Hello from Hailey!
Hello everyone!!
My name is Hailey and I am ecstatic to join the Elevate Youth team as a Lead Outdoor Instructor! I’m so excited to get to know Boston, the amazing people around here, and to introduce myself to you. After meeting me, people commonly describe me as creative, quirky, and insanely organized. I’m known in social circles for my enthusiasm for silly small things, doodling pretzels on any available surface, and making any space feel like a genuine home. I grew up in Cincinnati and have spent time living in eastern Tennessee, too. My parents travel and live in their RV, I am an oldest sibling, and I love writing hand-written notes. I can solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute and I cannot imagine a year not being with kids and being outside!
I’ve spent quite a few years outdoors and with kids, too – I worked at YMCA Camp Ernst in Burlington, Kentucky for four years, including a summer operating the high ropes course and a summer volunteering in the kitchen. I was a camper there for four years before all that as well. In 2020, amidst COVID, I hopped a plane to Raymond, Maine to work at Kingsley Pines Camp where I taught woodworking. I’m also a two-time road trip champion!
In May, I graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science in Media and Social Change, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a minor in psychology, and certificate in women’s studies. I also spent two years as the Survivor-Focused Programming Assistant at the Women’s Center in the Division of Diversity and Inclusion. At the beginning of June, I loaded up my tiny Hyundai Kona and moved to Somerville, Massachusetts – a city I’d never been to, and a state I had only seen once. So far it’s worked out well!
In addition to being a mentor to all our Elevate Youthers, I am excited for the opportunity to learn from our kids myself. My favorite part about working with middle schoolers is how accidentally imaginative they are, especially once they’re outside. As a former summer camp-kid, I know how the outdoors radiates magic and follows you home. The role models I’ve met along my way completely changed my life, and it feels essential I pay this forward: it’s an honor to introduce youth to the magic of letting go of social pressures, indulging their inner child, and allowing their creativity to run free. I'm always looking forward to the next adventure kids set me upon and facilitating space for them to learn about themselves, others, and the wonder of the outdoors. I am extremely passionate about the power of outdoor mentorship and believe every child deserves to have access to nature. I love yoga and hiking, and I’ve tried my hand at some rock climbing, but I’ve never been sailing, on a farm, or skiing – so I’ll be learning right alongside the kids this summer as well.
After spending a few weeks in the city, I’m itching to get back into the wilderness – for three weeks in July, Elevate Youth will be running Camp Elevate! We’re taking the Kenny School, the Hennigan School, West End House, and the Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester sailing and then to Northwood, New Hampshire to Lantern Light Camps, on the Wah-tut-ca Reservation. In each of these incredible overnight trips, we will continually introduce kids to the wonders of the outdoors and empower them to create meaningful connections with nature, each other, and positive role models.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to be with kids outside for another year in a row – this is my dream job. You can learn more about the Elevate Youth staff here, and learn more about how you can help support Camp Elevate here!