2008 Summer Camp Staff

Summer 2008 Ekone Camp Staff

This past year has brought many changes and unexpected difficulties at Ekone. It has also seen a burgeoning in support for the many conservation-centered projects here at the ranch, and a renewed commitment to continue our outrageously fun summer camps. We have been humbled by the voices of children and their parents who have expressed their gratitude for so many years of camps, and their desire to see them continue. We are amazed by how many lives have been touched by Ekone over the years, and how many young people have, through Ekone, learned healthy and supportive relationships with Mother Nature and themselves.

That said, we are absolutely stoked to announce that we will be continuing camps this year with such a dynamic and positive staff under the leadership of Caitlin Price and Liz Coppola! We would like to thank the following staff members for their commitment to all three sessions of the 2008 Ekone Summer Camp season. In addition to those listed below we are excited to work with the many interns, parent-helpers, and visiting artists and teachers who will be joining us for this outstanding season.

We look forward to seeing all of you at camp too!

Caitlin Price

*Caitlin Price*
Codirector / Horse Staff

An Ekone regular since she was 11 years old, and a staff member for over 10 years, Caitlin is a natural leader, and has extensive experience with the Ekone horses and has helped train many of them. She has a gift for with both animals and people, and considers those at Ekone a part of her family. She loves nothing more than spending the summers playing with them and working on the land.

In 2006 Caitlin graduated from WSU with a B.S. in Animal Science and will be finishing her M.S. in Soil Science before summer. In the pastCaitlin has also worked at an equine rescue facility, a dairy, and an apple orchard, and even as a carriage driver.

Caitlin now works part time as an assistant teacher of biology at WSU and, as part of her graduate work, has led groundbreaking research on soils and composting in Washington State.

A dynamic leader and longtime staff member, Liz first came to Ekone as a camper in 1995 and hasn't missed a summer since. Liz has also spent time living at Ekone year-round, learning about full homestead and ranch-life. Talented and passionate about horses, Liz brings her extensive experience riding, training, and competing hunt seat, jumping, and dressage to Ekone.

Liz graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she pursued a BA in Media and Cultural Studies, as well as working at the college's farm and CSA. Liz currently works as a livestock manager on a pasture-based organic farm on Vashon Island, WA.

Liz Coppola

*Liz Coppola*
Codirector/ Horse Staff

Caitlin Jones

*Caitlin Jones*
Horse Staff

Caitlin Jones has been going to Ekone camps for 10 years, starting when she was 8. Caitlin has ridden horses most of her life, both at Ekone and at home. “I believe horses to be some of the most compassionate and loving animals of all,” she says, “especially Ekone horses.” We are glad that this will be her second year as a staff member.

Caitlin is currently a freshman at New York University in New York City pursuing her B.S. in Social Work. In the past she has also worked at a wild animal rescue shelter.

One of the things that bring Caitlin back to Ekone is her desire to ‘get back to basics’ and work with nature rather than against it. Last summer, while teaching English in India, Caitlin missed Ekone so much that she couldn’t bear to stay away for another summer.

Some of her favorite summer Ekone activities are helping campers improve their riding, throwing bales of hay, and seeing billions of stars every night.

Jade is a vision quest guide and group facilitator for nature oriented programs, and has a wealth of experience in wilderness and with people, bringing them into closer connection and love for our wild Earth.

Jade has long been a college graduate and was once an adjunct professor at Prescott College in AZ. She now works for Animas Valley Institute in Durango, CA as a guide and has established her own guiding businesses called Earth's Echo and Nature Moving Women.

Jade is also proud to have been a year-round resident at Ekone for the last four years, and her biggest love at Ekone is with the garden and with the animals...both the domestic and the wild ones, and sees to it that they are treated with the greatest of care. During the summer camps she leads ceremonies and councils, helping the campers to synthesize their experience at Ekone and broaden their awareness of the natural world. She is an invaluable resource.

Jade Sherer

*Jade Sherer*
Ceremonial Director and Ekone Resident

Chris Woodcock

*Chris Woodcock*
Kitchen Director and Ekone Resident

Chris Woodcock has been cooking for Ekone summer camps since 1995 and has a story to tell. It all started, she says, when her daughter Shonie became a staff-helper at camp, and convinced Chris to come along for the ride. Shonie went on to become a bonafide Top Hand Wrangler, and Chris, after her first season, moved year round to Ekone and hasn't left since.

Chris is a homesteader at heart and has done stints in both Maine and British Columbia, before coming to Ekone with her lovely and talented partner, Bob, and her three horse crazy daughters. Ekone can't get rid of her they say, “cause she's too nice, and the food is just too darn good.” Chris cares passionately about providing healthy meals for the kids, and showing them how it grows in the garden. "It's my favorite place and my favorite thing to do," she says appealingly of the Yummy Tummy Café, her name for the camp kitchen.

Her favorite summer activities? Chris says, “Harvesting and serving food from our garden, watching kids grow and deepen into the Ekone experience, interacting with our wonderful staff, and laughing with Lizzy.”

Logan is a travelling activist, photographer and writer. He has been peripherally involved at Ekone since his sister Caitlin began staffing camps many years ago, but recently stepped up his involvement by pledging to help out at the summer camps. “It wasn’t a hard decision,” he says. For Logan Ekone is also a chance to invest his time, creativity, and effort into something sustainable and permanent.

“There is a great joy for me in working with a community of people towards a common vision,” says Logan. “I see in Ekone ranch a tremendous opportunity to educate ourselves and others about how we can live responsibly and reclaim our connection to the natural world and to each other.”

Logan also enjoys the hard work and clean air of the ranch, getting to know the young campers, and if you ask him, he will say that many things bring him back to Ekone but horses have become a new love in his life.

Logan Price

*Logan Price*
Staff / Camp Photographer

Nancy Fisse Davis

*Nancy “Fisse” Davis *
“Camp Mama” and Ekone Resident

Fisse has been living at Ekone for 9 years and is the president of Sacred Earth Foundation. A former school teacher and mother of two of her own children, she loves the ranch and holds all who visit dear to her heart. In December 2007, Fisse’s life partner and Ekone founder Ray Mitchell passed away suddenly, leaving her to manage much of the ranch’s business herself. She rose to the challenge with renewed spirit, and is committed to helping all of the Ekone projects (especially the camps!) continue and thrive.

For many who visit Ekone, Fisse is seen as the glue that holds things together. Her always positive outlook, her kindness, and her empathy and her inner wisdom make her a valuable part of the camps and an important role-model for the children.

Her favorite parts of camp?

Having the opportunity to share the bounty of Ekone with awesome campers and their families, knowing that all the animals are being loved up, spending quality time with the dynamic staff and interns, and knowing that each and everyone of us at camp is learning and growing in our ability to work hard and get along with each other while deepening our respect for the earth and all life.