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Eagle's Nest
Camp
Going away to summer camp...
Foundation Camp Hante The Outdoor Academy
Meet the Staff
Experiential education for young people, promoting the natural world and the betterment of human character.
  
 
 

Meet the Eagle's Nest Staff

Eagle’s Nest takes pride in the quality of its camp counselors and instructors. We maintain a strict selection process of hiring highly skilled and educated counselors and teachers. We carefully choose counselors who are creative, mature, engaging and fun-loving. Our staff enjoys the outdoors and has a love for working with children and youth. In fact, many of our counselors are previous Nesters. Campers are surrounded with positive role models. Eagle’s Nest has one staff member to every four campers, and all staff members must be at least 18 years old, the majority being college students.

Paige Lester-Niles

Camp Director

Education

  • Salem College, B.A in English
  • National Outdoor Leadership School, Baja
  • College International de Cannes, France

Experience

  • Associate Director, ENC 1996-1999
  • Hanté Director, ENC 1994-1997
  • Wilderness Instructor, Birch Tree, ENF 1992
  • Camp Counselor, ENC, Summers 1990-1993

Paige Lester-Niles is the Director of Eagle’s Nest Camp. She graduated with a B.A. degree in English from Salem College in Winston-Salem. While studying education in college, she applied to work at Eagle’s Nest Camp because she loved her own camp experiences as a child and thought that working at a camp would give her invaluable teaching experience. Her first summer at camp, Paige helped direct the musical and taught soccer. Throughout college, she continued to spend her summers at Eagle’s Nest teaching everything from ceramics to swimming to Explorer’s Club and leading Hante Appalachian Trail treks and bike treks. After graduating, she started working full time with Eagle’s Nest and has now worked here for more than 15 years. During that time, she served as the Hante director, Head Counselor, Junior Counselor Coordinator and Associate Director. Her husband, Andy, whom she met at Eagle’s Nest, is also an educator.

Noni Waite-Kucera

Executive Director, Eagle’s Nest Foundation

Education

  • Wake Forest University , B.A. in Anthropology
  • Wake Forest in London Program

Experience

  • Camp Director , ENF 1993-2003
  • Business Manager, ENF, 1989-1999
  • Assistant Camp Director, ENC 1984-1986
  • Developed Eagle’s Nest Whitewater Canoeing and Hante Bicycling Program

Elizabeth Waite-Kucera (Noni) is the Executive Director of Eagle’s Nest Foundation and serves on The Outdoor Academy Advisory Board. She graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., with a B.A. degree in anthropology. Previously, Noni was Camp Director at Eagle’s Nest Camp and Business Manager for Eagle’s Nest Foundation. She has also been the Swimming Director, Paddling Director and Hante bike trek leader.

Noni’s grandfa ther, Alex Waite, head of psychology at Rollins College, founded Eagle’s Nest Camp in 1945. Helen and Mo Waite, Noni’s parents, served as directors for the Eagle’s Nest Carolinas’ Camp for Diabetic Children. Her mo ther served as director of Eagle’s Nest Camp and executive director of Eagle’s Nest Foundation for many years. Noni spent her childhood years growing up at camp and is honored to carry on the mission of Eagle’s Nest as Executive Director of the foundation.

Julie Slobin

 Assistant Camp Director

Education

  • Macquaire University, Sydney, Australia, B.A. in Recreational Management
  • Nor thern Beaches College TAFE, Sydney, Australia
  • Queensland College of TAFE, Queensland, Australia

Experience

  • Internship in Camp Administration, Eagle’s Nest Foundation
  • Regional Coordinator, Camp Counselors U.S.A, Sydney, Australia
  • Summer Camp Staff, Eagle’s Nest Camp
  • Ambulance Officer, New South Wales
  • Lifeguard/Manager/Swim Instructor, New South Wales
  • Administrative/Tour Assistant, New South Wales
  • Customer Service Representative, The Catalogue Studio Nor thern Beaches, New South Wales

Julie has been flying back and forth from Australia since 1998 when she first joined our summer camp staff as a swimming and athletics instructor. Since then, Julie has served as Waterfront Director, Athletics Director, head cabin counselor, Hante instructor, Junior Counselor Coordinator, and Head Counselor – all while teaching scores of campers how to swim and enjoy the water as much as she does. In addition to her experiences at Camp, Julie has also spent approximately 18 months working as a trainee for Eagle’s Nest. During this time she did everything from supporting OA students to traveling across the Sou theast to promote camp. In her role as Assistant Camp Director, Julie is focused on promoting camp and providing leadership for the camp program.

Christie Etter

Program Director

Education

  • Warren Wilson College, B.A. in Outdoor Leadership
  • North Carolina Outward Bound School

Experience

  • Teacher, Good Hope Summer Enrichment Program, St. Croix, USVI
  • Adjunct Professor, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
  • Instructor, Inside Out Inc., Flat Rock, NC
  • Yoga Instructor, The Learning Community School, Black Mountain, NC
  • Director, Shenandoah Summer Adventure Camp at Sheridan School, Luray, VA
  • Assistant Director, Sheridan School Mountain Campus, Luray, VA

Christie has been leading/teaching outdoor programming and team-building for 12 years. She started out as a raft-guide! She enjoys traveling and has taken the opportunity whenever life presents it, having traveled to the British Virgin Islands, England, New Zealand, Belize, Guatemala, St. Croix, and Alaska.   Christie also has several years of experience as a professional dog groomer and trainer. She grew up in Maryland and the panhandle of West Virginia. Her favorite outdoor activities are hiking with her dog, gardening, sailing, and napping in a hammock. She never went to camp as a kid, but had some great camping trips with school and says she found a lot of her self-confidence in those experiences.

Jeremy Campbell

Hanté Director

Education

  • Brevard College, B.A. in Wilderness Leadership/Experiential Education

Experience

  • Carpenter, Head Kayak Instructor, Camp Illahee, Brevard, NC
  • Lead Educator- First Year Crew, Shackleton School, Ashby, MA
  • Wilderness Program Co-Instructor, Brevard College, Brevard, NC
  • Director of Experiential Education, Flint Hill School, Oakton, Maryland

Jeremy is a kayaker and rock climber who graduated from Brevard College with a BA in Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education. He has worked as a Wilderness Program Co-Instructor for Brevard College developing and leading 21-day expeditions, been the Director of Experiential Education at the Flint Hill School in Virginia, been a lead educator and taught Spanish at the Shackleton School in Massachusetts, coached soccer at Carolina Day School in Asheville, and most recently worked as a carpenter and kayaking head at Camp Illahee in Brevard. Throughout this time he has also led several international trips to Costa Rica, Botswana and Zambia, and “stateside” expeditions to the Wind River Range in Wyoming and to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

photoBonnie Jean Bates

Office Manager/Registrar

Education

  • North Georgia College & State University
  • East Georgia College

Experience

  • Administrative Assistant, Eagle’s Nest Foundation
  • Mortgage Consultant, First Citizens Bank
  • Administrative Assistant, General Motors Acceptance Corporation

Her love of the mountains, people, organizational skills, and attention to detail brought Bonnie to command central on the campus of Eagle’s Nest and The Outdoor Academy.  All roads lead to her desk in the Salt Mines.  Raised mostly in a small town in Georgia, summers found her and her family in the mountains of North Carolina or at her grandparent’s cabin in the near-by woods of Transylvania County, North Carolina

Michael Moore

Kitchen Manager

Education

  • California Culinary Academy, A.A. Associates of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts and Food Science
  • NC Justice Academy, Raleigh, NC, B.S. Criminal Justice and Police Sciences, NC State general certification
  • University of North Florida, Four Semester CIT
  • Nash Community College, Horticultural Studies

Experience

  • Sous Chef and Chef de Cuisine, The Lomo Grill
  • Line Cook, Pastry Chef, Plated Design and Concept, The Marketplace Restaurant

Michael began working as our Kitchen Manager in January of this year. Michael brings a great deal of talent and diverse skills to his position. A native of North Carolina, Michael recently returned to the state after studying culinary arts at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Prior to his time there, Michael worked with law enforcement in North Carolina. Michael is excited to share his passion for cooking local food, educate through food preparation, and be of service to o thers.

Sharon Jackson

Office Manager

Education

  • University of North Carolina at Wilmington, B.S. in Biology
  • National Outdoor Leadership School, Lander, WY

Experience

  • Program Coordinator/Administrative Assistant, Black Mountain Center for the Arts
  • Sales Representative, Alpine Ski Center
  • Canine Assistants, educating the public about training dogs for individuals with physical disabilities
  • MS 150 bike race- fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis

Sharon moved to Charlotte, NC from New York at the age of 12. She graduated from high school in Charlotte and moved on to study Biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Sharon moved to Winston-Salem in 2004, when she began working with Eagle’s Nest. Sharon is the Winston-Salem Office Manager for Eagle’s Nest. She works at our Winston-Salem office for most of the year and helps out at camp during the beginning and end of the summer. Sharon handles all camp applications and payments and makes sure parents receive all the information and forms they need to send their children to Eagle’s Nest. She also answers any questions parents may have regarding camp.

Mari “Jo” Winkle

Development Director

Education

  • Old Dominion University, B.S. Computer Science
  • John Wesley College, B.A. Ethics in Management Experience

Experience

  • Project Manger & Grant Administrator, Hospice & Palliative CareCenter, Winston Salem NC
  • Executive Director, Association for the Benefit of Child Development (ABCD), Winston Salem NC
  • Director of Development, Volunteers & Community Resources, Winston-Salem Churches in Ministry, Winston Salem NC
  • Coordinator of Volunteers, Resources & Bereavement Support, Hospice of Savannah GA
  • Campaign Associate for the Combined Federal Campaign, United Way of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville FL

Mari "Jo" has been the Development Director of Eagle's Nest Foundation since October 2004. She is responsible for planning and executing all annual fundraising programs including major gift solicitations and direct mail donations from former campers, Outdoor Academy alumni and their families. She also works directly with the Board of Trustees in planning annual meetings and retreats.

She has over 25 years experience working in the non-profit sector She has assumed leadership and volunteer positions in organizations with multiple and diverse constituencies both locally and at the state level. Currently they include the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Triad Chapter and board of the Piedmont Wind Symphony. She is an active volunteer with Winston Salem Foundation's ECHO Conversation Groups, the Piedmont Craftsman, and the River Run Film Festival. Past involvement includes United Way of Forsyth County executive council, Acción Hispana board, the NC Association of Volunteer Administration board, state delegate for the Governor's Summit on Volunteerism, YMCA Community Outreach board, the North Carolina Coalition for School Age Children board and many others. Jo's hobbies include hiking, kayaking, water gardening and gourmet cooking.

 
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