The women who make up the Head Staff every summer are a crucial part of our leadership team. They are responsible for overseeing all of the activities here at Heart, coming up with ways to make them new and exciting, helping to carry out evening programs, and ensuring that everything at camp runs smooth and is WAY fun! I am very excited to announce the 2013 Head Staff:
Assistant Program Director – Julianna Bingaman
Head O’ Art – Aileen Glaeser
Head O’ Field Sports – Courtney Carrick
Head O’ Horseback – Alissa Stroud
Head O’ Waterfront – Hannah Kearney
Read below for more information about the 2013 Head Staff.
Our Assistant Program director this year is Julianna Bingaman. This is her third year at the Heart O’ the Hills. She was a counselor in 2011 and was Head O’ Waterfront in 2012. Because of her amazing leadership skills, great communication skills, and wonderful ability to work with all ages of campers we have hired her as this summer’s APD. She is so excited to be coming back this summer after graduating from Bellarmine University in Kentucky with her degree in liberal arts and minor in psychology in May! Julianna was never a camper, however became involved with The Heart because of her family. Her mother Julena Ball was a camper as well as her cousin Camii Yeagley. She also had cousins who attended Camp Stewart. She is very excited to get to see camp again from yet another viewpoint! Keeping up with points that campers earn through activities, also being a great role model to the Heart LITes who are at camp to learn what it means to be a counselor! She is one who will be sure to make this summer the best it can be for each individual girl at camp.
Aileen Glaeser will be returning this summer as our Head O’ Art. Aileen is a student at the University of Texas at Austin. She will receive her BA in sociology with a Business Foundations Certificate in May 2014. She plans to take the LSAT this summer in hopes of attending law school following her graduation. Aileen was a camper at Heart O’ the Hills for six years; she was a Heart LITe for two years, a counselor for one year and, for the past two years, she has been part of the Head Staff. She has many eclectic interests that include the performing arts, team sports and academic activities. A trained dancer in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, and lyrical dance, Aileen has danced since she was three years of age. She danced for more than 10 years at Classical Dance Arts in League City, TX before becoming a member of her high school drill team. As a member of the Clear Creek High School Cavaliers Dance Team, Aileen was an active member of a National Championship team, an award winning jazz company, and an award-winning social committee. She also was an award-winning soloist. Aileen was also part of a National Championship cheerleading squad, an award winning symphonic band and a District Championship volleyball team. As a youngster, she participated in musical theatre, performing in the Harbour Playhouse performances of The Wizard of Oz and The Nutcracker. Aileen has had her amateur ham radio operator’s license since she was 11 years old. She graduated in the top two percent of her high school class and has been a TIP Scholar at the University of Texas. She is also a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, Delta Chapter. It is her love of camp and what it represents that keeps her coming back each year and she hopes that the campers she works with during the summer grow up to value their time at Heart ‘O The Hills just as she has.
Head O’ Field Sports is a very important role at camp. This summer Courtney Carrick will be assuming that role. Courtney was a camper for 11 years, a Heart LITe for two years, and a counselor for two years (tribe sponsor both years), so this summer will mark her 16th year at Heart O’ the Hills. Field sports is something that she is extremely familiar with considering how many times she has played matball over the past 16 summers! Courtney’s enthusiasm, love for camp, and knowledge of the many traditions at Heart make her the perfect fit for Head O’ Field Sports. As a camper she loved field days. In talking about field day Courtney said, “It is fun for the girls to dress up and take a day out of the normal camp schedule to cheer on their tribes. I especially love running field day because all of the girls are extremely supportive of one another on that day. It is a friendly competitiveness!” Courtney attends the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), and is about to embark on her last semester ever! In May she will be graduating with an education degree. While in college, Courtney has been a member of Delta Gamma sorority and spent a lot of time volunteering through the organization. She has recently taken a huge interest in running and is trying new hobbies every day so that she will be in great shape to handle the summer heat during all of the field sports classes this summer! She is very excited to take on this huge responsibility of being on Head Staff this summer. Courtney said, “I have wanted to be on head staff ever since I was a Midget at camp. It will also be very exciting to organize field days and to make them as fun as possible for all the girls. Still can’t believe I get the opportunity to take on the role this summer!”
Returning to Lil’ Rosa Stables (horse barn at Heart) this summer is Alissa Stroud as our Head O’
Horseback. Last summer was Alissa’s first summer at Heart O’ the Hills. During her summer working as a wrangler she fell in love with camp and said it was the best summer of her life so far and that she couldn’t wait to come back. She was even a tribe sponsor in the Short Term! Alissa grew up in Manchester, England, and has been around horses her whole life. Her mom used to breed them and her family has owned a few too. Alissa did show jumping locally for a few years until she went to university, where she then joined the riding club and enjoys getting to go riding weekly. She has always had a love for horses and always will. Just being around them makes her happy, especially the smell of them. Alissa is currently in her second year at Manchester Metropolitan University and is studying marketing management. She also plans on doing a teaching course once she has her degree. She is must excited to just be back in Texas with all of the great friedns that she made last summer and to have the new challenge of being a Head Counselor. She can’t wait to see all the horses again (especially Todd) and help the Quadrille girls out with their routine!
One the banks of the beautiful Guadalupe (and IN it), you’ll find Hannah Kearney as our head of waterfront. Hannah fell in love with Heart O’ the Hills just as her family before her. Following her great aunts, Judy Siracusa and Elaine Osmun, mother Melissa Osmun Kearney, aunt Carrie Osmun Pearson, and cousin Marti McCollough, Hannah, alongside her two sisters Mary-Katherine and Erin Kearney and cousin Katelynn Pearson, was a camper for 10 years and served as a sponsor last year. At home she will graduate from the University of North Texas in 2015 with a degree in hospitality management. Hannah has spent the past several years serving the Denton Natatorium as a swim instructor and lifeguard. She is beyond excited to help the girls create their own memories among the Guadalupe while increasing their swimming skills!
Love from The Heart,
<3 Meghan