Carrot Harvest is a perennial fall favorite at North Country School, drawing together students, our farm team, and other community members for an event made possible thanks to the summertime efforts of Treetops campers. Whether it’s washing freshly unearthed carrots in our root washer, as seventh grader Leland is doing on this issue's cover, or working together to collect them, like seventh grader Cam and fourth graders Knox and Maya in the photo opposite, this meaningful work is a reminder of the pride and reflection that comes from connecting with the land. Kim Smart, educational farm director for School and Camp, puts it best: “It’s a time when we close the loop from farm to table, with exhaustion, but also joy and contemplation—preparing for the winter months ahead.”
HANDS-ON, HEARTS IN
Why Meaningful Work Matters
TODD ORMISTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
During a campus tour I led this fall for a guest who spends a lot of time at schools like ours, we watched Industrial Arts Teacher Larry Robjent and students in his Design and Build Projects class engage in a decidedly non-traditional learning experience.
Inside the Walter Breeman Performing Arts Center’s Don Rand Theater, two groups worked together to bring a pair of twelve-foot columns up the risers to the back of the seating area. The columns were part of a stage set from a recent production; they were, literally, a heavy lift.
If you know Larry, you can imagine that this was an active experience, full of communication, problem-solving, collaboration, and redirects. After the first team got its column in place, Larry asked the other group if they wanted the newly freed hands to help complete their task. The response was a firm “No!”
Once both columns were securely placed, Larry pulled all the students together to talk about what just happened. He guided them as they reflected on their plan, what surprised them during the exercise, and what they could have done differently. When I caught up with Larry later, he said the pre-exercise work was just as extensive, during which they talked about safety, strategy, and working together as a team.
My guest that day leads an accrediting agency for independent schools such as ours. While he sees the best that schools like ours have to offer every day, he couldn’t help but remark upon the power of that moment. “It's been a long time since I've seen so much joy in a school,” he said.
It was a demonstration of all of the best parts of the experiential learning that happens on our campus every day, and the many components that underlie them all.
Preparation and learning. An active, hands-on experience. Reflection and future planning. So many experiences on our campus look just like this. Whether Chicken Harvest, outdoor trips, performances, or swim tests, each expose our students to deliberate learning moments they can apply long after they head into the world.
We know this way of learning so well. So when it came time to develop our strategic plan, it made sense to apply this familiar approach. To learn more about ourselves, we reflected on our past and present while planning for the future. By the end, we identified the aspects of Camp and School that have held steady since our founding: our program, people, and purpose, all of which work together to instill positive change in our community and in the world.
Growing Evergreen, our strategic plan, is the culmination of this work. It calls for bold and thoughtful enhancements to the ways we work with children; the things we do to attract, support, and retain those who educate them; and our efforts to impact and learn from the world beyond our 237-acre home.
In this issue, we take a deep dive into Growing
Evergreen’s ongoing work and progress in a special feature beginning on page 23. You’ll learn more about the important advancements we’ve made in our safety protocols and approach to our outdoor programs (“Staying on Trail”), the ways we’re improving the quality of our teachers’ and counselors’ living spaces (“Mountain Zen”), and how we’re sharing the power of our experiential learning model with the world (“Inspiring Others”).
We’re also considering how our physical spaces can support our programming. This fall, we started building a new road, rerouting Bramwell Run to unify Junior Camp and decrease traffic in the center of our campus. You can learn more about that project, and the other exciting changes to come, in the foldout within our special Growing Evergreen feature on page 23.
It was a demonstration of all of the best parts of the experiential learning that happens on our campus every day, and the many components that underlie them all.
Each of these adjustments, though, stays true to the intentions of our founders and our time-tested approach to working with children. And like the effective experiential educators we strive to be, we constantly debrief on our planning and actions to confirm we’re fulfilling our needs, not our wants.
When I caught up with Larry after observing his class, I asked if this was a team building exercise that he did in this class every year. “No,” he said. “I just needed to get those columns up there.”
Not surprisingly, embedded within this seemingly simple activity was an educational experience that is deeply centered around meaningful work. Just like Larry’s class, Growing Evergreen will continue to undertake meaningful work with immediate impacts on our community—work that will build on our already strong foundation for today while also preparing us for the next 100 years of Camp and School.
Left: North Country School students Mariana and Rafa work with Larry Robjent on the postand-beam timber frame of Culpepper Cabin, the latest campus addition to house Treetops counselors.
Opportunity, Space, and Support
ASHLEY WALDORF DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL
When I arrived at North Country School this spring, I knew to expect a place where opportunity, space, and support combine to help students flourish and become their best selves.
I was not expecting to see all of these things embodied during Halloween.
It’s an all-in kind of affair: if you visited campus on that day, you’d find halls festooned with decorations, students wearing straight-from-their-imagination costumes (90% imagination, 10% store-bought, as we like to say), and a haunted house designed by 9th graders that gets scarier as the evening progresses.
But, like so much that’s special about NCS, the pageantry around All Hallows Eve is just an end result—a culmination of everyday routines that encourage community-mindedness, coordinate self-directed learning, and nurture student creativity.
It was Halloween, though, that really delivered an “aha” moment. And it came through potty humor, of all things.
For 86 years, the results of an NCS education have been plain for all to see. Our co-founder, Walter Clark, may have best put that outcome into words: “It is not so much where you live, what work you do, where you have traveled, your IQ, or how much or little money you have,” he once said. “It is most of all how you feel about yourself, your family, other people, your work, our planet, the stars, sky, and the universe that matter.”
But while the results may be clear, the ingredients that make it happen are harder to discern. And other
schools are trying, because educators know deliberate, intentional education yields confident students who are compassionate contributors to the world and mindful of their impact on people and the planet.
The opportunity, space, and support I spoke of are a big part of that; the question I had in coming here, though, is what does it look like in practice?
As my first term at NCS unfolded, I started seeing the kind of routines and student experiences that build toward this outcome. Some of these are in everyday moments, like a student mucking stalls at barn chores or contributing to a Homenight dinner by squeezing countless lemons by hand. Others are during culminating moments on campus.
It was Halloween, though, that really delivered an “aha” moment. And it came through potty humor, of all things. Every student has a stake in the day. Lower school students focus on costumes and decorating, seventh graders decorate the dining room, eighth graders host the carnival, and ninth graders orchestrate the haunt-
ed house. As students work toward their objective, they are asked to envision the final product, determine a design process to get there, collaborate with others, and ask for help along the way.
Two students, Abel and Cody, worked on a game called toilet paper toss. As part of it, participants tried to throw three rolls of TP into one of two holes in a very realistic-looking cardboard toilet (topped with a real toilet seat). Players earned more points—and candy—for hitting the upper hole.
At first glance, the game represents typically silly middle-school humor. Take a closer look, though, and you can see there’s more at work. First, Abel and Cody
had an idea that started as a joke, inspired by research they were doing on carnival games. As they thought about it, they realized the Halloween celebration was the ideal place to embrace their imaginations and run with a wild idea. They worked together to determine the materials they needed, and then located them. And they refined their idea at every step, adding new rules and ways for the players to engage with the game.
At the end of the day, these two students felt proud of their work. While they may or may not have fully realized it at the moment, they also had an experience that taught them a few life lessons: their wild and creative ideas are worth entertaining; they can see a project through, from idea to creation; their work can have an impact.
Experiences like these happen every day here at NCS, and it's these experiences that guide students toward understanding who they are and what they are capable of. In a world that is becoming increasingly complex, this sort of self-awareness will serve students just as much, if not more, than it did 86 years ago.
Our co-founders Walter and Leo Clark may not have envisioned toilet humor as a part of the NCS learning experience—but if anyone could understand the value of it in that moment for Cody and Abel, and all of our students who came up with original ideas this Halloween and many before, I know it would be them.
THIS WEEK AT NCS
Sept. 27
This Week at NCS is a window into the rich inner workings of School. In photos and words, this weekly email newsletter is a memory keeper during the school year, a place to discover what students have been up to as they study, engage, and put their creativity to work. Here are some highlights from this fall. To read and receive these updates, visit northcountryschool.org/thisweekatNCS.
Reverence & Respect | Sept. 27
Every year, Chicken Harvest marks a day of reverence as the community comes together to harvest our meat birds, which students have helped to raise since they were chicks. Our students helped harvest, pluck, clean, and bag over 100 birds this year, which were then frozen for use in meals throughout the year. Every step of the way, caring adults supported students during this “challenge by choice” activity and their moments of hesitation, curiosity, and concern. In addition to gaining perspective on the source of our food, students learned how farmers everywhere contribute to global food systems.
A Singular Show | Oct. 4
Our seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade students watched actor Bryce Foley bring F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby to life in a one-man show at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. The performance was presented by Literature to Life, a literacy program that performs adaptations of American literary classics to inspire young people to read and become authors. Afterward, our eighth-graders joined an acting workshop in the WallyPAC with Bryce and another Literature to Life teacher, as they learned skills such as building conflict and adding voices to a scene.
Oct. 11
Practical Math-gic | Oct. 11
If posed with the age-old question, “When will I use this math lesson in the real world?” our pre-algebra students might respond, “When planting spinach, of course!” Students joined math teacher Meg Briggeman in our greenhouses where they put theory into practice while planting spinach seedlings. Using math operations such as multiplying, dividing, adding, and subtracting, they determined how many seedlings they could put in each bed. Students will continue to monitor the plants in upcoming lessons, using statistics to see how many plants grow from a seed to a seedling.
Seasonal Transitions | Oct. 18
The gaggle of Canada geese lingering in Dexter Pasture isn’t the only harbinger of winter, as our farm animals began seasonal journeys of their own. Our herd of sheep spent a few more languid days under the apple trees lining the drive to school before heading into the barn for winter. Elsewhere, other students on barn chores said a final goodbye to our passel of pigs.
Oct. 25
Oct. 18
Wright Place, Wright Time Oct. 25
Our eighth and ninth graders spent an overnight trek in the High Peaks region while hiking Wright and Algonquin mountains, two of the Adirondack 46 High Peaks and two mountains included in the “NCS 10.” The NCS 10 is a hiking challenge that refers to the ten peaks that can be seen from campus, including Cascade, Marcy, Algonquin, Trouble, Pitchoff, Phelps, Big Slide, Wright, Mount Van Hoevenberg, and Rand Ridge. Since its creation in 2015, only 28 people have completed the monumental achievement of hiking all of them, and this week ninth grader Cynthia—pictured fourth from left above with the rest of the overnight students—added her name to that list. Congratulations, Cynthia!
Trustee Updates
Honoring Departing Trustees
With deep appreciation for their years of service, we bid a fond farewell to trustees who have left the Board within the last year: Ami Brabson (NCS parent 16–18), Veronica Dunlap (CTT parent 13–16, NCS parent 15–17), Davlyn Mosley (CTT 96–98, staff 04), and Skye Raiser (NCS parent 20–23).
We pay particular tribute to Matt Salinger (NCS 72–74, CTT parent 04–08), who served on the Board for an incredible 24 years. In that time, he led both the Advancement and Governance Committees. His thoughtful leadership, deep commitment, and genuine love for North Country School & Camp Treetops made an outsized impact not only on the Board but on the entire organization. We are deeply grateful for his service.
Welcoming New Trustees
We are pleased to welcome five new members to the Board of Trustees. Each is deeply committed to Camp and School and brings a diversity of experience, knowledge, and perspectives.
Thatcher Brown (CTT 77–80, parent 10, 12, 14–16, 18) has a multi-generational connection with North Country School & Camp Treetops: in addition to his time as a camper, Thatcher’s two daughters, Hollis (CTT 10, 12, 14–16, staff 21–22) and Crosby (CTT 12, 14, 16, 18, staff 23), were campers and counselors, and his father was a trustee in the 1980s. Thatcher’s brother and sister also attended and worked at Camp. Thatcher’s career in the travel industry has included leadership positions with several cruise and hotel companies. Most recently, he was chief commercial officer and head of joint operations of Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings LTD and joint owner/
operator of Four Seasons Yachts. Thatcher graduated from the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and lives in Miami with his wife, Jenny.
Ahrielle Cook (CTT 92–98, staff 04, NCS 95–99) attended Camp Treetops at age six, following in her brother’s footsteps, and spent eight formative years as both a student and camper. Camp and School instilled core values—resilience, dedication, and a commitment to doing what’s right—that have shaped both Ahrielle’s personal and professional journey. These principles fueled her career, from co-founding an NGO in Haiti to leading global operations as chief of staff at Thales,
a leader in cybersecurity. Previously, she managed corporate operations and business development at Raising Change, a startup focused on fundraising.
Tim Wennrich (NCS 84, parent 20–21) spent one of his first weekends at NCS camping at -20 degrees, beginning a six-month period that transformed his life. His brothers, Josh and Gabe, also embraced NCS, graduating in 1989 and 1981. Tim graduated from Dartmouth College in 1993 and taught for 10 years before starting Meadowstone Farm in northern New Hampshire in 2004. There, he’s committed to sustainable and regenerative practices. He and his wife, Jessie, have served on numerous boards and volunteer organizations as they strive to create and strengthen community. They have three children, Jeb, Colden, and Ani.
Will Whitney (CTT 90–95, staff 98–99, 02) jokes that “Treetops turned me from a shy, sci-fi-loving tenyear-old bookworm into a shy, sci-fi-loving ten-yearold bookworm who also loved the outdoors, bare feet, and compost.” Will, who grew up in Manhattan, developed a lifelong love of nature at Camp, that led to college in New England, two winters working in
the French Pyrenees, and cliffside camping in the Yosemite Valley during law school. He credits Treetops with teaching him that communities become stronger when people put in the effort to be kind to themselves, to others, and to the world.
Yuemei (Gisele) Zhang (NCS parent 23–present) and her husband, Tianmu Lin, are current North Country School parents of Higgs (grade six) and Angelina (grade nine). Gisele has 20 years experience in international investment banks, financial institutions, and corporate management, including at China International Capital Corp. (CICC). She is also experienced in wealth management, investment, and family office management, and is able to integrate high-end resources in the financial and capital markets. A lover of Tibetan Buddhist culture, Gisele has studied Tibetan Buddhism for two decades and is committed to the promotion and practice of Buddhist charity and culture. She graduated from East China University of Science and Technology in Shanghai and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Clockwise from top right: Thatcher Brown, Will Whitney, Ahrielle Cook
Below: Tim Wennrich. Left: Yuemei (Gisele) Zhang,
Celebrating our People
30 Years
Sheila Tavares, Administrative Support
For 30 years, Sheila Tavares has been one of the unsung heroes of North Country School & Camp Treetops, working behind the scenes to support and care for countless students and campers in her administrative support role. Though she doesn't always get to see the impacts of her work—or even meet the families of the students and campers she helps care for—there’s no denying that her contributions are invaluable. And whenever our families have the opportunity to express their gratitude for the experiences their children have at Camp or School, Sheila’s name is always mentioned.
Sheila’s deep commitment, quiet demeanor, and subtle but sharp-witted humor have lifted us all over the past three decades. This fall, in front of many current and former Camp and School staff members, we had the chance to celebrate her 30 years of tireless dedication. In many ways, Sheila is the thread that binds much of what happens together at our mountain home; she coordinates activities, travel arrangements, and event logistics, keeps our community informed of student and camper schedules, and instills confidence in our families that their children are cared for, supported, and embraced as part of our community— especially important, considering that some are located on the other side of the globe.
Our community wouldn’t be what it is without Sheila’s work to make it all happen. Thank you, Sheila.
Faculty & Staff Anniversaries
We would like to thank these other longtime staff and faculty members who have become critical threads in the fabric of our community. We would not be where we are today without them—and countless children would not have benefited from the excellence they bring to their roles as faculty, staff, houseparents, and caring adults every single day.
25+ YEARS
1. Larry Robjent, Industrial Arts, Design and Build, and Technical Theater Teacher, Out-Time and Weekend Coordinator, Advancement Office/Special Projects
20+ YEARS
2. Katie Weaver, Fiber Arts Teacher
3. Lauren McGovern, Learning Support Program Coach
4. Jess Wegrzyn, Director of Learning Support Services
5. Chris Wood, Maintenance Department Manager, Potable Water Operator
15+ YEARS
6. Sierra Grennan, Darkroom and Digital Photography Teacher, Residential Life Coordinator
10+ YEARS
7. Josh Briggeman, Global Issues Teacher, Houseparent
8. Kim Smart, Educational Farm Director
9. Meredith Hanson, English and Japanese Teacher, International Student Program Coordinator, CoCoordinator of Community Logistics
10. Monica Forbes, Head of Housekeeping
11. Devon Jacobs, Director of Technology
12. Courtney Allen, Theater Teacher, Support Houseparent
13. Garth Cilley, Geometry and Algebra
II Teacher, Co-Primary Houseparent
14. Linda Ellsworth, Advancement Operations Manager
Abi Lateer, Farm Fellow
Shuyu “Susie” Lin, Humanities and Writing Teacher
Amy Ludlow, Business Office/ Advancement Support, Events Coordinator
Nick Mando, Edible Schoolyard Teacher
Andrew Murdock, Studio Arts Teacher, Support Houseparent
Rebecca Northrup, Content Manager
Hayden Redelman, Teaching Fellow, Support Houseparent
Jaden Rieck, Farm Fellow
Laurey Rosser, Learning Support, Math Teacher, Mentor
Kevin Stinson, Kitchen Staff
Joshua Vetter, Science Teacher, Support Houseparent
Ashley Waldorf, Director of School
Hillary Wolfe, Learning Support, JEDI Team Coordinator, Houseparent
Stay tuned for a feature in the summer 2025 issue of Organic Roots that will celebrate our longtime Camp Treetops counselors and other staff milestones.
FRIENDS’ WEEKEND 2024
1. Fun for all ages was had in the riding ring. 2. Friday night square dancing—a Friends’ Weekend tradition where all are welcome!
3. Left to right: Selden West (NCS staff 83–93, 02–04, 07–08, 13–21, parent 99–13, CTT parent 96–09, 11–12) and Trustee Mara Frankel Wallace (CTT 77–80, parent 14–15) catch up during cocktail hour. 4. The Saturday night sunset and bonfire brought folks together for one last evening before saying goodbye on Sunday.
5. An intrepid group of early risers, led by Executive Director Todd Ormiston, hiked Balanced Rocks at sunrise. 6. NCS faculty member Larry Robjent led a community work job of dismantling Meadow Lean-To. It will be replaced by a new counselor cabin to be built by NCS students and Larry this winter.
IN AUGUST, WE WELCOMED MORE THAN 240 PEOPLE to Friends’ Weekend. Alumni, families, and friends gathered for meals, hiked Cascade and Porter, swam and paddled on Round Lake, and spent time at the barn and in the gardens. Ralph Jones (CTT 54–55, staff 61–62, Balanced Rocks Circle member) treated us to a new film about horseback riding at Camp (watch it by scanning the QR code on the right). And we heard more about the work of Growing Evergreen, our strategic plan, including the opportunity to take a campus tour to learn more about future plans for our campus (see page 23). Friends and family also celebrated the life and legacy of former Camp co-director Colin Tait (see sidebar). And, of course, we topped off the weekend with the traditional square dance and bonfire. We hope to see you at Friends’ Weekend 2025, August 20–24.
COLIN TAIT MEMORIAL
During Friends’ Weekend, we honored the legacy of former Camp Treetops co-director Colin Tait, who died in early 2024. Colin’s three sons, Alex (CTT 72–77), Trevor (CTT 73–78, staff 85–92), and Rollin (CTT 67–73, parent 00–02), reflected on their father's life and gifted a granite sculpture of the “Great Blue Frog” in his memory to Treetops. The frog—a character in stories Colin told to his grandchildren—is now a permanent fixture on campus.
Other attendees shared their stories and memories of Colin, including Susie Localio (CTT 55–58, staff 65–80, 89–94, grandparent 19, Balanced Rocks Circle member). Unable to attend in person, Susie’s remarks were read aloud on her behalf by DJ Baker (CTT staff 77–85, 97–present, parent 97–04) that day, including this excerpt:
“We respected Colin for his equanimity and his professionalism, but also for his kindness. When at 22 I confessed that I was terrified to begin my teaching career, he assured me that each year he, too, was nervous about facing his new classes at law school. And to this day I remember that advice. If Colin was nervous, it was okay for me to be nervous, too. Colin and Dick [Wilde]* managed that amazing feat of holding dear the traditions that make Treetops timeless and at the same time guiding it into a more modern era. We gather to honor that kind of inspired leadership. Those of you to whom the torch is passed, keep it alight—the way Colin did.”
*Colin’s former co-director, Dick Wilde, also sadly passed away this past year. A tribute to Dick will appear in the summer 2025 issue of Organic Roots.
FRIENDS’ WEEKEND 2024
NORTH COUNTRY SCHOOL alumni celebrating their 10th, 40th, and 50th reunions came together at Friends’ Weekend 2024 to share memories and reconnect. For some, this was their first time on campus since they graduated. Friends came from as far as Guatemala and India and as near as Lake Placid. Christopher Werler (NCS 82–84, Balanced Rocks Circle member), who was here celebrating with his 40th reunion classmates, said, “I’m already reflecting upon this special weekend even though I departed from campus just hours ago. I’m suddenly aware of how lucky we are. There is so much to be grateful for. I’m proud to be a part of NCS/CTT and witness to its enduring development over the decades.” Are you in the NCS classes celebrating a reunion in 2025 (classes ending in 0 and 5) and would you like to help gather your classmates for Friends’ Weekend or reconnect in other ways? Contact alumni@ncstreetops.org for ideas to get started.
1. The class of 2014 and friends, from left to right: former Executive Director David
Hochschartner, Deborah Hammond, Anabell Corwin, Gideon Rothberg, Patrick Quinn, Tys Sweeney, Emma Brown Harvey, and Executive Director Todd Ormiston 2. The class of 1974 and friends, celebrating their 50th reunion, included, from left to right: Colin Wells, Allegra Azulay, Gioia Kuss, Chuck Schwerin, Jean Marchildon, and Maya Radiconcini 3. The class of 1984 and friends, celebrating their 40th reunion, included: Back Row, from left to right: Grady Allen (on behalf of his mom, Jenny Ewing Allen, who could not be present), Bill Newman, Jean Marchildon, Fred Morgan, former Executive Director David “Hock” Hochschartner, Michelle Leiby, Selden West, Ana Lucia Cottone, Chris Werler, and Anjani Teves; Kneeling, from left to right: Matt Marchildon, William “Jamie” Jamieson, Charles Barnett, Joe Edmonds, Franklin Kenney, and Alex Delgado; Front Row: Frances Buitoni.
“Hock”
Thursday, April 10, through Monday, April 14, 2025
You’re invited to spend a long weekend with NCS and CTT alumni, families, and friends at Alta Lodge, a classic Utah ski resort with direct access to Alta Ski Area. Discounted rates of at least 20 percent during Alta Friends’ Weekend; lodging, breakfast, and dinner are included in all stays.
For lodging reservations, please call 1.800.707.ALTA or visit altalodge.com
For more information: alumni@ncstreetops.org or 518.523.9329
August 20–August 24 Join us for a fun-filled weekend at your
Stay tuned for more details and registration
Photo: Meimei Ma
Photo: Brian Eng
TIMES that BIND
Guatemalan alums share a familial legacy spanning decades
BY REBECCA NORTHRUP
THE PLACES WE CHERISH aren’t just backdrops to our lives. They shape who we are just as much as we shape them. In return, we also come to belong to these places as much as they belong to us. If we’re lucky, we can return to them and rediscover the memories and experiences that made them so special.
For our international students, it’s sometimes years before they return to Camp or School. But their connections aren’t dulled by time or distance. Case in point: Over the past 60 years, we have welcomed nearly 50 students and campers students from Guatemala to campus. It’s a connection remarkable not just for its duration but genesis, as almost every Guatemalan student who has come here is linked, either by relation or friendship.
Recently, we asked some of our Guatemalan family to offer their own stories and what it means to share a sense of place and ownership of this home away from home.
Ana Lucia Cottone (NCS 84)
When Ana Lucia Cottone visited campus this past summer for Friends’ Weekend 2024 she was excited to reconnect with classmates for the 40th reunion of the Class of 1984. What she wasn’t expecting, she says, was to find “a piece of myself I didn’t realize was missing.”
“It was not only a celebration of coming together after so many years, it was a realization of how my classmates and the shared memories that emerged had such a foundational impact on my life,” Ana Lucia says.
As she walked around she marveled at how organically the school had grown without taking away the sweet simplicity and beauty of it. When she first arrived at NCS in 1982, Ana Lucia slipped right into the rhythms of student life, which
she says made adjusting to living far away from home much easier. Being in a house with houseparents, the care and attentiveness of the teachers, the opportunity to play sports, the responsibility of caring for the animals, and all the time spent in nature—all of these things created a soft, loving landing for her.
“Attending NCS was one of the most transformative experiences of my life,” she says. “Childhood moments like those we shared remain vivid markers, shaping who we are and whispering to us throughout life’s journey.”
During her visit, Ana Lucia said she was also aware of what hadn’t changed.
“Walking the familiar paths of the campus was a powerful reminder of how deeply nature speaks to the soul,” she said. She credits her NCS experience as seeding her respect and love of nature.
When Ana Lucia was at NCS, students wrote letters home and phoned their families only once a week. Fast forward a few decades, and Ana Lucia says she is amazed at how technology has been integrated into campus life without taking it over.
“The legacy of this institution has kept this campus pristine in its own modern way,” she adds.
After college, Ana Lucia moved to California where she worked in television for 20 years, eventually becoming a senior vice president at the Global Sony TV Network Group, before starting her own advising and consulting company. To this day, she credits NCS with some of her happiest childhood memories—a place where she experienced a profound sense of safety and stability that uniquely allowed for her future personal growth to unfold.
Ana Lucia came to NCS following in the footsteps of her two older brothers, and her cousin Nicky who was the first Guatemalan student to attend NCS.
Nicky Falck (NCS 63)
Nicky Falck vividly remembers much from her first year at NCS. Coming from Guatemala, the “Country of Eternal Spring,” she especially remembers her first Adirondack winter at NCS.
“I had never seen snow. I was always cold,” she says. “We had no high-tech clothes in those days, we were running around in blue jeans. We had no winter boots. We put our galoshes over our shoes and if we played in the snow, we got wet and cold.”
Nicky was the first of eight Guatemalan students who attended North Country School in the 1960s. Since her time on campus, more than 40 children have followed in her footsteps as students at NCS and campers at Camp Treetops.
For Nicky, NCS ended up being a revelation. “I had never traveled outside of Guatemala before I came to NCS,” she says. “Every experience was new to me.”
During her time in the mountains, she learned a “deep respect and love for being outside.” Despite the lack of warm winter gear, Nicky has especially fond memories of her excursions into the frosted Adirondack wilderness.
“One of my best memories is of a winter overnight to the top of Cascade Mountain with two thin little
tents,” she says. “It was an adventure.” Afterward, the trip leader, Harry Eldridge, wrote Nicky a letter expressing his gratitude to her for joining the trip. “I had never gotten that kind of letter from an adult before,” she says. “The idea that he would write to me meant something.”
Just as they did for Ana Lucia, letters kept Nicky connected to home. In them, she detailed her love of milking cows during barn chores, the reading nest in the library (still a favorite of many children to this day), and, in
“What I gained at NCS became the strength I carry with me, grounding me to navigate the complexities of the world we live in today.” —Ana Lucia
Cottone
(NCS 84)
particular, her burgeoning talent for weaving on a loom.
“Getting close to looms, learning how to weave in the art room, and dying with onion skins most certainly influenced my career choice to work with Guatemalan textiles,” she says.
After NCS, Nicky eventually moved to London to apprentice with a conservator of museum textiles before returning to Guatemala to work with the indigenous population and their weaving. While she hasn’t met
Above: Ana Lucia as a student preparing for a soccer match at NCS. Right: Nicky in the ceramics studio as a student at NCS in the 1960s.
many of the students who followed her to NCS and Treetops from Guatemala over the years, she remains grateful that her experiences have had such a tremendous influence on each generation that has followed.
“I loved my time there and if I have any advice for the students today it’s to enjoy the work and take it seriously,” she says.
The opportunity for academics, creative exploration, and personal growth continue to be vital for each new generation of Guatemalan students who come to NCS.
Anna Klose & Rafa Castillo (NCS 25)
When Rafa Castillo first arrived on campus, he was apprehensive. But with each new experience came a new sense of confidence. From riding his mountain bike on trails around campus to becoming one of NCS’s passionate cricketers this fall, Rafa has grown eager to try new things during his time here.
For Anna, her year has been challenging but transformative, not the least of which because of the school’s no-cell phone policy. For both Rafa and her, it’s been a shift to not be hyper-connected to their friends and family back home in Guatemala.
“You learn to adapt,” Anna says of the lack of screens. Students phone home twice a week, and, just as in Nicky and Ana Lucia’s time, they can write letters home if they choose. These missives challenge students to dive deeper into the experiences they’re having here with their friends and families back home—a sense of connectedness that’s sorely missing in communications via screens. It’s a duality that forces not only Rafa and Anna, but all students at NCS and campers at Treetops, to live in the moment.
Rafa. The people he’s connected with here, especially his fellow Guatemalan students, have become that family. Anna agrees. “When I graduate and return to Guatemala, it will be hard not to see everyone here every day,” she says. Though she misses home and is looking forward to returning next year, she, too, has come to understand the importance of her time here—unknowingly heeding Nicky’s advice.
“It means a lot to people back home in Guatemala, or for other international students’ families back home, because it’s an opportunity that is really important and really special,” she says. “You need to learn to appreciate it and know that you're one of a few who have an opportunity to come here.”
Anna and Rafa both assert that the relationships they’ve developed with their classmates, houseparents, and teachers—thanks, in part, to this absence of screens—have transformed their experiences at NCS, too. Just as they did for Nicky, Ana Lucia, and so many others, NCS has become more than a place, but a home.
“I feel like home is wherever your family is,” says
For Ana Lucia, Friends’ Weekend brought her the gift of reconnecting with old friends, as well as the realization that “the spirit of NCS and Treetops was steady, vibrant, insightful, and alive.”
Whenever Anna and Rafa return, they’ll find that same spirit waiting for them—as well as a part of themselves that will always remain here.
Above: Rafa exploring his passion for music and the drums. Left: Anna enjoying weaving in the fiber arts studio.
Learning for Life Itself
At North Country School & Camp Treetops, children experience their education, apply new skills and knowledge, create with their hands, hearts, and minds, and revel in the simple joys of childhood.
For generations, this has been where children become their true, authentic selves.
Learn more about enrolling at North Country School or Camp Treetops, or share with a family whose child could benefit from our unique learning experience. northcountryschool.org • camptreetops.org • 518.523.9329
ON THE DAY JENNIFER CRISP handed Prince a Thanksgiving plate backstage at a concert in the 1970s, he was still on his way to becoming a global superstar. But Jennifer was simply being herself and doing what she does best—creating joy, connection, and community through food, one plate at a time.
PlateOne at a Time How Jennifer Crisp Nourishes Our Community
BY STANZI BLISS
“My mom, dad, grandmother, and grandfather were great chefs and I’ve been cooking since I was five. We grew up along the Chesapeake Bay. My dad would wake me up at four o'clock in the dark to go fishing in the mornings,” says Jennifer, reflecting on where her love for food and community stems from. “My mom made grand Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, and we lived in a diverse community where everyone came together over food. Food was at the center of everything.”
Today, members of our community—both children and adults alike—benefit from Jennifer’s warmth, grace, kindness, and wisdom in her role as a counselor at Camp Treetops.
These qualities stem from the magic of her earliest formative life experiences. They also are rooted in deep moments of adversity and resilience, including a near-fatal brush with cancer two decades ago. She emerged from this battle, which included a near-death experience, with a very specific bucket list. Item one on the list? Call her culinary idol, Edward Giobbi, author of Italian Family Cooking. She still speaks with him every Sunday.
There are countless other examples of how Jennifer has used the power and universality of food to connect with others. Many of these have occurred during her time as a career educator— her “calling,” she says—in Baltimore, where she still lives. During her time at the now-defunct New Era Academy in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill—what Jennifer says was once deemed the “most dangerous school in Baltimore”— she created a “gratitude garden” in response to a community tragedy.
When one of my sixth-grade students, Shazya, was killed in a car accident, the kids were heartbro-ken," Jennifer recalls. "I said, 'We need to heal,' and started a seed-to-table program with them. We created a garden and it became a space for everyone to come together."
For Jennifer, this garden wasn’t just about planting vegetables for
her students and community, but hope. The project even caught the attention of Alice Waters, renowned chef and founder of the Edible Schoolyard project, of which Camp and School are founding members.
Above: Jennifer with junior campers preparing "Six Nations Corn Fritters." Recipe on page opposite. Right: Junior camper Molly shows off her Gratitude Cookbook.
It’s a project that she has brought to Camp in the form of “Gratitude Cookbooks,” which she introduced in 2018, her very first summer here.
Jennifer first heard of Treetops while teaching at a charter school in Baltimore. One of her students had gone to Camp the previous summer, and the family suggested Jennifer look to the Adirondacks.
She did, quickly finding a home in the Teaching & Learning Kitchen (TLK), where she began planting seeds of hope and gratitude for our community.
“There was a lot going on in the world, and I wanted the kids to realize how lucky they are to be here,” she says. “It’s a project that combines creativity, gratitude, and everything special about this place.”
Every year, Jennifer creates a host of new recipes for the cookbooks—their titles a reflection of positive affirmations like “I am Vivid Raspberry Popsicles” and “I am Sustained Chive Pancakes”—before she painstakingly handwrites each into the books. From there, campers bring the recipes to life through illustrations spanning the literal representations of each recipe’s ingredients, but also their own interpretations of the qualities Jennifer hopes they can nurture within themselves—creativity, kindness, and above all, gratitude.
Before putting the finishing touches on their books, campers get to make each recipe inside with ingredients fresh from our farm and gardens. The books have become a staple junior campers now look forward to every year, and that they treasure for years to come. For Jennifer, she hopes the books impart messages of self-worthiness and valuable reminders the campers can carry with them for life.
"I realized that you're not here to make money or get fancy cars," Jennifer says, reflecting on how the cookbooks represent her life’s full-circle journey. "I write it in every book: you’re here to help each other.”
Though Jennifer calls herself an “accidental chef in love with life,” there’s nothing accidental about her impact. Our community is grateful for the way she nourishes us all—and how she challenges us to see every moment as an opportunity for connection and every day as a chance to create our own recipe for a life well-lived.
CHILDREN’S GARDEN
Six Nations Potato Corn Fritters
Recipe by Jennifer Crisp
Jennifer was inspired to make this recipe after bringing a group of campers on a visit to the Six Nations Iroquois Cultural Center in Onchiota, NY. The Cultural Center helps visitors better understand Native peoples and cultures, and centers the stories they share around the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, who inhabit the Adirondack North Country region to this day. After learning about the Haudenosaunee’s longtime relationship with the land and their use of corn, she adapted a family recipe to make these delicious potato corn fritters with a group of junior campers using jalapeños grown on our farm and locally grown corn.
Yields about 6-8 fritters
Ingredients
3 large baking potatoes (peeled and cut in quarters)
½ teaspoon salt (plus more for the mixture)
½ tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
½ teaspoon of oregano
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 onion, diced and sautéed in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until slightly golden
1 cup corn kernels
½ cup corn masa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Vegetable oil for frying Water
1. Place potatoes in water and add salt. Boil until soft and fork tender. Mash potatoes with a fork or potato masher. Add sautéed onions, spices, corn, and salt to taste. Mix well.
2. Mix the masa corn flour with the baking powder and add it to the potato corn mixture, sprinkling about 3–5 tablespoons of water or more to create a firm mix.
3. Set dough aside to marinate for about 10 minutes.
4. Take about 3–4 tablespoons of dough and form patties. Place on a cookie sheet spread with more masa corn flour. When all the dough is formed into patties, refrigerate for an hour (can also be left overnight in the refrigerator).
5. When you are ready to cook, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet.
6. When the oil is hot, add about four of the fritters and cook on each side 3–5 minutes until wellbrowned and crispy on each side.
7. Add more oil to the hot skillet and cook the rest of the fritters.
8. Garnish with sprigs of cilantro or your favorite herb. Enjoy!
Long before any of us were born, a farm was carved from the surrounding wilderness. Years later this effort was enhanced by the love and hard work of Helen and Doug Haskell, who created a camp here that included the wilderness and the farm. This was followed by the vision of Walter and Leo Clark, who founded a school whose philosophy and way of life grew directly out of the camp, the farm, and the wilderness. Not one of these four elements gave way to the other, but each grew naturally and organically out of the other. And each continues to nurture the year-round work and play of the children and adults. The adults, farm, and mountains which are so much a part of this place provide fertile soil in which the roots of childhood can sink deep and draw strength.
—Jeff Moredock (NCS Director of School 79–82) as written in the 1979 and 1982 issues of Organic Roots. Aerial image taken circa 1940s.
Mountain Zen in the Mountain Den
The “Mountain Den”—a new one-bedroom apartment located in the basement of Mountain House—has become more than just a haven for its first resident, NCS faculty member Sierra Grennan. For her, it’s a meaningful example of how we’re working to support the people who make the enduring experiences we provide our children possible.
“We’ve always been a place where we make it work,” Sierra noted. “We’re trying to attract more talented people and so creating homes that are meant to be a home is an important piece of being able to do that.”
The Mountain Den is our first faculty housing addition to campus since 2010. In that time, as our community has grown, we’ve increasingly relied on off-campus rentals in surrounding communities. But an acute housing shortage plaguing the region has left those rentals scarce and more expensive.
It’s just one reason why increasing our on-campus housing stock is helping to realize the work of Growing Evergreen Modernized, updated spaces will not only help to retain current members of our community, but attract talented new faculty and staff. Additional housing will also enable us to better distribute houseparenting duties, which can create space for more time off and, ultimately, create a better overall work-life balance for our community members.
For Sierra, now in her fifteenth year at NCS, the Mountain Den has helped provide her with her own sense of Zen. “Having a nice space to decompress in makes you feel a bigger sense of comfort when you go home at the end of the day,” Sierra said. “This space feels like it’s a space that was meant to be a home.”
PURPOSE PEOPLE
Inspiring Others, Creating Change
When Ashley Waldorf went on the job market last year, she knew exactly what she was looking for—and she found it here. “There are very few places in the world that practice place-based experiential education and do it really, really well,” said Ashley, who became director of school at NCS this summer.
But while Ashley found us, she knows that too many people aren’t aware of NCS. And at a time when our communities need the kind of empathetic do-ers that our students become, being a best-kept secret isn’t good for anybody.
That’s why the third prong of Growing Evergreen specifically asks: How can we introduce as many people as possible to the North Country School & Camp Treetops experience?
This fall, for example, a group of ninth graders from Josh Vetter’s environmental science class shared our learn-from-the-land philosophy at the The Wild Center’s Adirondack Youth Climate Summit in Tupper Lake, an annual two-day conference at which high schoolers and educators from the Champlain-Adirondack region explore climate impacts, solutions, and actions with each other.
At the event, our students shared information with over 160 people about NCS’s longtime commitment to sustainability, especially in our robust farm and garden program and its rich composting efforts. (In fact, The Wild Center’s own rotating drum composter originated from a design refined here by NCS’s former Director of Facilities & Sustainability, John Culpepper.)
That kind of message will have long legs. “When I think about the impact we can have, I think about how we can share our message and what we’re doing with other schools, so they can serve their students in the ways we do,” Ashley said. “Once people understand how they can do this in their own contexts, they can plug them in anywhere— whether that’s Missouri or Arkansas or Washington or Alaska or another country.”
PROGRAM
Staying on Trail, Safely
At North Country School & Camp Treetops, we teach our students from the start: to reach the summit, use your compass. Claire Carson and Scott Zanar, faculty members and co-coordinators of the NCS outdoor program, exemplify how we’re doing just that to keep our signature program in the outdoors on the right path forward.
Their ongoing work follows a recent study and evaluation of our year-round outdoor program across Camp and School. Based on the audit’s recommendations, Scott, Claire, and others have begun to make subtle but important course corrections, while also reaffirming our commitment to safety, staff training, and the camper and student experience. It’s all an important part of Growing Evergreen’s commitment to strengthen our proven experiential learning model. Thanks to Claire and Scott’s work, this effort has so far yielded these positive shifts in the NCS outdoor program:
Leveled trips: Outdoor trips are now assigned a “trip level” from 1-3. To ensure they’re ready for more challenging treks, students must complete a certain number of trips at each level before advancing.
At its core, the ongoing work of Growing Evergreen our strategic plan, is about creating positive change for the future of Camp and School. It calls on us to strengthen our programs, reaffirm and deepen our commitment to our people, and broaden our purpose by sharing and collaborating with like-minded partners around the corner and around the globe. But none of this is possible without simultaneously investing in our place.
We’re excited to share updates on the ongoing work and progress we’ve made with Growing Evergreen so far. These examples showcase how we’ve meshed our commitments to program, people, and purpose with our long-term plan for campus. Some of these improvements are still in the works; others are already underway. All have been considered thoughtfully, strategically, and, of course, whimsically. In this way, we will pay homage to our past while also setting the stage for today’s children and the generations that will follow them in the future.
Interested in joining us in this work? Learn more and find out how to get involved at growingevergreen.org—and stay tuned for more updates about progress being made at Camp Treetops in the summer 2025 issue of Organic Roots.
Risk management: Claire and Scott have adopted the NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) risk management framework to ensure we’re prepared for anything in the wild.
Staff training: We’re increasing access to Leave No Trace instructor courses, Wilderness First Aid/Responder certification, avalanche rescue training, lifeguarding, and more.
Learning Outdoors Skills Together (LOST): This new class for lower school students teaches fundamental outdoor skills and knowledge.
These improvements are already paying off. During the 2023-2024 academic year, for example, students hiked, biked, cross-country skied, and canoed more than 5,000 miles—the most “Mountain Cake Miles” they’ve racked up in 10 years.
“To me that means more students are going on trips more often,” Scott said. And that means we’ll continue to foster an appreciation for the outdoors in our children, a tradition that has given generations of students and campers the skills and knowledge to recreate outside safely and responsibly—and with the confidence that they can do hard things, both on the trail and off.
Our children and community members need a mountain home where they can thrive in updated, welcoming spaces. They need a campus that provides the best possible opportunities and experiences to prepare for today’s world while also maintaining the essence of NCS and Treetops—a place that preserves its heartwood in a way that feels like the home our alumni came to know and cherish during their time here. This preview of forthcoming campus improvements and enhancements provides a glimpse of what’s to come.
We’ve established a Place Committee to keep these campus improvement projects moving forward over the next few years. This group brings a variety of perspectives to the table, and we are grateful for their time, energy, and enthusiasm.
Peter Brest, Trustee 06–present, CTT 56–62, parent 93–06
Kevin Williams, NCS 68–73, Balanced Rocks Circle Member
Adam Yarinsky, CTT parent 08–14
North Country School students and faculty member
Larry Robjent will create a new post-and-beam cabin to replace Meadow Lean-To, as they did with Culpepper Cabin. Slated to be ready for use next summer, it will house up to four Treetops counselors. Larry and NCS students will work to create even more new cabins over the coming years for Junior and Senior Camps.
New one- and three-bedroom apartment additions on some of the Hill Houses will provide more on-campus faculty housing to diversify the types of apartments we currently offer. This will not only help to make living on campus more attractive for individuals and families, but help to facilitate a better work-life balance for existing faculty and staff.
Construction of a new road began this fall, which will span from behind the WallyPAC to the Hill Houses. This will be followed with a complete transformation of Bramwell Run—a change that will better unite Junior Camp while creating a walking campus that will be increasingly car free.
Replacing the space occupied by Woods House will be three new interconnected buildings that will adjoin the WallyPAC. One will contain new environmental science classrooms and labs; another, new studio arts spaces; and the third, a centralized Hike House and outdoor leadership hub for both Camp and School.
This spring, we’ll lift Woods House off its foundation, put it on rollers, and ease it roughly 1,000 feet to its new location on Clark Field. Once the move is complete, two new adjoining faculty apartments will be added—part of our plan to increase our on-campus housing stock.
What’s on the horizon
The work of Growing Evergreen continues as we uphold our commitments to our program, people, purpose, and place. These efforts are already underway or about to begin:
• An evaluation of our Farm & Garden program that will help maximize all the benefits a working farm can deliver to our students and campers.
• Continued work to improve access to oncampus housing for Camp and School. This includes building new housing and updating existing residential spaces for our School faculty and Camp counselors.
• Lifting pay and benefits to ensure we provide a sustainable career for our faculty and staff and necessary income for our counselors, with particular attention paid on compensating our people equitably.
• Allocating greater funding toward professional development for our faculty, counselors, and staff, as well as increased opportunities for continued learning and education.
• Reimagining a shared campus Hike House to provide trip planning, debrief and storage space for both Camp and School.
Learn more and find out how to get involved in this exciting work at growingevergreen.org.
The Junior Camp Council Rock washhouse will be updated to increase lighting, create additional storage space, and provide for a generally improved experience for our campers and counselors.
We’re doubling the size of our Senior Camp Nurses’ Station to provide improved accommodations to campers in need of medical attention and care.
*Please note: Drawings are intended to be representative of forthcoming additions and changes to campus. They are not to scale and are artistic in their representation.
A brand new Woods House as seen in the December 1942 issue of Architectural Record shortly after being built.
ImpactCommunity Report 2023 2024
Dear Friends,
I am delighted to share with you our annual Community Impact Report.
Here at Camp and School, we have always believed in the power of learning, the value of curiosity and hard work, and the responsible stewardship of the environment to create a positive and lasting impact. Whether through hands-on learning on our farm or in our art spaces, or the immersive experience of a day in the Adirondack wilderness, we remain committed to fostering resilience, compassion, and a sense of wonder in the young people entrusted to our care.
This report not only highlights the achievements of the past year, but also reflects our deep commitment to the values that guide us. Within its pages, you will find financial information, charts, and numbers. But you’ll also find stories of powerful and personal acts of philanthropy, and how the generosity of our supporters has enabled us to continue growing as a place for connected, compassionate learning.
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each of you—our parents, alumni, staff, donors, and friends—for your unwavering support and belief in what happens here. Your dedication ensures that we can continue to provide an inclusive, enriching, and life-changing experience for every student and camper who arrives on our campus.
I invite you to celebrate the impact we have made together. I hope it fills you with pride and inspires you to remain engaged with our wonderful community, especially as we continue to implement and invest in the priorities of our strategic plan, Growing Evergreen. We are making a difference, and I am confident that with your continued support, we will achieve even greater things in the year ahead.
With appreciation,
Barkley Stuart Chair, Board of Trustees
CTT 69–72, parent 03–07, NCS parent 09–11, Balanced Rocks Circle member
2023–2024 Fundraising Highlights
More than 985 individuals, families, foundations, and businesses made a gift to the Annual Fund. Our largest philanthropic effort every year, the Annual Fund supports need-based financial aid, provides resources for training and development opportunities for our staff, helps fuel our programs, and allows us to invest in our infrastructure.
In November 2023, 153 donors made a gift to our Giving Tuesday campaign, Hatching Generosity. For the fourth year in a row, we donated a dozen of our farm eggs to our local food pantry for every gift made on that day.
You really showed up for Community Giving Week in March 2024. We asked you to help Fill the “Flower Garden,” and we were overwhelmed by your generosity. More than 310 donors made a gift and helped us unlock a $50,000 challenge gift.
We added two members to the Balanced Rocks Circle, our legacy giving society. Two bequests were realized from generous and longtime community members who made provisions to support Camp and School through their estate plans.
Community members and businesses made several in-kind donations, including a horse and some lambs, tools, and equipment for the barnyard, and outdoor gear for our Access Wild Places program, as well as the gift of time and knowledge.
ENDOWMENT BY YEAR (IN MILLIONS)
The North Country School & Camp Treetops endowment is an important source of financial aid and provides enduring support for all program areas.
North Country School & Camp Treetops is incorporated as a
under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES AS OF AUGUST 3 1, 2024
Barkley Stuart Chair
Mara Frankel Wallace Vice-Chair
Peter Brest
Secretary
Emanuel Weintraub Treasurer
Lisa Beck
Ed Biddle
Ami Brabson
Barry Breeman
Thatcher Brown
Ahrielle Cook
Nick Hewitt
Dorsey Barnett Horowitz
Tori Hunt
Carla von Trapp Hunter
Greg Marchildon
Stefan Nowicki
Robert Parker
Pamela Rosenthal
Allyson Shames
David Stewart
Bill Waddington
Tim Wennrich
Will Whitney
Yuemei (Gisele) Zhang
HONORARY TRUSTEES
Joan Davidson*
Colin Tait*
Richard Wilde*
*=deceased
TRUSTEES EMERITI
J. Matthew Davidson
David Kenney
Rose Kean Lansbury
Sandra Gray Nowicki
Sumner Parker
127 first-time donors
436 people gave $100 or less
By the Numbers
In 2023–24, 1,021 donors and community members like you gave generously to support our work. Thank you for investing in our students and campers through a philanthropic gift.
To see a complete list of donors, please visit camptreetops.org/give-back/donor-list or northcountryschool.org/giving/donor-list.
31 endowment gifts
Donations came from
39 states and 13 countries
366 donors who have given 5+ years
63 gifts in memory of loved ones
2 legacy gifts realized
13 gifts matched by companies or businesses
57 gifts in honor of others
6 in-kind gifts
A Lasting Impact, A First Gift
Heather Snowden Julian NCS 87–89
My mom and I said “yes” to NCS the same day we visited. The winding wooden staircase, the slide in the Main Building, the farm animals, cubbies, and barn boots all excited me, and the environment, staff, and students all seemed pleasant, warm, and happy. I loved animals and the outdoors and was not doing so well academically at the competitive girls school I was attending in Providence, RI. I remember my first science class with ”Hock.“ He said it was ok to doodle in our notebooks as he understood there were different ways to absorb information. I was hooked immediately!
I built many of my foundational beliefs here. I learned to wake up early, participate in challenging and rewarding work, help others, and respect Mother Nature and each other. I learned the value of telling the truth and sticking through tough times to get to the other side. I enjoyed participating in four-day hikes and overnight horseback riding trips, barn chores, kitchen duty, and running charades. NCS left a lasting impact on my heart and soul and I talk about it often. Recently, an instructor in a yoga/mindfulness class asked us to share a quiet, peaceful place. I talked about standing within the pine trees near the climbing walls, feeling and hearing the wind, and recognizing the crunch of pine needles under my feet. This innocence, contentment, and peace and love is what I remember from NCS.
I gave to NCS for the first time this year in thanks for the impact the school has had on myself, my sister, and our family. Although my sister and I did not attend together, as we are seven years apart, I like to think that our bond as sisters came to be even stronger because we both experienced the education and experience of NCS. The school, the camp, and all it has to offer will undeniably leave a lasting effect on whoever has the opportunity to be a part of it.
Part of a Family
Tim and Katie Coff NCS parents 23–present
Our family chose NCS because we wanted our daughter Mary to feel like part of a family, even if she was hundreds of miles from ours. At NCS students don't live in dorms. They live in houses. Their friends and teachers become their school family. We still wanted Mary to learn, but be able to be a kid. She’s in eighth grade this year, and her friends have reading contests, run together, and make popcorn, rather than scroll their screens while sitting in the same room. Kids get to be kids for a limited time. Why not protect that?
One of NCS’s strengths is the connection made between the food we grow and the food we eat. Those lessons are taught daily, and create an awareness of how much work it takes and how much we take for granted. To see beautiful flowers growing and then arrange them for your house, to collect eggs from chickens, or realize how much sap it takes to make a jug of maple syrup, or everything that goes into raising, caring for, and harvesting your Thanksgiving turkey—it's a little like knowing how to change a tire. Some things in life are more meaningful if you know how much work is involved.
Since Mary started NCS, she has become remarkably empathetic. She has been candid about realizing how much we do as parents, even though we are apart for school. She has also found her biggest passion in life so far, darkroom photography. It’s a love that has come from a realization of how much it takes to create a beautiful picture. She's also found a love of theater and stagecraft thanks to the incredible NCS arts team.
Our family has chosen to give both financially and the gift of time. NCS faculty are making a sacrifice to educate these kids and help them become well-rounded adults. Our financial contributions support their livelihood. In addition to that, we have supported the NCS Family Council with time and energy around social gatherings for both day and boarding families, and yearlong faculty appreciation events. They aren't shy about telling you how much it means! NCS’s dean of students recently said the very best part of teacher appreciation week was the pile of notes from students he received. Knowing that the NCS Family Council made that possible was incredibly fulfilling.
The North Country School & Camp Treetops endowment is one of our greatest strengths. It provides financial resiliency and a solid foundation for the future.
We are grateful to the individuals and families who have made the extraordinary commitment of establishing named endowments. Thank you, as well, to those who have contributed to those endowments. These funds honor a friend or family member’s legacy in a meaningful fashion while benefiting North Country School & Camp Treetops in perpetuity.
If you have questions about a current fund or would like to discuss establishing a new fund, please contact Christie Borden, director of advancement, at 518.837.5402 or cborden@ncstreetops.org.
Milton and Liesa Allen Fund For faculty salaries
Neal W. Andrews Fund For CTT scholarships for children for whom English is a second language
David and Peggy Bailey Fund In honor of the founders of Woodstock Country School
Beck Seider Family Fund For CTT scholarships
Beck Seider Family
Beyond the Mountains Fund For faculty development
Bob Bliss Fund For waterfront improvements
Bramwell Family Fund For NCS & CTT
Mildred Brooks Nature Program Fund For CTT salaries
Camp Treetops Centennial Endowment For CTT scholarships
Leo and Walter Clark Fund For NCS & CTT
Meimei Ma ‘70
Tim Mabee
Brion Crowell Fund For NCS & CTT
Kitty and Carl (C.D.) Dennett Scholarship Fund For NCS scholarships
Dumont Scholarship Fund For CTT scholarships
David and Melanie Dumont
Mark Dumont and Lynn Mehlman Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc.
Harry K. Eldridge Scholarship Fund For NCS scholarships
Jonathan Daunt
Tim Mabee
James R. Pugh
Feather Foundation Fund For gardens and greenhouse
Eric Feldsberg Memorial Scholarship Fund For CTT scholarships
Garden Fund For program enhancement
General Endowment Fund
Estate of Robert A. Heays
Bob and Margaret Parker
Reginald Gilliam Mountaineering Leadership and Scholarship Fund For mountaineering program support and CTT scholarships
David Carter
Arleen Gilliam
James R. Pugh
Govan Family Fund For CTT scholarships
Tsu Hansen Fund For NCS & CTT Meimei Ma ‘70
Harlan Family Fund For NCS & CTT
Elizabeth Harlan
Mr. Josh D. Harlan and Victoria Harlan
Doug Haskell Fund For CTT scholarships
Helen Haskell Fund For NCS & CTT
David Hochschartner and Selden West Fund For NCS & CTT scholarships and professional development
David Hochschartner and Selden West
Kaye Clark Hoins Fund For NCS & CTT
Tim Mabee
Lindsay Johnson Fund For NCS scholarships
The J.M. Kaplan Family Maintenance Fund
In honor of Matt Davidson for facilities and maintenance
Matthew and Amy Davidson
The J.M Kaplan Fund, Inc.
Adlin and Sherman Loud Scholarship Fund For NCS scholarships
Edward and Libby Faron Mell
Anne Martindell Gardening Fund Restricted endowment
The Master Teacher Fund For faculty salaries
Peter W. Merle-Smith Fund For CTT scholarships
Kate C. Moore Fund For CTT scholarships
Cornelia and Joseph Tierney
Christopher Nicholson Memorial Fund For NCS scholarships
Diana E. Oehrli Fund For CTT scholarships
Okin Fund For maintenance on capital improvements
Ken Okin
Olmstead Fund For NCS & CTT
Arthur W. Parker Fund For NCS & CTT
Jonathan Daunt
Francie Parker ‘82
Susan Powell NCS 51 Fund For NCS & CTT
Sally Powell Culverwell
Prince/de Ramel Charitable Trusts Fund For faculty salaries
Joyce Pearson Prock Fund For NCS & CTT
The Rosenthal Wertheimer Family Fund For NCS & CTT Ess-a-Bagel Friends at OME
Leslie I. Gold, PhD
Drs. Pamela Rosenthal and Sam Wertheimer
Marjorie P. Rosenthal
Jocelyn Simon
Richard Rockefeller Fresh Start Scholarship Fund For NCS & CTT scholarships
Cheryl “Rusty” Rolland Fund For the performing arts
Smith Family Foundation Fund For NCS scholarships
Sylvia Pool Sperling Animal Husbandry and Barn Fund Restricted endowment
Spiegelberg Fund For scholarships
David A. Stein NCS 52 and Allison
Stein Robbins NCS 74 Fund For riding program, farm, and NCS scholarships
Elizabeth Claire Stein Scholarship Fund For CTT scholarships
Strong Roots, High Peaks Faculty Support Fund
Strong Roots, High Peaks Greening and Renewal Fund
Strong Roots, High Peaks Scholarship Fund For NCS & CTT scholarships
Margaret and Randolph Thrower Fund For greening and renewal
Frank H. Wallace Fund For faculty enrichment
Jerome P. Webster III Fund For NCS & CTT
Jonathan Daunt
Herbert and Maria West Fund For NCS intern salaries
David Hochschartner and Selden West
Whit Whitcomb Teacher Opportunity Fund For faculty development
Winter’s Children Fund For NCS scholarships
John O. Zimmerman Fund For NCS & CTT
Connecting Threads, Weaving Community
Anthony Fernandez
CTT 05–10, staff 14–15, NCS 06–10
What are the images that stay with me from my time at NCS and Treetops? There are too many to count—but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, they’re all connected.
Raising chickens during the summer, harvesting them during the fall, and eating them during the winter. Listening to Larry share the story of the Little Red Hen at the beginning of the school year, as he used this cautionary tale about working together as a metaphor for the work we’d need to put in to prepare the NCS Ski Hill for the winter ahead. And then watching the grass grow back again in the spring, knowing full well that in a few weeks time I would be hiking through it, shoulder high, on my way to the start of Camp on an overnight trip.
During the school year, I remember going from history or math class on the second floor of the West End of the Main Building, taking one of the slides down to my next class in the art studios. During the summer, I recall running to my tent to change into board shorts and then heading back across the field, over the boardwalk, and down the hill—all as guitars were strummed, lessons were shared, and whimsy was had, my summer background noise.
Attending both School and Camp afforded me a unique opportunity to see and be part of the cyclical nature of this place through these and other moments. Seeing the full scope of our community allowed me to make deep connections with the people, our campus, and our ethos.
School and Camp showed me that one’s actions have the power to reverberate within a community and can leave lasting impacts, sometimes more than we even know. Alone, my experiences as a camper and student are just snippets; combined with the memories of others, they form a lasting story about the power of shared experience. This is the beauty of School and Camp.
I give back to NCS and Treetops so that others can be given the opportunity to make these same connections. To take the lessons learned during an Earth Science science unit about helical flow in water and observe the same patterns in yarn during class in the Craft Shop on the Lake Hill. Making these connections helps one realize the significance of their own intrinsic thread in the fabric that makes life meaningful. This is the reason I continue to give and stay connected with our community.
Above: Anthony during his time at NCS and CTT.
Paying it Forward
Kyra Tirana Barry CTT 76–78
As a camper, I loved hiking and riding. I remember hiking with Jim Pugh (CTT 62, 64, staff 69–73, 75–81) encouraging and guiding us during outings in the Adirondack High Peaks. I always enjoyed hiking with him.
I am a self-proclaimed “barn rat” and “horse girl.” I loved taking the horses to Clifford’s. One year, I signed up for hoof cleaning over and over as my work job. I simply loved being in the barn. But I also loved the garden and the process of cultivating the food we ate. That, in particular, has stayed with me over the years and fostered my interest in improving school food, especially for children and families living in under-resourced communities.
I’m writing this from Madagascar, where I drove through a parched landscape to hike up to the Lost Rainforest. I’m working with Species Unite, a nonprofit media network that seeks to reduce animal suffering and move people away from animal products. While here, I’m camping with Patricia Wright, a MacArthur Grant-winning anthropologist at the research center she established, Centre ValBio.
The work I do today is wrapped up in everything I love and understand about nature, attributes that stem from my days at Treetops. For a city kid and daughter of two urbanites, Treetops gave my sister and me a lifelong love of the outdoors. I give each year to Treetops to pay it forward as those before me did. So much of what I value comes from what I learned those three summers. It’s the least I can do.
We are grateful to the community members who have told us their intentions to make a planned gift to North Country School & Camp Treetops, becoming members of the Balanced Rocks Circle.
Planned giving is a way for forward-thinking donors to make meaningful legacy gifts that extend their philanthropic influence beyond their lifetimes—generosity that helps ensure the long-term financial health of Camp and School.
This list is current as of August 31, 2024. If NCS and Treetops are included in your estate plans and your name is not listed here, or if you would like more information about legacy giving, please contact Christie Borden at 518.837.5402 or cborden@ncstreetops.org.
Anonymous (9)
Dennis Aftergut
Jenny Ewing Allen
Neal W. Andrews*
Judith Bardacke*
Pam and Barry Breeman
Peter Brest
Cali Brooks and Galen Crane
Margaret and Mitchel Brown
Alice Gresham Bullock
David Carter
Walter E. Clark*
Dr. Georgia Close and Dr. Benjamin Spencer
John Byrne Cooke*
Sally Powell Culverwell, NCS 51
Dudley H. Cunningham
Samuel and Laurie Cushman
Amy and Matthew Davidson
Sally M. Dennett, NCS 39*
Claire Douglas*
Veronica N. Dunlap
Elizabeth Eldridge*
Brian Eng and Renee Bourgeois
Liz Eng and Ben Botts
Ann and Lee Farnham
Katharine Knight Flebotte
Don Gallo, NCS 73
George M. Galpin
Henry Gardiner*
Suzanne Glickman
Reggie Govan
Gay Booth Greenleaf
Lisa Gulotta
Elizabeth Harlan
Laura Thrower Harris
Bob Heays*
Nick and Ruth Hewitt
Catherine (Cathy Fetz) High
David Hochschartner and Selden West
Matthew P. Hoffman
Matha C. Howell and Edward B. Whitney
Amy and John Isaacs
Elsbeth S. Johnson
Jan Johnson
Ralph Jones
Liza Ketchum
Philip Kneisl, NCS 75
Meredith Kovach and Sam Eaton
Eric and Simone Lang*
Monika* and Steven Lang, NCS 53
Rose K. Lansbury
Lorna Livingston, NCS 50
Susan Localio
Bill and Jan Localio
Roger* and Pat Loud
Elizabeth Macken, CTT 75–77, T TW 78, 79
Anne Martindell*
Dwight N. Mason
Lauren McCarty
Mike McCrary, NCS 50*
Mimi B. Murray-Levitt, NCS 57
Bill Newman
S. Celeste Nossiter
Sandy Gray Nowicki, NCS 57
Stefan Nowicki
JoAnne Olmsted*
Brian Orter
Elizabeth Packard
Meredith M. Prime
Don Rand*
Mr. & Mrs. James Rea Jr.*
Susan Read, NCS 70, CTT parent 04–05
Jane Crowell Rieffel*
Cheryl “Rusty” Schick Rolland*
Maggie Rosenbloom
Matt Salinger
James D. (“Jim”) Seymour
Kate Shepherd
Marcia Siegal*
Eva B. Singer, NCS 09
Mike Smith
David Stein*
Helen Stein
Barkley Stuart and Ann Glazer
Hugh Thacher*
Jessica Tuck
Matthew and Courtney Tuck
Mary Loeb Umlauf*
Ms. Laura Walker
Frank Wallace
Mara Frankel Wallace and Rick Wallace
Louise Walsh and Charles Rupp
Jerome P. Webster
Janet L. Wentworth (Dunn), NCS 68*
Jill Werfel
Christopher Werler, NCS 84
Francis Whitcomb*
Hilary Scott Wilkinson
Kevin Williams, NCS 73
Susan Welch Williams, NCS 54
John O. Zimmerman*
* = deceased
Jill Werfel
CTT 74–80, staff 86–88, 24–present, parent 05–07, Balanced Rocks Circle member
I arrived at CTT as an eight-year-old in 1974. My parents tell the story about leaving me at Camp, handin-hand with a counselor in the garden, as I walked away from them and never looked back. I lived in Woods House that year, and remember Susie Localio's nightly stories.
The list of influential counselors is long for me! Susie and Billy Localio, Dottie Sue and Susanna Meade, Dale Console, Dudley Cunningham. Then, in Senior Camp, Dot Higgin and Maria Basescu, with whom I’m still friends. I’m babysitting her dog right now!
I also fell in love with the horses and the barn. I have vivid memories of being at Clifford’s, galloping through the Lacey trails and across the fields, hanging on to Declaration's mane for dear life. And hours in the ring riding Buttercrunch, trying to subtly communicate with him
As a junior camper I was assigned to Ginger, who was for some reason quarantined across the road with another horse, Kit, who happened to be my sister Beth's for the week. During barn chores we would head across to the small red barn and feed, muck, and groom Ginger and Kit together. We'd see each other at juice and crackers almost every day, but having that extra time with my beloved older sister was so special.
I've been back over the years in different capacities, and the memories all fold together into a feeling of home. As a counselor in the 80s, I learned how to create for others the magic I experienced as a child. Later, I returned for numerous Friends’ Weekends, seeing old friends and making new ones. And this summer I had the opportunity to come back as riding staff for Junior Camp, once again bonding with campers as they absorbed the quiet lessons of horses and community, and watching as they developed friendships and confidence.
I'm older and perhaps not as strong in the saddle, but the feeling of community remains and I love being a part of it. I rediscovered my ability to lead and teach, and to impart my years of experience in horsemanship and community to the next generation.
Treetops is a priority of mine. I give to the Annual Fund every year, and my commitment to the Balanced Rock Circle, earmarking a percentage of my estate to go toward the Treetops scholarship fund, makes sense to me. The chance to change a child’s life by allowing them to go to Camp is an amazing opportunity. It’s also an easy thing to do, and I’m glad to know it will have ripples beyond my lifetime.
Jill at Camp in 1977 with fellow campers (above middle row, second from left) and as a counselor today (right) in the riding ring.
SHARING THE BOUNTY
Our daily routines at North Country School & Camp Treetops reflect the people we aspire to be. We care for the earth by caring for our farm. We challenge ourselves to do hard things, in the woods, in class, and in the studio. We foster compassion and understanding by walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. And through joy and adversity, we strengthen our community and ourselves.
These are unique values. To measure how well we live them, we use benchmarks that are also unique: They reflect what it means to live a life that’s kinder and simpler, rather than simply acquiring more. These stories show these benchmarks in action.
Showing Up for Community
Our students showed up for former NCS teacher and mentor Melissa Orzechowski, who was severely injured in an ice climbing accident in spring 2024. The incident was fatal for her friend and climbing partner Robbi Ann Mecus, a forest ranger and beloved member of the Adirondack LGBTQIA+ community. NCS ninth graders rallied to support Melissa, organizing a carwash to raise money for her medical care. They raised $220 for Melissa, who says she was “blown away” by their support.
“To be so held by a community that I wasn’t present in felt really special,” said Melissa, who is still recovering but plans to once again help organize Queer Ice Fest, an LGBTQIA+-centered ice climbing festival in Keene. We’re looking forward to welcoming festival participants to campus this winter for a film screening in the WallyPAC.
Landing New Perspectives
DJ White from Kawehno:ké, Akwesasne, joined us this fall for a land acknowledgement ceremony that got everyone on campus up and dancing—and thinking. DJ is a cultural educator of the Kanienkehaka Mohawk Nation under the Confederacy of the Six Nations in the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe and the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. During his visit, he named our responsibility to the land while calling on us to respect those who have cared for it before us, and touched on the historical and often difficult context of land ownership.
For our students and community, DJ’s words brought a valuable perspective to our presence on this special land. We’ve long been committed to this place; the ceremony offered a chance to honor and express gratitude for those who did so long before us and continue to do so to this day.
Gold-Medal Creativity
Our fifth and sixth graders had the opportunity to contribute to an Olympic-sized community art project this fall, as more than 300 students from schools across the Adirondacks created a mosaic mural to greet bobsledders and spectators at the finish area of the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Bobsled Run in Lake Placid.
Andrew, an NCS faculty member and art teacher, encouraged his Studio Arts students to think about the experience of speeding downhill and through tunnels on a sled and think of ways to mimic that feeling through color and shapes in their collages. Their red, white, and blue pieces will be pieced together with that of other participating students to create a 10x16-foot banner at the finish area, celebrating and inspiring the world-class athletes who compete there.
Campers Have Paw-sitive Impacts
Community Mondays are an enduring part of each camper's experience, when they engage in projects that serve our community, like picking potato bugs or clearing brush around campus. Campers also enjoy simpler, meatless meals sourced primarily from our farm, or "twice-asnice" leftovers, which are environmentally conscious and cost-saving. The funds saved from these mindful meals, known as "FUNd lunch," are donated to an organization chosen by campers at the end of the summer, with past donations supporting environmental, social, and wildlife organizations worldwide and locally.
This year, campers directed a $1,000 gift to the North Country SPCA (NCSPCA), which provides refuge for dogs and cats in need in the Adirondacks. Margie Reuther, chair of the NCSPCA Board of Directors, said the shelter was honored to be chosen. “The campers are learning important lessons about food choices and growing their own food,” she said. “The realization that money saved can help a local nonprofit in need is powerful. The cats and dogs send thank you woofs and meows from Elizabethtown to Lake Placid!"
“Everyone is so appreciative of the eggs, said Linda Young, director of the Lake Placid Ecumenical Food Pantry. “It ensures protein is available for a lot of people. We’re so thankful to get them.”
Food for Thoughtfulness
Our farm and garden is the living heart of campus: every year, it helps feed hundreds of students, campers, faculty, staff, and guests, three meals a day. (Astonishingly, our food waste amounts to almost nothing thanks to our well-established composting program.) That bounty isn’t just for campus—we share our farmfresh harvest with others as often as possible. This year, our farm and garden produced a surplus we provided to area organizations and food pantries, including Craigardan’s Free Food Fridge in Elizabethtown and the Ecumenical Food Pantry in Lake Placid.
• 153 dozen eggs
• 56 lbs summer squash
• 36 bunches of kale
• 30 bouquets of flowers
• 26 bunches of scallions
A
TIME
TO
COME
TOGETHER FOR NORTH COUNTRY SCHOOL & CAMP TREETOPS
Our fifth annual Community Giving Week is this coming up and we need your help! This week of giving has a lasting impact on students, campers, and staff. There are many ways you can participate to ensure this vital support for our community continues.
Make a gift
Spread the Word
Your contribution supports our Annual Fund and has an immediate impact on the camper and student experience. Every gift counts and helps us take advantage of a generous $50,000 challenge gift for even bigger impact! Reconnect
Share Community Giving Week with your School and Camp friends! Tell your classmates, tentmates, and Camp and School communities why you're giving back, and ask us for ideas about how you can reach out.
We love to hear about the experiences you or your child had at Camp and School. Share your favorite memories and stories with us and why they're important to you!
Contributions toward Community Giving Week make a difference to our students, campers, and staff year-round—your generosity is key to our success! Be on the lookout for more information soon.
Questions? Please reach out to Emily Eisman, associate director of advancement, at eeisman@ncstreetops.org or 518.523.9329.
Give a gift to the Annual Fund The Annual Fund supports all that is vital to the Camp and School experience. MAKE A GIFT TODAY: camptreetops.org/giving northcountryschool.org/giving Contact Emily Eisman, associate director of advancement, at eeisman@ncstreetops.org or 518.523.9329 x5450.
