“In the cathedral of the wild a glorious language is revealed in every breath.”- Robbie George
“The quickest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.”
Camp W Leadership Team
Camp W is a team of expert educators, and a community of parents, mentors, and professionals of trades. We are made up of compassionate individuals who focus on caring for their family and yours, competence and eloquence in all that they do and of course, gathering together for great food. We believe kids (and adults) should have real adventures in the natural world.
We hire only the most qualified staff who have demonstrated strong leadership skills, a love of children, and a true camp spirit. Our staff understand the importance of creating a fun, nurturing, challenging, and safe environment in which children can learn about themselves and the world around them. Many staff are former campers themselves! To find out what it takes to join the Camp W Family check out our employment section at the bottom of the page, fill out an application, and get it to us.
Sean Ashcraft
Exec Director
With 17 years of experience in experiential education, I have dedicated my life to creating unique and memorable learning experiences. Through my work, I strive to inspire individuals to embrace their passions, explore new horizons, and uncover their true potential. I specialize in development and leadership of outdoor programs, and am particularly interested in youth development through outdoor opportunities and challenges. I have a focus and passion for deepening family connection & communication through exploring awareness of self and the natural world.
I have been or am currently a Coastal Kayaking Instructor, Climbing Guide, Nordic & Alpine Skiing Instructor, WFR, Outdoor Emergency Care (NSP), AIARE 2, Flat & Whitewater Canoe Instructor, Stand-up Paddleboard (SUP) Instructor, Pilot, PPG 2 Paramotorer, NYPUM Dirt Bike Instructor, Carpenter, Gardener, Beekeeper, Breathwork Facilitator, Biohacker, Surfer, Father, Lover of Life, Gear Guru, Motivational Speaker, Reality TV Personality, Backcountry Travel Guide, General Wilderness and High Altitude Mountain Guide, Biochemist & Molecular Biologist, and Psychonaut.
I facilitate marketing initiatives, assist Cagney with admission/registration paperwork, handle facility maintenance and improvements, and work in conjunction with the Residential Life Directors and all other staff to ensure a great time at camp for every camper! Together we can plant seeds of growth in order to create a more beautiful world.
Join me on this incredible journey of learning and discovery as we learn to curate the life you want! www.SeanAshcraft.love
Jamie Mauk
Program Coordinator & Director
Dedicated to a more beautiful world, Jamie is an Embodiment Coach, who helps people from around the world come into their purpose, step into offering their unique gifts, and most importantly, learn to love themselves and others more along the way. He is currently offering transformational work for kids, teens, and adults in both one-on-one and group settings.
His background and studies include Somatic Psychology, Non-Violent Communication, martial arts, breathwork, massage therapy, wilderness and leadership training, rights of passage work, grief work, natural building, preschool teacher, after-school programs, kayak guide, SUP instructor, and much more!
Aside from coaching, he is the founder of Warrior Poet LLC and the Embodied Leadership Program, a container to improve social-emotional learning for at-risk youth within public schools. He is also involved in doing Rights of Passage work for boys and young men in his local community.
He currently resides in Port Townsend, WA. In his free time, he enjoys time in the wilderness going on hikes, cold plunging in wild water, spending quality time with his girlfriend and his friends, reading, writing, making delicious food, playing chess, traveling, and continuing to seek new opportunities to learn and grow on this beautiful journey that is life.
Cagney Houlihan
Office Manager
Cagney carries a passion and devotion to supporting the wellbeing of children.
She has worked with children in various capacities; as a nanny, a preschool teacher, a child and family therapist, and now as an Assistant Director and Wellness Coordinator at Camp W.
While working as a child and family therapist in Seattle, Cagney discovered the world of yoga and meditation and recognized how potent the spiritual facet of one’s healing journey is. She obtained her 200 hour yoga teacher certification in Rishikesh, India, and came back to the northeast to open a community wellness center. She is excited to bring her background in community wellness to the campers at Camp W through.
Cagney graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the College of Saint Rose, in Albany NY in 2013. Her experience in the psychology program solidified her desire to empower children throughout their healing journey. She graduated in May 2015 with a Master of Social Work degree from the University at Albany, in New York.
Heather Ashcraft
Master Chef and Dietician
Heather has been a dietitian for close to two decades, and working with food and health for her whole adult life. Heather started cooking when she was in middle school. She has prepared food and baked cookies for the rich and famous, intravenously fed sick preemies, and worked with families to manage food allergies. When camp isn't in session, you may find her working at a hospital or helping individuals wrestle with food difficulties. She is working to build an automated fungus farm in shipping containers, but in the meantime, she gardens plants in the dirt and inoculates shiitake logs.
Heather loves making healthy food delicious, creating vegetarian meals that inspire cheers, poetry, and songs among campers. She is happiest when she turns a vegetable skeptic into an adventurous enjoyer of plants.
Kitchen Assistant
Hi! My name is Jenell. My favorite things are live music, any body of water I can jump in, good people, and of course good food. I am studying Nutrition and Global Public Health at the Rochester Institute of Technology. I grew up doing everything outside and volunteering any chance I could get. I plan on dedicating my life to the health of people and the planet. I can't wait to meet everyone and cook you some great meals!
John Leone
Residential Life Director & Activities Coordinator
My name is John Leone, I am a 23 year old college student looking to get my education certification in both Physical Education and Health. Over the past few years I have really developed a love for coaching and teaching as an extension of physical fitness. My life goal is to help people discover and rediscover an enjoyment in physical activity that is often lost as we age. This passion has been growing since the age of 16, when I took my first coaching job at the gymnastics gym I had been learning at for years. Since then I have worked in a multitude of positions all centered around teaching people new skills. My hope is that going forward I can continue to introduce and teach people skills that they may not have even considered, things like parkour, Ninja Warrior, and martial arts are just a few examples of "non-traditional" sports people may have never even been exposed to. With all that said, I am excited to return to camp this summer to help foster a love for nature and all the activities one can find themselves doing in the great outdoors.
Regan Powers
Wellness Director
Regan is an Embodiment and Intuitive Movement Coach. She is also a performing artist specializing in ritual theater, and has performed at events and festivals across the US as well as internationally.
Her path has led to receiving a BS from Bastyr University in Exercise Science and Wellness, becoming certified trauma informed facilitator, and doing extensive training and research in various somatic based trauma healing practices, nervous system attunement, and the intersection of dance, story, and wellbeing.
She is passionate about the ancient wisdom of dance, embodied storytelling, holistic wellness, and the revolutionary art of rest. She is dedicated to helping create internal and external environments that promote a sense of safety and well-being, while prioritizing joy and play.
Most recently, she has been working with the Embodied Leadership Program (created by Camp W’s Co-Director Jamie!), bringing movement games and mindfulness to at-risk youth for social-emotional learning. She grew up working with kids at her mom’s preschool, assisting in summer camps through jr. high and highschool, much of which has informed her philosophy of play as the root of learning.
Trip Leaders
I'm Evan Odell, a 21 year old college student studying Environmental Sciences, with minors in Environmental Humanities, Biology and Geospatial Information Systems. While at college I work as a peer mentor where I support my fellow students in succeeding in both their academic and personal life. This will be my fifth summer working at summer camps, second here at beautiful Camp W. I spent two summers in the Appalachian Mountains teaching youth about science and the environment around them. I also worked in the Florida Keys where I taught youth about marine biology through scientific studies such as shark tagging and snorkel surveys.
In my role here as the Head Trip Leader I am extremely excited to help show people the beauty and wonder of the natural world in a safe and life-changing way. I have spent most of my life outdoors and have done many incredible trips and experiences that have shown me some truly incredible places. I have a passion for learning more about nature as well as wilderness survival skills and sharing that knowledge to anyone who wants to.
Hi, my name is Sage Rossman I am a 21 year old Outdoor Education student my values are very in line with the work I will be responsible for this summer at Camp W. I love guiding and teaching and am working on a degree in Outdoor Education and Environmental Science at Greenfield CC. I am excited to be the best educator and role model I can be and can't wait to join the amazing community that is Camp W. I have hiked over 400 miles of the Appalachian Trail and spend my free time exploring natural places with the people I love, recreating , learning, creating and experiencing all that life has to offer. The natural world has always fascinated me and I'm excited to spend the summer helping to create a safe sustainable community where we all can grow and experience the wonders of the natural world community activities and learn skills that will connect us with ourselves and the world around us. I can't wait to meet everyone this summer and help give the campers an amazing summer of experience, learning and connection.
My name is Rain Bowrys. I was born and raised in Western Massachusetts and I am 22 years old. I recently earned my Associates in Science, Adventure Education degree along with a certificate in Outdoor Leadership. Throughout my life I have been working with children in various capacities, many of them specifically involving the outdoors, social justice and peace education. As a young teen I taught yo-yo school at A2Z Science and Learning store in my hometown of Northampton, MA. In college I read about and resonated very strongly with the concept of an ecological self, articulated by Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss, a founder of the Deep Ecology movement. Because we are nature, those who have become disconnected from the natural world have become disconnected from their deepest, most authentic self. Connecting others with nature has become my passion, and it is my dream to assist people in remembering their ecological self.
At Camp W. I will bring my passion for wilderness-based education and deep ecology to the lives of campers. I am committed to fostering a sense of biocentric egalitarianism in children, where all life is seen as inherently equal in value. In an ecological sense, the self is not seen as a collection of solitary independent egos, but as intrinsically connected to one another and the natural world. There’s so much potential for wonder in the natural world, and I am excited to help children work through the challenges of discovering it. I am a certified instructor in many wilderness-based activities such as rock climbing, and river canoeing. In addition, I am a certified Lifeguard, Wilderness First Responder and Outdoor Emergency Care Technician. I have co-led many short, and multi-week expeditions involving outdoor recreational activities such as backpacking, rock climbing, whitewater rafting, canoeing, camping, as well as art, mindfulness and meditation.
Hey! My name is Connor Welsh, and I am a rising third year at The Ohio State University studying Natural Resource Management. I am thoroughly interested in the intersection of culture and socioeconomics when considering the issue of climate change, and I intend to continue my studies through an anthropological lens. I grew up hiking, camping, and engaging in all manner of outdoor experiences. I can’t wait to continue this trend as a trip leader this summer!
Fast facts: I enjoy creative writing! I don’t think any of it is particularly good, but ask me about my novel sometime! I also love to read. My current favorite authors are Kurt Vonnegut and R.F. Kuang, which is a whirlwind of a dichotomy. I recently saw the band Royel Otis in concert, and I think you all should listen to them too!
June can't come soon enough! I'll see you all around Mt. Solitude!
Instructors
Thomas is a community singing facilitator working to acquire skills for being human that can be shared with future generations. He aspires to be good Elder when he grows up. His favorite practices include silence, song, honest expression, dancing, hiking, breathing, shouting, shaking, laughing, playing, climbing, saying “yes” and “no,” sitting in the forest, and gathering by the fire. His mission is to support others to redirect their attention from screens and the feeling of “not-enough” to the abundance of belonging and creativity that is always available. He is excited to be at camp this summer and learn from the students and deep listeners who dwell in this bioregion.
He knows that every person has a unique and precious voice to share that is both a gift to the whole and a vital piece of discovering our animal, embodied freedom.
When we sing, we mutually empower ourselves and discover how to live in harmony and rhythm with one another. We create space in ourselves for the ecosystems we are part of to express themselves through us. We find the raw and fiery dragon’s breath that is longing to burst out of us.
Can we transform from consumers of entertainment to a producer of our own arts and culture? Can we create a space outside of judgement of spontaneity and gratitude? We have only to open our hearts and mouths and sing to find out!
Thomas has been living on off-grid homesteads, at education centers and gathering places for grief and joy, and above milking goats in a barn most of his adult life and currently resides in a Mongolian yurt in the Chuckanut Mountains (WA State). Having been born in Western NY, he is excited to return to this region for Camp.
Hailing from Montana, Dylan is a loving shapeshifter. A poet, mystic, songwriter, musician, herbalist, farmer, and first and foremost an earthling. Walking a path revealing the innate wholeness that blooms when one is connected to the genius of their wild nature. From a young age, he spent time in the Rocky Mountains learning how to hunt, fly fish, and kayak spending deep emersions in the untamed spaces of the Bob Marshal Wilderness Area. After graduating high school, he got tugged into the world of health and wellness and has now been devoting his life to understanding the overlap of human and planetary health. His studies dived into the worlds of herbalism, deep ecology, ethnobotany, permaculture, organic farming, natural building, and creative entrepreneurship. The greatest takeaway from all of it was developing a holistic lens to view the world through, instilling a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of everything. While in school Dylan became a self-taught music producer and musician. He began writing poetry and became fascinated with developing his emotional literacy. He now considers himself a worldbuilder utilizing the power of song to help create soundscapes for every part of his dynamic being to exist within. Poetry, songwriting, and music production have given Dylan a tool to interface with the infinite bringing him great freedom. For him music truly is medicine. He now offers a 1 on 1 program for mentorship and guidance to help people bring their songs into the world. He plans to release his first album this summer and has recently launched a podcast called “Earth Gospel” exploring the mysteries of psyche and soul. This will be Dylan’s first year at Camp W working as an instructor! He looks forward to sharing his gifts and learning from the kids, connecting deeply with the land and creating life long memories.
Kat is a devoted nature enthusiast with a deep passion and admiration of the outdoors. She grew up in the Evergreen state of Washington, exploring countless mountains, rivers and lakes, and she is a strong advocate of the leave-no-trace mentality. Except she might occasionally leave some intentional eco art, such as leaf or rock mandalas, or a tiny twig homes for the fairies, and the sweet sound of music. Singing songs and drumming in groups has been a revolutionary practice in her life and she is joyous in bringing that opportunity forward for Camp W students. Eagerly encouraging all ages to lean into their curiosity and explore new concepts, Kat's infectious enthusiasm creates a nurturing environment where young campers can safely learn, explore, and develop a longterm appreciation of the natural world, as well as strengthen their own personal empowerment to discover and grow along side the majestic living planet Earth.
Melonie comes from a vast background of experiential knowledge and is a lover of learning and adventure.
From growing up in The Ozarks of Missouri, planning safaris along the creeks on the back dirt roads, to cave exploring and picking wild blackberries.
She is a lover of nature and the gifts Mother Earth has to offer.
She spent most of her life with children and raised a large family. She is a devoted, mother, grandmother, and has a heart that is compassionate and loving for all! She loves teaching, especially about nutrition, living a healthy life, and self-sufficient living.
Some of her favorite things to teach are cooking from scratch, sprouting seeds, and solar cooking.
Currently, she's taking the last year to simplify her life down into a trailer and travel. She's following her heart to find a piece of land she can plant her feet on and sink her roots into. Her passion is to create a retreat space for all to come where they can find a closeness to Nature, find healing, and personal growth. It will also be a special place where she can get her hands back in the dirt with gardening, growing and arranging flowers, and her art projects.
For now, the open road is her home, watching Sunsets and camping full-time is her new adventure!
Kaleb is a multimedia visual artist from Long Island, New York. His love of the outdoors informs his work in a variety of ways, from inspiring landscape paintings from life to providing materials for ring making and sculptures.
He has spent many summers at Camp W being inspired by the picturesque surroundings and wonderful community. His favorite camp activity is community meeting. He is greatly looking forward to providing videography for the Centennial season at Camp W!
My name is Sebastian, I am a 17 year old that is currently studying high school in Mexico. This will be my first year in Camp W but my second working in a summer camp. I like to spend my time playing sports, painting, hanging out with my friends or doing outdoor activities. I would describe myself as a reliable, adaptable, and energetic individual who likes to try new things. From the experiences I have had I know that I am very passionate about working with children and creating meaningful experiences with them.
Mia is a very active and adventure seeking person. She loves being outdoors and playing with children in her free time. Mia has plenty of experience with working with kids and has attended several summer camps during the years. She is a very extroverted and enthusiastic teenager who creates deep and profound connections with children of all ages.
Hi! My names Grace Cavanagh and I use they/them pronouns. I’m 22 years old and this will be my second year working at Camp W. From writing plays to choreographing dances I love creating and learning about all forms of art and helping people to express themselves through art no matter what their current capabilities are. I love spending time outside and figuring out how to incorporate nature into my artistic side
Molly McIntyre is a 17 year old Collision Repair student at Franklin County technical school in Turners Falls.
She likes hiking books as well as drawing. Molly works as a ski as well as snowboard instructor at Berkshire East in the winter, as well as working at Nova Motorcycles!
Watersports Director
Tyson Whitcom
Tyson has been involved with watersports since his childhood. He owns a local retail watersports business and loves being able to get kids out on the water for days full of fun and education. Tyson works with Sean and our other staff to curate experiential learning on the water!
