LEGO Coast Guard Station fishing and watching for sharks. Be Emmet or Wyldstyle, a figure from the LEGO movie, and look for the piece of resistance...it’s there somewhere. Become a Star Wars spaceship and zoom around with the enemy fighters. Into super heroes? You can enjoy building with Captain America, Batman, and Superman as you battle in Smallville. Feeling animal-like? Create cool battles with the Chima Scorpion Stinger or the Spider Stalker. Ninjago anyone? Be a master builder with the Ninjagos as they try to bring order to the LEGO environment. We can create our very own LEGO City and invite all the action figures to join in the fun. If you have LEGO you would like to bring to camp, please visibly mark them well so they will not get mixed in with the camp sets.
Instructor: Sherry Wilshire-Eshelman lives in Orange County and is a graduate of Virginia Tech (VPISU) where she received a B.A. in Russian Language and a minor in chemistry and math. Sherry home-educated two sons and received her teaching certificate from UNC-CH. She taught third grade at Duke School for 10 years and then became an academic tutor in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools at CFS. Sherry loves to build and create with LEGO. This is her fourth year as LEGO camp counselor and hopes to ignite master building in the campers. Everything is awesome in LEGO camp!
I Built It! Working with Wood (7-9) | 2 spaces
Week: 3 (July 2-6)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 290
Instructor: Cyrise Davis holds a B.A. in Art Education K-12 and a B.S. in Commercial Art and Photography. In addition to her freelance photography, she’s worked 10 years as an art and photography teacher at The Hawbridge School in Saxapahaw, as a site coordinator and lead teacher for a middle school after-hours program, and as a YMCA summer camp counselor. Four years ago Cyrise joined the CFS family as the AfterHours Director, substitute teacher and camp counselor. Cyrise employs her child-centered style of teaching (and passion for art, engineering and science) to help CFS campers, Lower and Middle Schoolers learn to explore and create.
Time Machine Adventures (8-10) | 3 spaces
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
Parents: Each day students will explore a different time period through activities, stories, scavenger hunts, and art projects. Using various natural materials, they’ll learn how early civilizations communicated and made sacred objects. Working individually and in small groups, our adventurers will creatively collaborate to meet challenges, hone fine motor skills, and experiment with different types of materials.
Instructor: Jeannine Borzello is an artist and educator (and ASL interpreter, just to throw in a twist) who has been teaching in the U.S. and abroad for the past 24 years. Involved in both visual and performing arts, she has taught art, photography, and design as well as acting as set designer, choreographer and assistant director for productions that range from Seussical Jr. and Honk Jr. to Proof. She is very involved with promoting the arts both in and out of the classroom as a board member of the North Carolina Art Education Association (NCAEA) and teacher advisory councils at Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art.
While not in the classroom, she continues to freelance as a graphic designer and photographer. A native of New York, she has called North Carolina home for the past 15 years, recently becoming a new homeowner in Chapel Hill where she lives with her son and new puppy.
Backyard Broadway (8-11)
Tuition: 550 (two-week total)
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 CFS for many years, directing and producing shows three times a year. She is eager to collaborate with a new generation of young artists again this summer.
Desserts Around the World (8-12) | Waitlist
Week: 5 (July 16-20)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 290
Course: Who says you can’t eat dessert first? What makes the chocolate-chip cookie a national treasure? And what sweets are baked, fried, and boiled beyond our borders? Join us as we learn how to make delicious desserts that will become lifelong favorites! We’ll get into the kitchen and start with simple and local favorites, then take our mixing spoons and taste buds around the culinary globe as we learn what makes desserts beloved worldwide. Finally, we will have the chance to bake and share a recipe of our own choice with the class! Unfortunately, we won’t be able to accommodate dietary restrictions in this class.
Instructor: Elena Casey is new to the CFS Summer Programs in 2018, but has been enjoying life in Chapel Hill/Carrboro as a Spanish Ph.D. student at UNC for the past five years. Elena came to Chapel Hill after completing her Hispanic Studies M.A. in Madrid, Spain with Middlebury College, and grew up in the Finger Lakes of New York. When she’s not teaching Spanish at UNC or looking into the history of mental health for her dissertation, Elena can be found hiking around the Triangle with her pups, gardening, and trying her Northern hands at Southern cooking for friends and family. You may have even caught her subbing at CFS this year.
River Adventure: Explore, Play, Fish (9-14) | Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Week: 9 (Aug 13-17)Tuition: 280
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, sit under waterfalls, have lunch on the river rocks, take group river and trail walks, play games, and generally have lots of physically active summer outdoor fun! And, we will try our hand at fishing! Note: some moderate trekking involved and a great deal of getting wet and muddy. Please bring a change of shoes or water shoes (Keens, Crocs, and Tevas are great). We promise to wash off the mud before heading home. We'll also offer fishing as an option for those with poles and a keen interest.
Instructor (Weeks: 1, 9): Daniel Okeniewski is excited to be spending his fifth summer at Carolina Friends School! A transplant from the Buffalo, NY area, and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Daniel made an early career transition from working with the Olympic Sports Program at UNC-CH to working with kids of all ages. Since then, he has run a number of health and wellness programs for kids and young teens at the Chapel Hill/Carrboro YMCA, worked as an educator with kindergarteners and fourth and fifth-graders at Carrboro Elementary, and forth and fifth-graders enrolled in the LEAP program at Seawell Elementary. When he isn’t working on a graduate degree in the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Program at North Carolina State University, or working with kids in some other capacity, you can probably find him cycling on some back roads in the area or hiking the Eno River trails with Mrs. O and his trusty sidekick, Blue.
Instructor (Week 7): Alex Vaeth joined the CFS community in 2017 as an Upper School Spanish Teacher and Advisor. His experience with the language started with study abroad and volunteer experiences in El Salvador, and has led him to pursue a master’s in Spanish from Middlebury College in Spain and Argentina. Alex also has experience in wilderness therapy and a background in philosophy and psychology, which he studied at Loyola University in Maryland. He taught second through twelfth grade Spanish at Doane Academy in New Jersey for two years before relocating to North Carolina. Prior to landing at CFS, Alex spent two years tutoring student athletes at UNC Chapel Hill, helping manage a local outdoor shop in the town of Carrboro, and volunteering as Spanish-English interpreter in a community clinic. He is excited to be here surrounded by trees, humility, and the promise of growth.
Advanced Comic Design (9-15) | Waitlist
Week: 3 (July 2-6)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
Course: For our older students, here’s an opportunity to enhance your skills in comic drawing. Led by Jamie Charles who has been teaching Comic Design in CFS Summer Programs for over 10 years, the workshop provides a meeting place for expanding skills and talents. You do NOT have to have taken Comic Design prior to this. This is for those students who want to work a bit intensely on their creations. Share your techniques, exchange tips, learn new skills, collaborate with a partner, and learn from the community.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.
Minecraft Community (9-15) | Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 2 (Jun 25-29)
Week: 3 (July 2-6)
Week: 4 (July 9-13)
Week: 6 (July 23-27)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 305
The objective of Minecraft Community is to “get lost, together,” building community. With a little direction and a lot of improv, students will enter into Minecraft’s Survival Mode, banding together to outlive the Mobs and Elements, within a democratic community. With inventive jobs (e.g. Hunters, Explorers, Architects, Artisans, etc.) and responsibilities and a community lot-casting system, students will forge ahead to establish a lasting society amidst wiles of Mobs and the unforgiving wildernesses.
Instructor (Weeks 2, 4, 6, 7, 8): 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 six summers. Achiri has worked in Extended Day at Lerner School, 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.
Instructor (Weeks 1, 3): Cedric Wright is incredibly passionate about all forms of Digital Media, but especially the ones that pertain to animation for film and gaming! His background is in graphic design, ministerial studies, and, most recently, education. After the close of a successful year at Hillside High School as a CTE teacher, Mr. Wright will return to the Summer Programs at the behest of his previously enjoyable and successful summer camps, and the promise of mangoes, ad infinitum!
Improv 101 (10-14) | 3 spaces
Week: 2 (June 25-29)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)Tuition: 280
Course: Love acting? Love comedy? Sign up for Improv 101 to learn the basics of improvisational theatre! Throughout the week, students will learn improv games, character development, and other acting techniques, and will apply those skills in an improv show on Friday. Campers will also learn skills such as team-building and trusting one’s scene partner that can be applied on or off stage. Register for Improv 101 to become a better performer, make friends, and make people laugh! No experience necessary.
Instructor: Abby Kameny has been involved in Carolina Friends School Summer Programs for 13 years. She started out as a camper, then became a Counselor-In-Training, and later was hired to work in the Extended Day program. She is currently a linguistics major at the University of Maryland, College Park studying to be a teacher. She’s studied theatre for years and has participated in school plays, musicals, and a regional improvisational theatre team. In her free time, Abby enjoys singing, acting, and riding horses.
Sports Action (10-15) | Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 5 (July 16-20)
Week: 6 (July 23-27)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)Tuition: 280
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: Jonathan McGovern has been teaching at CFS since 2008. He is a CFS “lifer,” having attended from Early School through Upper School, graduating in 1997. He graduated from UNC-Charlotte with a Sociology major and History minor, all the while active on the varsity tennis team. Jonathan returned to UNC-C for graduate work in History but soon moved into a fast-track Social Studies Education program where he was certified to teach social studies, 9th-12th grades. At CFS Jonathan is currently teaching Global Literature and Global History in the Upper School; he coaches Middle School tennis (Boys and Girls). Jonathan has taught classes on Immigration, Social Movements, Sports and Politics, and Hip Hop and Society. Jonathan and his wife Katy, who teaches in the Chapel Hill School system, share a house in Durham with two children, three cats, and a dog.
Weave It Wild (10-15) | Waitlist
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
Instructor: Jan French is a fiber artist and weaving educator/advocate, demonstrator, and collaborator weaving on location at schools, arts councils, museums, festivals, and Scrap Exchange events. She is a member of the Triangle Weavers Guild’s Education Committee and has instructed hundreds of folks of all ages how to build and weave delightful and useful items on a simple handmade loom. Before coming to CFS in 2008, Ms. French worked in environmental and open space planning and lived for two years in Geneva, Switzerland. She has Masters degrees in Environmental Management from Duke University and in Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University’s School of Design. At CFS she has served students as Middle School substitute teacher, art project coordinator for three Martin Luther, King, Jr. Day celebrations, Science Day guest speaker, and Extended Day (AfterHours) staff. She’s also a former CFS parent!
Sous Chef (11-15)
Week: 7 (July 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 290
Instructor: Durham native Hampton Smith has been playing drums since the early 2000s. He has over a decade of experience playing multiple genres with multiple groups, namely Skyblew, Small House, and Nodachi. Hampton has garnered acclaim for his playing and artistic pursuits--at venues along the East Coast and as far as Feltre, Italy, and at many music festivals, including the Art of Cool, Hopscotch, Jazzit, and the Carrboro Music Festival. He currently has percussion students from ages five to 54 (including as part of CFS’ new after-school music program). He also loves to cook!
CSI at CFS: Forensic Biology (13-18)
Week: 7 (Jul 30-Aug 3)
Tuition: 280
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, while insects and other animal activity can help to determine time of death. Through a variety of hands-on experiences including fingerprinting, microscopy, gel electrophoresis, and insect identification, we will explore how crime scene investigators collect and evaluate evidence. With this expertise, students will complete the week by working in small groups to design a crime scenario for the rest of the class to solve based on the evidence presented.
Instructor: John Bray is a first-year teacher at Southern School of Energy and Sustainability in Durham where he teaches biology and physical science. He graduated from Appalachian State University with B.S. degrees in both Ecology and Biology 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 first year working at CFS.
Contact Us
tel: 919.383.6602 x*263
fax: 919.383.6009
ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org