August 6-10 (Week 8)
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 12:05 pm on Friday, August 3.
Here's a pdf tool you may find helpful in comparing options across weeks. This Course Master lists each week's options alphabetically (pp. 1-2) and by age (pp. 3-4).
Happy exploring!
- Nature Artists (4-5) | Waitlist
- Musical Magicians (6-8) | 2 spaces
- Enchanted Fairy Gardens (6-9) | 1 space
- Nature Trek: Creeks and Crayfish, Sun and Splash (6-9)
- Sports Shorts (6-9)
- LEGO Explorers (6-10) | 2 spaces
- Sous Chef, Jr. (6-10) | Waitlist
- Paint Explosions (8-11)
- Holiday Greetings from the CFS Kitchen (9-13) | Waitlist
- A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…Star Wars Training Camp (9-14) | Waitlist
- Outdoor Adventure Skills (9-14) | 1 space
- Minecraft Community (9-15) | Waitlist
- Fairy Tales for Freedom (10-14)
- Sports Action (10-15)
- Leadership Challenge (12-15) Waitlist
- Movie Magic: Stop Motion Animation (12-18) | 1 space
Nature Artists (4-5) | Waitlist
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
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 CHES. In her free time, Nylah loves hiking with her brothers, crocheting, and spending time with her adorable cat and dog, Sebastian and Kovu. She is so thrilled to spend another year making art, exploring outside, and learning with the students.
Musical Magicians (6-8) | 2 spaces
Week: 4 (July 9-13)
Week: 8 (August 6-10)Tuition: 280
Course: Come join Hampton or Tom, our Music Men, as we build our own musical instruments from common and natural items--percussion, stringed, and wind instruments included. We’ll sing and play songs, explore the physics of sound (pitch, volume, echo, etc.) and decorate our instruments. Then, we’ll write and perform a song using our homemade instruments and record it on CD. No experience necessary! Just be willing to play and to create an instrument or two!
Instructor (Week 4): Tom Latimer has been running camps at CFS for 11 years. He has been teaching for 21 years and has a Masters degree in elementary education. He currently teaches 2nd grade at Immaculata Catholic School in Durham and plays guitar in Chapel Hill band Zoltar’s Fortune. Tom lives in Chapel Hill with his wife Alison and their two cats Nora and Dudley. Tom enjoys seeing and playing music, eating at our local restaurants, watching sports (mainly the Tar Heels and the New York Jets), collecting vinyl records, and working with kids.
Instructor (Week 8): 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!
Enchanted Fairy Gardens (6-9) | 1 space
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 280
Course: Come and learn about the magical world of fairies! We’ll learn about fairies and make our own fairy gardens, wands and fairy trinkets to welcome our enchanted friends! Create special treats, potions, and crafts to add to our fairy collection. Enjoy tea parties in the fairy garden and read stories about fairies and their garden friends!
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.
Nature Trek: Creeks and Crayfish, Sun and Splash (6-9)
Week: 8 (August 6-10)
Tuition: 280
Course: Let’s be cool and splash, swim, and float in the Eno River and New Hope Creek! So slip on those water shoes, take out the sunscreen and prepare to launch into the forest and river basins. We’ll swim like fish, sun ourselves on rocks like turtles, and see who is hiding under rocks. Playing games, exploring the woods, identifying trees and wildflowers, and hunting for animal tracks is our mission. We’ll get crafty with our natural finds, discover some of the uses of native plants, create our own sun prints, and decorate our own walking sticks. The outdoors and the amazing things that await us just beyond the backyard will treat us to an active, fun, and stimulating week!
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, the University of North Carolina, and Duke, earning a Ph.D. in cell biology. She is quite happy when hiking, creating gardens, and bird watching, and is a citizen scientist with the Cornell Ornithology Labs Feeder watch program. Quilting and gardening tap into her love of color and design. You can find Kathleen, a former CFS parent, around school 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!
Sports Shorts (6-9)
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 joined CFS in 2016 and serves as varsity basketball coach for the Upper School. He helped co-found a non-profit travel basketball program called the NC Wildcats serving the Chapel Hill-Durham area. A graduate of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, Markeith has served as mentor to many in his community and volunteers at the local community center teaching life skills. He enjoys spending time with his wife Marsha and their three children (Nina, Myles, and Laila).LEGO Explorers (6-10) | 2 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)
Tuition: 280
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!
Sous Chef, Jr. (6-10) | Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 290
Instructor: Blaine Barbee is an elementary English as a Second Language teacher for Durham Public Schools. She has 12 years of teaching experience, from ESL to after school programs and summer camps to post-secondary education. She holds a B.A. in Dramatic Arts, a B.A. in Psychology, and a Masters in Teaching all from UNC-Chapel Hill. Go Heels! Blaine enjoys reading, running, yoga, cooking, enjoying good coffee, traveling, hiking, camping, and relaxing with her family (husband Jason, daughter Ruby (1), and dogs Edie and Viktor). Blaine will be returning to CFS summer camp for her fourth summer and can't wait to get the fun started!
Paint Explosions (8-11)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 280
Course: Our perennially popular art camp! A spectrum of fun and active painting activities will fill our week as each day we learn a new technique like sponge painting or water coloring. We’ll work together with various paint media and have free time as well to embark on own own creative explorations in paint. We’ll also make sure we have lots of time for outside play. Be ready to get messy!
Instructor: Melody 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.
Holiday Greetings from the CFS Kitchen (9-13) | Waitlist
Week: 2 (June 25-29)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 290
Course: Latkes, Buche de Noel (Yule log), Melomakarona, Babka, Roast pig, Spiced hot chocolate, Saffron buns, Jansson’s Temptation, Coal candy, Tourtiere, Christmas pudding, Panettone, Kransekake, Lentils… The holidays are full of fabulous food. Together we will take a tour around the world, cooking up holiday favorites from different countries. You will also have an opportunity to share your favorite recipes and family traditions with the group (you may be asked to bring some ingredients for any individual dishes you'd like to make and share).Instructor (Week 2): Mary Forringer teaches math at CFS’ Middle School. She is a graduate of Boston University and received her master's degree from N.C. State University. When she isn't inspiring children about the wonderful world of mathematics, Mary loves to be outside playing soccer and hiking, hole away in her kitchen, cooking and baking, or get crafty, scrap-booking or painting. She is excited about her fourth year at CFS Summer Programs sharing her passions in cooking and athletics with children from the Triangle and beyond.
Instructor (Week 8): Simone Mix is new to Durham and, for better or worse, bringing with her a pronounced Midwestern affect. She holds a B.S. in Hospitality Administration and has spent five busy years in the industry since graduating (more than 10 years experience overall). When deciding it was time to find a new passion in life, she began to test the waters in education, serving as a classroom assistant and substitute teacher. Before long and with a substantiated conviction, she enrolled in a graduate program and earned her M.Ed. in Secondary English Language Arts. On weekends, she enjoys yoga, hiking, and jogging. She looks SO forward to working with the exceptional students in CFS Summer Programs this year creating, exploring, and growing.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…Star Wars Training Camp (9-14) | Waitlist
Week: 5 (July 16-20)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)Tuition: 280
Course: Do you absolutely love Star Wars? Do you want to spend long summer days running around CFS’ campus re-enacting your favorite scenes and creating new ones? How about developing your awareness of the Force and training to become a Jedi, a Sith Lord, or a rebel pilot? If you are interested in story-telling, teamwork (for or against the Empire!), and the fantasy and science of the Star Wars galaxy, this summer class…is your destiny!
Instructor: Alex Vaeth joined the CFS community in 2017 as 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.
Outdoor Adventure Skills (9-14) | 1 space
Week: 2 (June 25-29)
Week: 4 (July 9-13)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 280
Instructor: 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.
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!
Fairy Tales for Freedom (10-14)
Tuition: 280
Course: Are you a lover of magic, mystery, adventure, and heroic stories? Are you a writer, performer, and artist longing to create and share your own fantastic tales? Then join us for a fabulous, week-long journey filled with story making, publishing, and sharing, art and design, and an end-of-week book signing and performance showcase of your original work.
Fairy Tales for Freedom is a new and innovative project supporting young people to critically examine and re-imagine fairy tales, myths, legends, and folk tales from around the world so they celebrate freedom, peace, and new worlds for us to live and love in. Costumes, props, fancy writing tools, and brilliant minds wanted and welcome!
Instructor: Rinah Rachel has been doing creative summer and year-long programs and workshops at CFS and throughout the Triangle since 2006 that nurture children’s love and need for magic, mystery, mindfulness, curiosity, creativity, and deep connection to the natural world. She is a special education teacher with Maureen Joy Charter School in East Durham and the founder of Our Sacred Circles, housing the Women’s Wisdom Project, spirit support programs for women, rituals and celebrations for life and love throughout North Carolina, and Fairy Tales for Freedom, a new initiative to re-imagine and transform fairy tales and legends that perpetuate intolerance, violence, and discrimination. Rinah also hosts a small multi-faith spiritual gathering space in downtown Durham, including yearly retreats for women engaged in transformational work.
Sports Action (10-15)
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
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.
Leadership Challenge (12-15) Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 18-22)
Week: 3 (July 2-6)
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 280
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. We’ve had over 200 students pass through this program in recent years!
Instructor: CJ Suitt is a poet and facilitator working to elevate youth and their collective voices through spoken word poetry. He is co-founder of the Sacrificial Poets, a youth organization that works to create safe spaces for young people to empower themselves through the sharing of their stories. Through this work he has had the opportunity to teach and perform at many festivals and programs across the country, including Bonnaroo and The Mosaic Project and The Alan Blueford Center for Social Justice in Oakland, California. CJ is dedicated to being a creative catalyst for the highest potential of a dynamic generation not afraid to speak truth to power. In Fall 2017, he was the keynote speaker for the Triangle Diversity Alliance Conference hosted at CFS, and now also works in our Lower School Extended Day (AfterHours) program.
Movie Magic: Stop Motion Animation (12-18) | 1 space
Week: 8 (Aug 6-10)
Tuition: 305
Course: Bring a drawing or 3D creation to life with stop motion animation! We'll explore stop motion animation techniques and learn how to develop ideas through storyboards, character creation, scripts, props, and sets. Students will work in teams to create a short animated film to premiere at our end-of-week Stop Motion Animation Film Festival!
Instructor: Michelle Fairholm teaches ceramics and visual arts in the CFS Upper School. She holds a B.A. in studio art and anthropology from the University of Notre Dame and has taught visual arts/ceramics at several schools and community centers over the past several years. Michelle is also a potter and sculptor, working from her home studio in Chapel Hill where she lives with her husband, son, and two dogs.
Contact Us
tel: 919.383.6602 x*263
fax: 919.383.6009
ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org