Wow. The world keeps spinning. The sun keeps plowing its own path through our ever expanding universe. And the Apogee season approaches ever faster. Indeed, we only have one more leader pair to profile before Leader Training starts on Monday. Have we saved the best for last? Well, we think they’re all the best – on an equal plane of excellence, well into the stratosphere of outdoor leadership. But even so, you might, just might, find that Hannah and Dylan are the first among equals. You decide, my friends!
A Note to Our Faithful Readers: This humble blog is likely to go dark for the next couple of weeks as we will be running Leader Training starting on Monday. Our daily summer blog will start on Thursday, June 27 – see you then!
Hannah Gensheimer
Given the caliber of leaders that we attract, it is not unusual to have a seasoned camp counselor join us. It is not usual at all, however, to have a camp founder on staff. But that is exactly what we have in third-year Apogee leader Hannah Gensheimer. Hailing from western Pennsylvania, Hannah started (with her sister, CC, also an Apogee veteran) a day camp for neighborhood children in 2003 and ran it successfully for a full seven years.! And no wonder, as her Coast to Quebec and Pacific Coast groups discovered in 2011 and 2012, Hannah is one of the warmest, most thoughtful, and funniest people you’re likely to run across in a long time. Last year’s Apogee groups and Hannah’s lifelong experiences with young people shape the perspective that she will bring to her Caribbean Service Adventure groups this summer. Hannah graduated from Bucknell University in 2012, where she double-majored in Psychology and Political Science. Hannah loves to travel and has visited a number of countries in Europe with her close-knit family and studied abroad in New Zealand. After spending two months volunteering with children in Argentina last fall, she spent this year living, working, and doing a lot of skiing, in Vail, Colorado. Hannah is enormously service-oriented, so she’ll find herself at home this summer on a service adventure; she has served in an AIDS orphanage in Honduras and spent one of her Spring Breaks working on a Habitat for Humanity project in Florida. As busy as she is, Hannah makes time for adventure, too – two of Hannah’s favorite memories are sky-diving over glaciers and dancing on stage with the Village People. Suffice to say, Hannah’s students are going to love getting to know her this summer! Hannah is certified in First Aid and CPR.
Dylan Hoos
An avid hiker, skier, and backpacker, Dylan Hoos is psyched to join us this summer for a different, more tropical, sort of adventure. Dylan grew up in the hills of Virginia, where his love for the outdoors grew through adventurous trips with his older brother. Together they’ve backpacked parts of the Appalachian Trail, through Rocky Mountains National Park, and through the gorgeous Wind River Range in Wyoming. Now, a rising Senior at the University of Virginia, he’s studying Urban and Environmental Planning, a major which perfectly combines his passion for the outdoors with his interest in architecture. Dylan has worked as a tutor, camp counselor, and is a seasoned trip leader, having led a summer of leader-in-training trips for a well-established summer camp in the mountains of Colorado. Dylan’s favorite band is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but he has a soft place in his heart for Lana Del Ray, so his groups should look forward to listening to tunes of all kinds this summer. Dylan is a Lifeguard and he is certified in Wilderness First Aid and CPR.