July 22-26 (Week 6)
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 below are current as of 12:50 am Friday 18 July.
Here's a pdf tool you may find helpful in comparing options across weeks. This Course Master lists each week's options alphabetically (pp. 1-3) and by age (pp. 3-5) and also color-coded by type of course (e.g. Culinary Creations, Sports Fun).
This Course Listing matrix will allow you easily to discover when and what your favorite instructors are teaching throughout the summer.
Happy exploring!
- Science for Small Hands (4-5) | 1 space (b/c of a cancellation)
- Summer Fiesta: Exploring Spanish Through Play (5-8)
- The Art of Nature, Jr. (6-9)
- Nature Trek: Creeks and Crayfish, Sun and Splash (6-9)
- Treasure Hunters (6-9) | Waitlist
- Mad Science Alert (6-10) | 2 spaces
- Sous Chef, Jr. (6-10) | Waitlist
- Simple, Sensational DIY Projects (8-11)
- Amazing Animation: Make Your Own Movie (9-15) | Waitlist
- Minecraft Community (9-15) | Waitlist
- Comic Design (9-16) | Waitlist
- Let’s Vibe: Rock, Pop, and Jazz (9-16)
- Farm-to-Table (10-15) | Waitlist
- Girl Power (10-15)
- Sports Action (10-15) | Waitlist
- Weave It Wild (10-15)
- Summer Film Studio (13-18)
Science for Small Hands (4-5) | 1 space (b/c of a cancellation)
Tuition: 310
Course: Get ready for a week of science experiments and multi-sensory observations! We'll be embracing the wondrous world of biology and chemistry through a variety of age-appropriate activities. Students will have the chance to look at water samples with a microscope, get messy in our home-laboratory, and play while they digest just how fun and beautiful science can be!
Instructor: Originally from Michigan, Ariel Durrant relocated from Oakland, California to join CFS in 2017. They hold a degree in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic. Ariel has more than 15 years of experience working inside and outside the classroom as a nanny, environmental educator, and community-based artist.
As an artist, Ariel is creative, flexible, and passionate about projects. As an educator, they apply these same qualities to interactions with children and to the working environment. They design experiential and play-based learning environments that nurture the inner and outer worlds of students.
Ariel is deeply committed to social justice movements, and embraces the life-long learning required to live in constant conversation with the systemic inequities and injustices within our societies. They believe educational philosophies that support critical thinking, compassion, and creative problem solving are essential in creating a cultural shift towards social equality and solidarity. Ariel identifies as Gender-queer and uses they/them/their pronouns in the singular.
Summer Fiesta: Exploring Spanish Through Play (5-8)
Tuition: 290
Course: There are numerous benefits of learning a second language at an early age. This course is for all the children who want to experience the fun of learning the Spanish language in a Hispanic environment with a native teacher. Students will have the opportunity to learn Spanish through play as well as stories and songs in Spanish, dances, and more. At the end of the week we’ll perform using our new language skills.
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 22 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, and be outside--and to share all her talents and her native language, Spanish, during Summer Programs.
The Art of Nature, Jr. (6-9)
Tuition: 290
Course: This week-long program introduces students to visual arts inspired by the natural world. From field sketching and botanical illustration to photography and large-scale landscape installation, we'll explore different artistic media used to capture the beauty of nature. We will learn to recognize patterns and forms in our own landscape and begin to understand the ecology of our habitats.
We will also learn about different ways to capture, organize, and exhibit nature for a wider audience. The week will involve individual and group projects outdoors and in a studio-type environment. We'll conclude with a group exhibition in which young artists work together as a team to curate their pieces for presentation.
Instructor: Mike Werndly (or Ranger to his friends) is a lifelong birder and practiced field biologist and outdoor educator with a passion for sharing environmental experiences that promote awareness and respect of the natural world. Working and travelling in remote areas around the globe has given Mike a wide knowledge of the Earth’s habitats and ecosystems.
He’s been hooked on wildlife since a chance encounter with an owl when he was eight and hasn't looked back. He studied Ecology and Outdoor Environmental Education at university and has worked for numerous conservation organisations, including the Aigas Field Centre, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Scottish Natural Heritage. Mike’s wildlife encounters have been numerous, but some memorable ones include being followed home one night by two otters and being covered head to foot in smelly seabird guano!
He moved from Scotland in 2016 and now lives in Hillsborough with his wife and daughter, and their friendly food-crazy labrador, Fogo :0)
Nature Trek: Creeks and Crayfish, Sun and Splash (6-9)
Week: 1 (Jun 17-21), Alice Turner
Week: 6 (July 22-26), Kathleen Rogers
Tuition: 290
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!
Treasure Hunters (6-9) | Waitlist
Week: 7 (July 29-Aug 2) Newly Added!
Tuition: 290
Course: X marks the spot! Join us for a fun week of hunting for treasures. Read maps, solve clues, and decode ciphers to solve daily challenges. Not only will we be participating in treasure and scavenger hunts, students will also have the opportunity to make their own treasures, treasure chests, maps, and scavenger hunts!
Instructor: Carmen Raynor grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, where she received a bachelor’s degree at Towson State University. She has been a teacher of children ages four months through fifth grade, beginning her career in 1988 at an after-hours program in a Baltimore City Public School. In 1996 she arrived at Durham Early School with previous knowledge of the preschools in Reggio Emilia and a desire to continue exploring the richness of ideas and thinking in this work. She is energized by what she learns from the children, her peers, and researching best practice. Passion drives her work with children and her life outside the classroom.
Among her other interests are traveling, music, architecture, volunteer work, and social justice. Carmen spent two months in the summer of 2011 traveling and studying in India and Nepal through a CFS PACE professional development grant and helped organize the 2017 Reggio-focused Wonder of Learning exhibit in the Triangle.
Mad Science Alert (6-10) | 2 spaces
Week: 6 (July 22-26)
Tuition: 290
Course: You don’t really have to be “mad” to have a blast at this camp! We’ll cook snacks using solar energy, make beautiful crystals (evaporation/water cycle), and work in teams to build effective dams (erosion). We’ll explore the science of sound using our favorite songs, mix up some creative concoctions, and come up with new ideas of how to use them. Come explore chemical reactions, build top-secret spy equipment, launch your own rockets, and much more! Be alert--mad scientists are at work!
Instructor: Tom has been running camps at CFS for 12 years. He has been teaching for 22 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.
Sous Chef, Jr. (6-10) | Waitlist
Week: 6 (July 22-26)
Week: 7 (July 29-Aug 2)
Tuition: 300
Course: Come get into the kitchen and start rattling some pans! In this course for younger students, we'll learn some basic cooking techniques, have fun creating our own food concoctions, and eat a little bit of what we make with Blaine, our chef. We'll be making plenty of homemade treats like pizza, mac & cheese, trail mix, not-so-wild Maine blueberry muffins, and cookies galore! We’ll also make a few non-edibles like playdough and lip balm. Get ready for outdoor play too; to keep our muscles strong for all that mixing!
Instructor: Blaine Barbee is an elementary English as a Second Language teacher for Durham Public Schools. She has 13 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 (2), and dogs Edie and Viktor). Blaine will be returning to CFS summer camp for her fifth summer and can't wait to get the fun started!
Simple, Sensational DIY Projects (8-11)
Week: 5 (July 15-19)
Week: 6 (July 22-26)
Tuition: 290
Course: Have you ever been asked to throw away an old pencil box, a glass jar, or a broken picture frame and you thought you could use it for something else? Welcome to similar minds, SIMPLE DIY PROJECTS CAMP. We’ll re-use/recycle old items to make them into a GREAT new craft that you can use yourself or gift to a friend, your grandparents, or a new teacher when you return to school. Or, you can enjoy an opportunity to create something new! This is a great course in which to explore all of your creativity!!! So sign up and let’s have some fun!
Instructor: Jessica Bigelow is an elementary school teacher with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School System. She has 13 years of teaching experience, spanning all grade levels, and has coordinated after school programs and provided summer school instruction. Jessica has a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her teaching certification from Greensboro College. She enjoys spending time with her family, doing simple DIY projects, shopping, baking/cooking, traveling, and listening and dancing to music. Jessica will be returning to CFS Summer Programs for her fourth year!
Amazing Animation: Make Your Own Movie (9-15) | Waitlist
Week: 6 (July 22-26), Mary Kallem
Tuition: 315
Course: Animation is the fastest growing creative technology in the world, appearing in gaming software, Oscar-winning feature films, and a variety of television and commercial programming. We will learn the basics of animation (movement, timing, states, character development, etc.) using Adobe Fireworks and Adobe Flash.
Students will explore basic drawing and character creation, motion, and rendering exercises with the goal of making a short animated movie (with sound) of their own design. Experience with studio art or computers is helpful. The ability to focus is a must!
Instructor: Mary Kallem is a recent graduate of UNC's Masters of Library Science graduate program and a newcomer to CFS! With a background in computer science and creative writing, she is enthusiastic about integrating storytelling and STEM. She has taught animation, robotics, 3D printing, and claymation to kids of all ages. In her free time, she loves riding her bike, reading graphic novels, making chainmaille, and finding new ways to play.
Minecraft Community (9-15) | Waitlist
Week: 2 (Jun 24-28), Achiri Acha
Week: 3 (July 1-5), Marshall Wilfong (Ages 5-8)
Week: 4 (July 8-12), Achiri Acha
Week: 5 (July 15-19), Marshall Wilfong
Week: 6 (July 22-26), Achiri Acha
Week: 7 (July 29-Aug 2), Achiri Acha
Week: 8 (Aug 5-9), Achiri Acha
Tuition: 315
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: 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.
Comic Design (9-16) | Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 17-21)
Week: 2 (June 24-28)
Week: 4 (July 8-12)
Week: 5 (July 15-19)
Week: 6 (July 22-26)
Tuition: 290
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.
Let’s Vibe: Rock, Pop, and Jazz (9-16)
Course: Calling all singers, songwriters, producers, musicians, and artists to come enjoy a week-long crash course of music making and collaboration.
You'll learn audition technique, musicianship, and song-writing skills, and work individually and as a group to put together a showcase for the last day. You’ll also gain skills on your individual instruments and learn how to perform cover songs and/or original music on a big stage (in CFS’ brand new performing arts center!). If you’re looking to polish your skills and gain an experience of a lifetime, this is the class for you.
All instruments and skill levels welcomed, there is a place here for you!
Instructor: John Orlando is a professional musician from Bahama, North Carolina. At the age of 10, he began playing trumpet, but then quickly switched to baritone horn. No one had him switch to bass clef though (darn music teachers!) and to this day, treble clef is his strongest clef.
John played baritone/euphonium through junior high and high school. At age 15, John fell in love with the electric bass and immediately started playing and singing in rock bands and his infatuation continues to this day.
John studied jazz with a concentration in bass at North Carolina Central University. This is when he began reading bass clef! In 2003, John toured Europe with bluesman and producer Roy Roberts. From 2004 to 2007, he toured the US, Canada, Spain, and France with Carolina Blues legend Calvin “Skeeter” Brandon. In 2007, John joined EastCoast Entertainment exclusive act Irresistible Groove as bassist and vocalist. John also leads the independent original act, Bahama Band, with two releases in 2019, Simple Things and One Song, Many Ways.
John has also taught guitar, bass, and ukulele privately for over 20 years.
By the way, CFS has an after-school music program open to CFS and non-CFS students AND adults!
Farm-to-Table (10-15) | Waitlist
Course: Goodness grows in North Carolina! The farm to table concept has been around for several years and the trend continues to gain ground as it supports local businesses, farmers, and the idea of sustainable agriculture. We’ll start the week with a discussion about in-season produce and a trip to gather ingredients for several days worth of cooking. Then we’ll create menus based on our purchases and create and eat delicious food whipped up in the kitchen. We’ll also visit a local farm-to-table restaurant. Foodies unite!
Instructor: CFS Middle School Theater Arts Teacher Alice Turner is a Chapel Hill native and a Carolina Friends Lower and Middle School alum. She got her B.FA. in Acting and minor in French from Elon University. She has years of experience doing professional theater in both the Triangle and New York. She has taught in summer camps, pre-schools and after-school programs (including at CFS). When not teaching or making theater, Alice enjoys cooking, playing ukulele, painting, and spending time with her cats.
Girl Power (10-15)
Tuition: 290
Course: Come join us for CFS' first-ever Girl Power Camp! Each day we’ll have a different fabulous theme and adventure:
- Days 1 and 2: Body Beautiful: exploring our self images with art and stories, fashion and food
- Day 3: Meeting the Powerful Women of Our Community (our guests will spend time with us)
- Day 4: Building Bravery and Endurance: obstacles course and track, team and leadership skill building, creative problem-solving
- Day 5: Using our Super Powers: From Surviving to Thriving
Instructor: Rinah Rachel Galper 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 performing arts teacher with children grades K-8 at Maureen Joy Charter School in East Durham where she focuses on helping children find and use their voices to create new and different narratives. Rinah is also the the founder of Our Sacred Circles, a brave space for women changing themselves and the world.
Sports Action (10-15) | Waitlist
Week: 1 (June 17-21), Jonathan McGovern
Week: 2 (June 24-28), Jonathan McGovern
Week: 3 (July 1-5), Jack Crowley
Week: 4 (July 8-12), Mary Forringer (Girls, Goals, Glory)
Week: 5 (July 15-19), Jochen Wachter (Soccer)
Week: 6 (July 22-26), Jack Crowley
Week: 7 (July 29-Aug 2), Jack Crowley
Week: 8 (Aug 5-9), Markeith Gary (Basketball)
Week: 9 (Aug 12-16), Achiri Acha
Tuition: 290
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: A CFS alum and Durham native, Jack Crowley is an educator, parent, and working artist currently pursuing his degree in Art Education. After studying at the School of the Art institute of Chicago, Jack has lived throughout the US, where he has worked variously as an educator, community organizer, and disability advocate. Besides his studio sculpture and drawing practice, Jack is also an avid athlete and adventurer, hoping to help bring creativity, vision, and fun to the CFS summer program.
Weave It Wild (10-15)
Course: Calling all artists, makers, and outdoor adventurers! We'll each build a rigid heddle backstrap loom (in use today around the world and probably as old as weaving itself). Then, we'll visit an art museum to learn about animal anatomy in art. That’ll help us weave small 3D animal creatures--to which we'll explore how to add light-up eyeballs. Let your creativity run wild!
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, Jan 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 Jan 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!
Summer Film Studio (13-18)
Tuition: 315
Course: The shortest distance between two people is a story. Learn the essentials of filmmaking and digital media production as we document vibrant stories of our community! We’ll make projects come to life using a minimalist approach focused on available resources for maximum visual storytelling impact (as Ahmed teaches, ‘technology will never replace creativity’). We’ll develop confidence in our individual creative abilities, collaboration, and community-building through film as we embark on our film safaris. And, we’ll have tangible products to premiere at the end of our work together.
Instructor: Ahmed F. Selim joined the CFS Upper School as Language Arts and Film Teacher in 2017, but taught previously with the School as a guest teacher and led the first Summer Programs Film Studio. He is an Egyptian-American educator and filmmaker now based in North Carolina.
Before his return to the Triangle, Ahmed spent 15 years teaching and filming in the Middle East. He has a keen interest in using documentary projects to bridge the East-West divide by using film to “turn conflict into discovery.” To that aim, he founded FiLMS for World Peace, where he partners with nonprofits, educational institutions, and social justice activists to empower the will for change. Ahmed has also taught courses at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University.
Contact Us
tel: 919.383.6602 x*263
fax: 919.383.6009
ExtendedLearning@cfsnc.org