Six countries, four languages, 1136 miles (2500 kilometers), four stupendous leaders (plus one incredibly accomplished support staffer), and one amazing summer adventure. Read on for more fun stats about the staff who will be leading our cross-continental bicycle tours across the pond!
BECCA STAM
P
The sixth of eight siblings (yes – eight!), Apogee veteran Becca Stamp hails from Rhode Island, where her family runs a small farm. Becca spent years working with her family on the farm where she learned the value of hard work and honed her phenomenal interpersonal skills. Becca served as Captain of her high school’s Cross Country team and took a real interest in outdoor education when she started college. A recent graduate of Cornell University, Becca made the cultivation of her outdoor leadership skills a focal point of her education. She served as a leader for Cornell’s wilderness‐based pre‐orientation program and, additionally, as a facilitator at Cornell’s outdoor‐oriented Team and Leadership Center. Becca is also a Wilderness Medicine whiz — she has been an assistant instructor for over ten Wilderness First Aid and Wilderness First Responder courses at Cornell. In addition to guiding numerous trips throughout New England through Cornell’s Outdoor Education program, Becca has already spent two summers with us, leading our Northwest Explorer and Alps Explorer trips. On top of it all, Becca is a Rubik’s Cube guru — not only can she solve a cube in less than a minute, but she is also a great cube instructor; Becca once managed to teach her entire Apogee group how to solve a Rubik’s Cube! Becca is engaging, encouraging, and well‐versed in the outdoors – and we know that her Europe Coast to Coast students are going to love getting to know her!
CHANDLER SMITH
Proud denizen of Yarmouth, Maine, returning leader Chandler Smith is one of the most charismatic people we have ever met, and his love for traveling and working with kids makes him the perfect choice to lead our Europe Coast to Coast trip this summer! Although the Smith family ended up settling along the coast of Maine, Chandler, his three siblings, and their parents have spent a fair amount of time living abroad. Along with extended stints in England and Poland, they called Melbourne, Australia home for six years; in Melbourne, Chandler played cricket and quickly developed a hybrid American-Australian accent (which he has sadly since retired). Chandler is a well-rounded outdoorsman — his accomplishments range from completing a multi-day whitewater rafting trip to spending two weeks camping, climbing glaciers, and hiking in New Zealand. A rising senior at Colby College, Chandler is very active in student government on campus, and is a member of his Class Council. Chandler gives back to the college by leading wilderness-based pre-orientation trips for incoming freshmen, and has gone beyond the boundaries of campus into the Waterville, Maine community by spending time as a youth mentor. Prior to leading our Vermont to Montréal trips last summer, Chandler spent the previous six summers splitting his time between serving as a camp counselor and coaching youth soccer. While athletics are a major part of Chandler’s life – he is both a member of the varsity Men’s Soccer team and Colby’s Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach – he is also a passionate, self-described “shameless dancer.” We can’t wait to welcome Chandler back for another summer as he leads his Apogee students from Amsterdam to Venice!
ALYSSA DORMAN
Apogee is thrilled to welcome Alyssa Dorman back for her second season – after leading our Cape Cod & the Islands trip in 2015, Alyssa returns this summer to embark on our epic Europe Coast to Coast trip! A native of Cheltenham, PA, a leafy suburb outside of Philadelphia, Alyssa loves hanging out with both of her parents. Perhaps as a result, Alyssa has an “old soul,” and enjoys nothing more than drinking a cup of coffee while enjoying classic jazz and rock (BB King and the Beatles are some of her favorites). This May, Alyssa graduated from Franklin & Marshall College with degrees in Environmental Studies and Business, and left a legacy of environmental and social justice. At F&M, Alyssa volunteered for the Community Sourced Agriculture program for the Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-operative, worked at the F&M Sustainability Center, served as president of the Human Rights Initiative, and acted as the director of F&M’s First Year Outdoor Orientation Trip program. Alyssa is not all work and no play, however; she enjoys reading, running, cycling, yoga, and dancing. During her junior year at F&M, Alyssa studied abroad in Freiburg, Germany – and managed to visit six other European countries along the way. Since returning to campus this year, Alyssa combined her love for cycling and spending time with kids by working for a non-profit called the Common Wheel, which hosted earn-a-bike classes for kids to teach them bike mechanic skills and encourage cycling. On top of it all, Alyssa has plenty of experience with kids; she’s been a counselor at LifeSeeds, working closely with students from the Philly area as a mentor, teacher, and friend. Alyssa can’t wait to put her excellent German-speaking skills to good use as she crosses another six European borders with her Apogee students this summer!
RED GIULIANO
Returning leader Red Giuliano has citizenship in not just one, but three countries (USA, Italy & Switzerland)! Red spent the first 13 years of his life in Milan, Italy, with his American mother, Italian father, and his younger brother. From there, Red moved to Portland, Oregon where he perfected his English before his mother’s work took the family to Manila, Philippines, when Red was 16. In Manila, Red emerged as an exceptional student-athlete at the International School of Manila, where he broke two school records while Captain of the Track and Field team. Out of the classroom (and off of the track) he spent time at the Philippine Institute for the Deaf working with students K-12 in to overcome communication challenges. Red also worked with kids between the ages of 7 and 16 when he taught basic English and Math to refugees at the ABS-CBN Eco Village, a center for families affected by the explosion of Mt. Pinatubo (a Philippine volcano). Red is a rising senior at Cornell University and is majoring in Economics. When Red isn’t working on cost/benefit analysis, he is involved with Cornell’s Outdoor Education program and Outdoor Odyssey, Cornell’s wilderness-based orientation program for incoming Freshmen. In addition to leading our Vermont to Montréal biking trips last summer, Red has led numerous camping trips for students at Cornell, including a six-day canoe camping trip in the Adirondacks. Fluent in Italian, English and Spanish, Red will be an excellent language resource for his Apogee groups as they absorb the cultures of six different countries on our Europe Coast to Coast trip!
ALEX DOIG
Alex Doig, better known by his peers and Apogee students as simply “Doig,” is preparing to solidify his place in the Apogee history books by becoming the first person to hit the support “cycle” – Alex has served in every support position Apogee offers: New England (‘14), Pacific Coast (‘15), and America Coast to Coast (‘16). A 2016 graduate of Hamilton College, Alex hails from Concord, Massachusetts, and has always had a passion for being in the outdoors. The grandson of two Eagle Scouts, Alex’s love for adventure and the outdoors is in his blood, and he became a Boy Scout himself at the age of eleven and an Eagle Scout several years later. Today, Alex spends much of his free-time outside chasing various feats of endurance, including a running relay-race stretching the length of Vermont and a 90-mile canoe race. Alex majored in Geoscience, was a leader for Adirondack Adventure (Hamilton’s outdoor program for incoming first-years), and an avid member of Hamilton’s Outing Club. He certainly took advantage of the opportunities offered by the Outing Club; Alex has traveled all the way to the Ecuadorian highlands and the Amazon rainforest. Not surprisingly, Alex’s dream is to become an educator in the field of Earth Science and Outdoor Leadership. Since graduating, he has, in his own words, “lived on his bike” – he’s been working full time in a bike shop and leading historical bike tours through Boston – so we couldn’t have dreamed of a better person to support our Europe Coast to Coast trips this summer!