Wouldn't it be great if you could design your own summer camp experience?
You can.

Learn. Play. Do.

Scroll down to meet some of our talented staff

and read about some of our exciting offerings in our

STAFF BIOS section below!

2010 STAFF BIOS

Mike Cunningham - Director

We can't wait for our first season of Camp Create-A-Summer. We have been hard at work planning the most exciting and enriching summer for our campers. Your camper will have the opportunity to "create" their program by choosing between a selection of activities ranging from playground sports to skills based more intense training of specific sports, from enjoying fun craft projects to creating a multi-media art portfolio, from singing in a performance choir like the TV show Glee to developing a Broadway revue - not to mention all the staples of Camp Create-A-Summer - swimming no matter the weather, ice skating all summer long and relaxing with your friends in the sunshine.

Coach Cunningham in action!

I'd like to introduce you to some of our staff who are just as excited as I am to provide your kids with a summer they'll always remember...

Caitlin Corbin - Creative Arts Director

Hi! I'm Caitlin Corbin, the Creative Arts Director at Camp Create-A-Summer. I graduated from Paier College of Art with a BFA in Fine Arts and Illustration. Since graduating, I have exhibited my artwork throughout Connecticut, most recently at Art Space in New Haven. During the last two years I have taught youth art classes in a number of different settings, including Guilford Arts Center. I enjoy helping children discover their own artistic perspective while developing their artistic ability.

I'm currently developing the classes for the summer, including classes that focus on the fine arts and allow campers to explore all different types of media as well as classes that will give campers the opportunity to create some creative and lasting craft projects.

Take a look at some of my work, and get ready to start creating!

Class Summaries:

• Scrap-booking: Create your own personalized scrapbooks using photographs, stickers, paper materials, glitter, stamps, pen & ink, pastels and much more!
• Let's Make Comics!: Learn basic drawing skills and techniques using pen & ink and pastels while creating your own characters and illustrated stories to develop your very own comic strip!
• Recycled Art: Create and design fun and functional recycled works of art using bottle-caps, buttons, cardboard and many more re-usable household items to help make your " carbon footprint" much smaller in a fun and creative way!
• Clay Creations: Design, Carve, Sculpt, model, paint clay sculptures! Using a variety of techniques you will sculpt animals, figures, pots......whatever your imagination tells you!
• Jewelry Making: Create Funky beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings using a variety of techniques and have your very own hand-made jewelry!
• Printmaking Fun: Stamp printing, stencils, mono-printing, Relief painting, marbled paper making. make your very own hand-made note cards and books!
• Decoupage: Decoupage: is the process of sealing paper of fabric to a surface. You will create decorative bowls and boxes in this class using a variety of colorful tissue papers to create a very unique, colorful project.
• Fashion Design: Have you always loved Fashion? This class will give you an opportunity to illustrate your very own fashion line. You will use pen and ink, pastels and watercolor to bring your looks to life!
• Interior Design: Make your very own customized name sign you can hang on the wall of your room! You will paint, decorate and design your ideas for your room!
• Outdoor Drawing Adventures: Get inspired from the outdoors and draw landscapes, flowers, birds, trees and more as we explore the outdoors with our sketchpads. In the end you will have a summer sketchbook of Nature drawings you can cherish forever!
• Paint like Picasso: Do you LOVE to paint??? In this class we paint like the old masters did, using a variety of paints, brushes and techniques!

Tara Fitzgerald - Dance & Creative Movement Director

Hi! I'm Tara Fitzgerald, the Dance & Creative Movement Director at Camp Create-A-Summer. I'm a dance education major at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. As a high school student at Hall High in West Hartford, I performed in Pops 'n Jazz as a jazz dancer for four years, choreographed and taught classes at the Lisa Sussman Dance Studio, as well as choreographed the very first West Hartford Community Theater production, The Music Man. I have performance credits in numerous dance and musical theater shows and have 15 years experience in many styles of dance including jazz, ballet, modern, hip-hop, tap, and lyrical. Currently, I'm a member of the UNCC Dance Ensemble as well as an active chair member in the M.O.V.E. student dance alliance organization.

I'm excited for the opportunity to work with kids who already have a love of dance and want to spend time over the summer learning even more, and I can't wait to introduce dance to those kids who've never had the chance to participate in a class before.

Valerie Sussman - Music Director

Valerie is currently Solomon Schechter Day School's Music Director and has been performing for over 15 years at the All Newton Music School, The Old Town School of Folk Music, and BackBeat City Music Academy.  For the past six years, she has taught piano, violin, voice and group classes from Chicago to Boston. She received her Bachelor's degree in music from Tufts University and Master's Degree in Musiciology from Northwestern University.  She is thrilled to be teaching a variety of classes and private music lessons at Camp Create-a-Summer.

Class Summaries:

• Junior Fiddlers: (K-3)In this group violin class, young fiddlers will play tunes together while developing proper technique and playing position.  Open to beginning and intermediate violinists. Bring your instrument and get ready to fiddle up a storm!
• Songwriting: Ever wonder how pop hits get to be so popular?  Learn how to write your own catchy and memorable musical pieces. Students will write and perform original songs in pop structure.  No previous songwriting experience required.
• A Cappella Group: (5th-8th) Ever wonder what it would be like to be your own band- without any instruments?  This summer, sing rockin' harmonies, learn how to “perc” (beatbox), and perform your favorite pop hits in the style that Rockapella made famous.  Bring your voice and your enthusiasm!
• Broadway Musical Revue: (3rd-8th) Be a Broadway star.  Perform songs from your favorite Broadway musicals including Wicked, Grease, Rent and more!  Sing solo and group numbers while creating original scripts to link the songs into one dynamite production.   Open to students with all levels of singing and stage experience.
• Pop Choir/Glee Club: (3rd-8th) Obsessed with the TV show “Glee”? In this class you will learn to sing the tight harmonies and melodies performed by your favorite characters on the show.  Sing and dance to your favorite numbers. Repertoire will consist of a variety of pop hits seen on the show and elsewhere.

Other Staff

Dianna Soucier currently attend Saint Joseph College in West Hartford, CT and will be a junior nursing major in the fall of 2010, part of the class of 2013. I have been on the dean's list both Fall semester of '09 and Spring semester '10 with a GPA of 3.89. I play lacrosse and was awarded the 2010 MVP award and was named captain for the 2011 season.

I attended Northwest Catholic High School graduating 2008. I graduated with highest honors 17th in my class. I played field hockey in which I was awarded two time MVP, two time captain, senior all star, first team all state and Futures elite player. I also played lacrosse where in 2008 the team had a perfect season and where in the semi-finals of states we lost to Danbury. I am currently coaching the JV Field Hockey team at northwest catholic high school and assisting the varsity team as well.

Ryan Thompson Ryan graduated in 2010 with highest honors from Northwest Catholic High School. He was a member of the National Honor Society during his Junior and Senior years. He was a 4 year member and senior captain of the Varsity Swiming and Diving Team, achieving All-State and All-Conference status. He was a 2 year starter on the Varsity Baseball team that captured the conference title (and possibly state...) in 2010. He was named Northwest Catholic's 2009 Male Scholar Athlete by The Hartford Courant and Northwest Catholic's 2010 C.I.A.C. Scholar Athlete by the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. He also recently received the Connecticut Association of Secondary Schools Service and Leadership Award while at Northwest Catholic. Ryan will be enrolling in the Honors Program at Xavier University in the fall.

Eli Shakun is a sophomore at Hall High School in West Hartford where he has been a high honors student for all four semesters so far. Outside of the classroom, he is an avid soccer player who also enjoys playing basketball, running, tennis, skiing, and fishing. He currently is a member of Hall's varsity soccer program, indoor track and field team, and tennis team. He also has plays soccer for soccerplus CT, where his team competes against teams from all over the north-east. Eli is a graduate of Solomon Schechter class of 2008 who is happy to be working at Camp Create-a-Summer in its inaugural season.

Check back for more information soon!

behzadesign/BERACH Productions©2010