Meet the Fall 2019 Outdoor Education Staff
Since 1924, Camp Tecumseh has provided children with impactful educational experiences that enable students to connect with and gain respect for their community, their education, and the natural world. It takes a dedicated group to facilitate and enhance the Outdoor Education experience at camp. Meet the crew!
Joules
Joules moved to Indiana from colorful Colorado about a little over a year ago to join Camp Tecumseh’s full time team as the Outdoor Education Director. She loves being outside and you can usually find her at home cooking spaghetti after a long day of hiking. Joules has a degree in Zoology and worked at three different zoos and four different camps before deciding to put her roots down with the corn in Indiana. She is passionate about reconnecting kids with the natural world and making sure that every student knows they can be a scientist!
Bulrush
Greetings to all! Bulrush is beyond excited to be back at Camp T for his second season of OE as one of the full-time program specialists. A native Hoosier, he graduated from Ball State University in 2014 with a degree in Social Work and a love for connecting youth with God and His beautiful creation. The last few years of his life have been spent moving to St. Louis to pursue a Master’s degree at Covenant Theological Seminary (which he is currently completing online), getting married to his favorite human being (Jami), and interning with a local youth group. In his spare time, you are likely to find Bulrush reading, staring up in wonder at the stars (there are SO MANY), planning slash participating in game nights with his wife and friends, or hanging out with his plastic pigeon friend, Chester.
Kilimanjaro
As the sun shines, casting a shadow, a mountain emerges in the safari. This is Kilimanjaro. Hello, everyone. Kilimanjaro is one of the full time staff in the Outdoor Education department. His humble beginnings started him as a pile of rocks, stones, and dirt in Belleville, Illinois. As he summited his training as a mountain, he attended MacMurray College and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. He’s worked with three other Camps before repositioning as the current rock formation of Kilimanjaro of Indiana. When he’s not the mountain, people call him Brother Nature. He supervises and cares for the live animals in the nature center. He’s also Camp’s beekeeper. Hiking, campfire dinners, hammocking, and playing with reptiles are things he enjoys. Enjoy your time at Camp, and be an advocate for nature.
Dingo
No, she did not eat your baby… But she is very excited to be back for her 2nd season as a Full Time member of the Outdoor Education team, and her 11th overall. She is grateful for her position as Foundations for Success Specialist, and so excited to watch groups thrive in challenging team building situations. Dingo has had so many great experiences and memories from this position and is thrilled to share the love of Outdoor Education with all of you. As someone who doesn’t consider herself the best student, she loves seeing kids thrive in the out of classroom experience, helping the staff grow and seeing the incredible impact the staff and these programs have on our communities.
Aldebaran
Aldebaran is thrilled for her first season of Outdoor Education! She has always loved Camp Tecumseh and has been a part of the summer camp program for 14 summers. Her passion for camp and desire to instill a love of learning in the hearts of the youth led her to OE. In May 2019, Al graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Advertising and minors in Spanish, Public Relations, and Criminology. Some of her favorite things include stargazing from camp’s main field, trips to Barnes & Noble, the experience of seeing a movie in theaters, tacos, and enjoying the aesthetic of a local coffee shop. She can’t wait to meet you!
Walnut
Walnut is from Owatonna, Minnesota and is super thrilled to have made her way down here to Camp Tecumseh! While she loves her hometown state, Walnut also loves to travel and see the world. She has been to places like New Zealand, The United Kingdom, Thailand and spent a year working in Sydney, Australia. In her free time, Walnut loves to go on long runs, paint, explore the North Shore and relax while enjoying a matcha green tea latte. Her unconditional love for turtles is a big motivator for becoming a wildlife biologist when she returns to school. This will be Walnut’s first season of Outdoor Education and she’s excited to meet all of the students and teachers!
Chuckwalla
Greetings and Salutations, it’s Chuckwalla! You can call him Chuck for short. Originally from the waters of the Wabash in West Lafayette, Chuckwalla has arrived to revel in the great outdoors of Tecumseh and jump right into his fourth season of Outdoor Education. Using his experience from being both a camper of Tecumseh and a former student of the outdoor education program, Chuckwalla uses his degree in Organizational Leadership from Purdue University to keep Camp Tecumseh an awesome place. When not singing campfire songs or teaching others about the outdoors, he likes to relax by playing video games, watching Marvel movies, and daydreaming in his hammock. If you see him bumbling around camp, be sure to make his day and stop and say hello!
Cow
Cow by day, Cow by night. Cow was born in Chicago, Illinois, but moved to Indianapolis to pursue more grassland. Down the road he graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Elementary Education. In his spare time, you can typically catch Cow napping, eating, or doing anything athletic. Cow can’t wait to get started!
Sassafras
Sassafras sprouted on the shores of the Wabash many years back. From there he wandered to the banks of the windy Tippecanoe, and has since put his roots down amidst the many trees and trails of Camp Tecumseh. He studied English and Linguistics at Purdue, and has aspirations as high as his boughs reach. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, running, and root beer, as well as drawing and writing on occasion. He is looking forward to educating folks on the outdoors this fall.
Dilla
Armadillo? That’s his father’s name. You can just call him Dilla! He grew up in Lake Zurich, Illinois and went to school just down the road at Purdue University. This is his fifth season here at Camp Tecumseh and he’s so excited to be back! In his free time, he loves to hoop it up, watch movies that range in quality, drink copious amounts of coffee, and visit his favorite spot at Camp: The Eagle’s Nest. If you see him around Camp be sure to say hi!
Monsoon
Hello! My name is Monsoon and I am quite excited to be back at Camp Tecumseh for a sixth season! I live in Lafayette, Indiana with my wife where I obtained my Master’s degree in Mathematics from Purdue. We have two adorable cats, Pepsi and Houdini. In addition to Teaching at camp, I teach online for Ivy Tech as well. In my free time I enjoy challenging my mind by playing strategic board games, completing puzzles, and reading books. My favorite board game is Camel Up, a game where camels stack on top of each other as they race around the board and my favorite book is Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
Mosquito
What do you think of when you hear the word mosquito? Do you think of a tiny bug that leaves welts on your skin that itch? Well, that’s not what Mosquito means at Camp Tecumseh. Around here Mosquito brings to mind a girl who loves horses. Like obsessed with horses. Like could spend every day all day with horses and would never get tired of them. Mosquito also enjoys painting tiny canvases, reading, and spending time outside in nature. Mosquito has worked two summers at camp as a barn assistant, so many of the things around camp are new for her, since before her focus was in the barn. She is excited to learn more about nature and camp along with the students this outdoor education season.
Nighthawk
If you see a shadow late night at camp, have no fear it’s just NightHawk! NightHawk flew in from his home state of Michigan for his second, where most of his fun adventures start. He’s traveled most of the U.S. in a Big Rig, he’s studied at not one, not two, but three of Michigan’s fine academic institutions, and of course he is bringing a couple years of YMCA experience from the camp he attended as a kid and later worked at. He can’t wait to see all of you here at Camp T! Time to Fly!
Sparrow
Small in size, just like a sparrow, she migrated north for the fall OE season! Originating in Yadkinville, North Carolina, where Sparrow spent her last two summers living outside, she grew up with a constant itch for adventure. While it may be her first OE season at Camp Tecumseh, she is no stranger to OE or camp life and is ecstatic to be a part of our team! The great outdoors is definitely her happy place. If you cannot find her hanging out in a tree (in her double nest hammock), she is probably out on a hunt for something sweet. If you do happen to see her around, talking outdoors or superheroes is a guaranteed way to spark up a conversation!
Star
Star came into existence in Oklahoma many years ago. She stayed close to home attending Oklahoma State University, where she earned a degree in Elementary Education. While in college she began working at camp and absolutely fell in love. Since receiving her degree she has been shooting from one camp to another working with at-risk youth and outdoor education. She started at Camp Tecumseh last Spring and is so excited to be back!
