We have completed staff hiring for summer 2012. Again this year, we are ecstatic about the quality of our instructor team. For summer 2012, we will have over a 70% instructor return rate. (The 18th year in a row our instructor return rate has exceeded 60%). This summer our average instructor will be 27 years old. Virtually everyone is a college graduate and many hold masters degrees. Simply put, these folks are not camp counselors, they are professionals and you’ll usually get six of these incredible folks on your trip! Having personally interviewed every new instructor, I can’t wait until instructor orientation to watch these folks shine.
Read the biographies of our 2012 instructors here. Please do understand that this list of 76 instructors will change slightly. Instructor trip assignments will not be officially finalized until staff orientation as we balance our staff teams to insure that we’ve created the best group of outstanding instructors for each trip!
There is something about the camaraderie of Adventure Treks instructors that makes us friends for life. Being role models, we know that the energy we invest in building close friendships and the kindness and respect with which we treat each other filters down to our students. When we see students treating each other with respect and forming close communities, we know we have done our job!
I’d like to relay a recent incident that exemplifies our instructor camaraderie. Last Saturday eight of our instructors ran the Nashville marathon together. They came together from all over the country to have a wonderful reunion (and they just happened to run 26.2 miles in between their socializing!) Several folks who ran were not originally committed runners. But they set a goal. Agreed to do it together, held each other accountable, supported each other and committed themselves to success. All eight of our instructors finished the race (never in doubt) and all said that though achieving the goal was important, the camaraderie and sharing of the goal was a far bigger highlight. (And a lot more fun than actually running 26.2 miles) Congratulations to Niki Gaeta, Amanda Cencak, Tracy Roberts, Chrissie Mongahan, Tessa Dawson, Liz Golembeski, Mike P., and Steph Bryant for your wonderful achievement. Most people don’t think a marathon is fun. By making it a social event, these folks made it fun! Job Well Done!