Our Team
Meeting Your Child’s Needs
Every child’s needs are different. Our warm and caring staff are carefully selected and trained to meet the needs of each child and to develop each campers’ talents to their full potential.
Our counselors promote cooperation and the Camp James family-like atmosphere encourages participation and a sense of belonging. Our specialists are instructors who provide an enriched program by sharing their knowledge and help to develop campers’ skills in a safe environment.
Activities are geared toward individual age groups and are scheduled on a rotation basis to ensure a fun-filled day. At Camp James, everything to make summer camp a fantastic adventure is in one attractive location!
Our philosophy is BE KIND. Short and simple, we strive to teach the campers to be kind to the environment and to each other. We hope that will spill over into the rest of their lives. Our goal for each camper is to practice their social skills and make some new friends as well as learn and enhance their skills in a variety of outdoor adventures.
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTORS
We all want our children to have a wonderful childhood and experience life as it should be. We want them to feel secure, happy and surrounded by friends and kind, supportive adults. Childhood should be filled with adventures, challenges, and joy. Camp is the ideal place to find these things. As parents ourselves, we can imagine you may have concerns about where your children spend their summer and who is watching out for them. In response to these valid concerns, we have three suggestions for all parents:
1. Choose an American Camp Association (ACA) Accredited Camp. Not all camps are accredited. The ACA is the internationally recognized authority on camps. ACA Accreditation means the camp has successfully passed hundreds of health, safety, facility, personnel and industry program standards. Camp James is ACA accredited.
2. Choose Experienced & Educated Directors. The Camp James Director Team
Theresa ” Legend” Collins: Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, 34 years working at camp; Proud mother of two!
Scottie ” Grey Squirrel” Roach: BA in Recreation Management, 35 years working at camp; Proud mother of two!
Andrew “Jazz” Cuesta: Masters in Education as well as a Multiple Subject Credential and Special Education credential, 20 years working at Camp James; elementary teacher in a special day class.
Heather “Chipper” Seid: holds an MBA; 15 years working at Camp James; currently in graduate school to become a Cantor. Proud mother of two!
Ryan “Hobo Joe” Koster: 15 years working with Camp James; 2 years as a Board Certified ABA Therapist.
Allison “Koda” Heer: holds a BS in Child and Family Development and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential; 9 years working at Camp James; elementary 6th grade teacher.
Jade “Cocoa” Sammy: holds her teaching BS in Psychology and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential; 27 years working at Camp James; kindergarten teacher.
Tara “Aqua” Almond: holds her Masters in Education and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential; 7 years working at Camp James; 1st grade teacher.
Daniel “Spiderman” Barrett: holds a BS in Accounting. He comes to us from our Parent company James Events Productions with over 20 years experience in events. https://jamesevents.com/
Several directors are Certified Red Cross Instructors. The directors are dedicated to providing a positive camp experience for children, families and the wonderful staff who care for the kids. Collectively, we have over 100 years of camp experience!
3. Choose a Quality Staff and Involved Directors.
The key to having a great camp is having a great staff. Our staff are certified in CPR and First Aid and are carefully screened and trained. As directors we are completely “OUT THERE”! We are involved in camp operations and are on-site each day, not in some office far away. A great staff requires competent, dedicated, experienced and caring leadership. We hope your search for the perfect camp ends at Camp James. We are all dedicated to providing positive experiences and happy memories to the children and families we serve.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THIS SUMMER!
Grey Squirrel, Mama Llama, Jazz, Chipper, Koda, Hobo Joe, Cocoa, Aqua, and Spiderman!
