Meet Our Amazing Staff – Melanie Feltmate
For our spring spotlight, we want to recognize a super-enthusiastic, awesome staff member who is building some new and exciting programs for our older kids this year: Melanie! As a Teen Program Manager, Melanie directs our Teen Connects program, our Teens In Action "Firestarters" group, and will be leading our brand new SummerKids Youth Leaders and Junior Counselors programs, as well as fun field trips for 4th & 5th grade campers, this summer.
Some of Melanie's sparks are yoga, rafting, SCUBA diving, tarot card reading, telling bad jokes, puzzles and blowing bubbles!
Check out our recent interview with Melanie and learn more about all that she brings to Camp Fire:
HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
I'm a lover of adventure and road trips with spontaneous stops. I appreciate all things nature, from the small intricacy of insects, to the grandeur of Grand Canyon geology. I'm a self-proclaimed nerd who likes podcasts and trivia. A closeted theater-geek who is humming show tunes for weeks at a time. And a yogini who strives to stay grounded but also knows when to goof off!
WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
There's never a short answer for this question! I was born in New York City, and my entire family is still on the East Coast. After college, I found my spark for teaching environmental sciences and building capacity for non-profit organizations while living in the US Virgin Islands. After six years of island life, I traded in the warm, turquoise, ocean water for cold, green, river water to move to Colorado and become a whitewater rafting guide, and the river is what eventually led me to Bend.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A PART OF CAMP FIRE AND IN WHAT WAYS?
I joined Camp Fire in February 2018 as a Teen Program Manager. In my role I volunteer a lot with teens through our Teens In Action clubs and Teen Connects program.
This summer I'm going to be busy ramping up our summer opportunities for teens. I remember as a teen feeling like summer programs were only for little kids. Well not this year! We've worked really hard to 'level-up' our teen summer experience, and I'm feeling really good about our offerings.
We have expanded to 5, week-long service challenges that will really stretch and reward our teens to get out of their comfort zones and give back. We're also introducing leadership challenges this summer. These will be opportunities for teens not just to learn skills, but to practice them with younger groups of campers. We're going to sprinkle in advanced skills too like resume writing and team building. Each week is punctuated by a fun field trip and nature exploration for the teens only. It's definitely going to be a blast!
WHAT MATTERS TO YOU? WHAT PUSHES YOU/MOTIVATES YOU?
Knowing that I'm a small piece of something much larger than me. I truly believe that every connection has a ripple-effect. Whether it's with one of my Camp Fire teens, my family, or even a checkout clerk, I always try to genuinely approach with kindness and a light heart so that positivity can cascade throughout the day for everyone involved.
WHY DO YOU LIKE WORKING WITH CAMP FIRE? HOW DOES IT IMPACT OR FEED YOU?
Our promise at Camp Fire to help youth find their spark, lift their voice and discover who they are really undersells what we do. Our staff and volunteers are learning to thrive just as much as the youth are through our programs. I will come home from facilitating a communication class and find myself reflecting on my own behavior patterns and how I can better approach dilemmas in my personal life. I've introduced gratefulness activities at home, based on what we do at camp. I will volunteer with our teens and find their enthusiasm following me throughout the day. Even though Camp Fire's methodology of Thrive{ology} was created to help youth achieve their full potential, I find that it helps me every day as well and I am becoming a better person, a more involved community member and a stronger leader right alongside my teens.
WHAT ARE YOUR “SPARKS”?
Yoga, rafting, SCUBA diving, tarot card reading, telling bad jokes, puzzles and blowing bubbles.
WERE YOU INSPIRED BY AN ADULT MENTOR? HOW?
I am lucky that I've had a lot of adult mentors in my life. The first one that pops in to mind is my half-sister, Heather who is 13 years older than me. She helped expand my curiosity by taking me to museums and parks I'd never heard of. She supported me by coming to my school plays and challenged me to try out for new sports teams. Being with her inspired me to be unique, independent and confident. These are traits I very much value today, and try to help my youth foster them.
ANY PARTING WORDS!?
Stay tuned for the launch of our Keep Connected program this fall. A series of workshops designed to help middle schoolers and their parents learn ways to communicate better though those often tumultuous years. I just returned from the facilitator training, and I don't know about you, but I sure could have used this when I was a teen!