They say it takes 10,000 hours for a person to become an expert. How lucky are we to have 37 of them on the Senior Staff, 17 in the Maintenance Department, 12 in the Kitchen and 10 on the Medical Team. Year after year, Skylemar is blessed to have these outstanding teachers, coaches, carpenters, chefs, nurses and doctors return. They do so to make a positive difference in the world, one boy at a time.
The businesspeople call it the “trickle-down effect”. For us, the very top will forever be Lee and Herb, who laid the foundation of Skylemar values as we know them today. Arleen and Shep worked under their guidance for a decade before taking over for the next 35 years. Skylemar’s focus on sports with an emphasis on sportsmanship has never wavered, nor has our most important tenet: kindness.
The difference between then and now is the number of people it takes to lead Skylemar. Our counselor staff has grown to over 100 strong, and we’ve doubled the number of campers. And like with the rest of the world, things have gotten a whole lot more complicated. As the CEO of a major athletic shoe and apparel company once said, “Your job’s a whole lot harder than mine. I’m just responsible for products. You’re responsible for people.”
We believe that caring for our Skylemar nation is a privilege and an honor, which we never take for granted.
Those leaders we mention, who train, guide and motivate our counselors, are called Senior Staff. These are the trickle-down specialists, who do whatever it takes to make the Skylemar machine hum. They are truly the finest child development experts, who shine with all of their light, all of the time.
Some are school administrators and those with decades of working with children and young adults (Cory, Mitch, Peter, Thom, Ted, Jim, Bruce and Joel). Many are phenomenal teachers (Lillie, Barney, DT, Paige, Ky, Dox, Mary Beth, Suzie, Holly, Spencer, Sam, Marge, Adam, LJ, and Josh). Several are in counseling (Myke, Lexie, DRC). Quite a few are Skylemar professionals who are “naturals” when it comes to working with kids (Frog, Lippy, Luci, Blake, George, Nick, Rook, Kristen, Rachel). Then of course there’s our fantastic Registered Nurses (Mindy, Nadine, Josh, Marianne and Ami), plus our most trusted and brilliant Medical Directors, Docs and PA (Drs. Jeff, Brooke, Brad, Obie and Lillie). Last but never least are our devoted alum -- Aaron, Leslie and Bruce.
These are our unsung heroes, and the backbone of Skylemar. They devote their time both during the camp season and well before, to your son and the counselors as well. Each works tirelessly to care for our boys, because they know what we know -- that if we teach boys at camp to be the very best people they can possibly be, then the future is bright for all of us. Woven through every ski run, performance, SkyPines overnight, and daily inspection are lessons of compassion, sensitivity, resilience, confidence, independence and a whole lot more.
For every training you’ve led, burgers you’ve grilled, advice you’ve given, van you’ve driven, tears you’ve dried, lost & found you’ve collected, trip you've taken out, time you’ve spent…. Thank you, Sr Staff, to the Sky and back.
