 | About Our Staff:
The Reptile Store Summer Camp staff is carefully selected to provide your children with the best care and experience possible. All of our camp staff have had hands on animal training, and have experience working in a camp setting with children of all ages.
All camp staff has successfully completed their First Aid, and C.P.R. training, have a police clearance form, and have attended the staff-training seminar prior to the start of the camp season. All camp staff was also required to complete a pre-requisite portfolio prior to completion of the hiring process this year. This portfolio included 10 crafts, 10 games, 10 activities, 5 research papers on specific zoo animals, and 5 papers on reptile animals. This process ensures that our staff is ready to accomplish anything this summer throws at them! |
 | Our summer camp runs at a ration of 5:1 at the max. We feel that to provide the best overall camp experience for each and every child we need to have an excellent camper to staff ratio! The ratio also does not include our L.I.T.’s, which are also very helpful every summer with this program!
You can feel confident, and secure that The Reptile Store Summer Camp Staff is one of the best camp staff assembled, year after year!
Please take the time to read our Summer Camp Staff Bios below. They all bring something unique to this program! This camp staff is one of the most experianced you will find anywhere!
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 | Jordan Hazell, Senior Coordinator
My enjoyment of animals starts from small to big not the other way around! My fascination with bug and other invertebrates was fueled by a twig, a leaf and a jar from my childhood. But that's all you need! I hope to this year introduce campers to the amazing world of exotic animals but to also open their eyes to the things that crawl, fly, slide, jump, and dig in our own back yard! I am currently entering my 3rd year at the University of Guelph where I am major in Zoology. This prepares me to answer any question our campers want to know or to at least lead them to a source where they can find a proper answer. I have a huge love for the outdoors and much rather educate on the fly while going for a hike than the conventional classroom setting. Through the last three years of camp I have got to see each camper learn about the importance of animals in their ecosystems and the impacts that we play on their lives. Every year educating the next generation and giving them an opportunity to learm has personally become very important to me. I believe the best way for this type education to take place is in a hands-on atmosphere, which we have been able to establish. I have had ridiculous amounts of fun these past year just hanging out with the campers and making sure that the close encounters with all the fascinating creatures are an enjoyable and life changing experience. Hope to see you this summer!
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 | Natalie Williams, Senior Coordinator:
Hello! I am so excited to be a part of the Reptile Store Summer Camp again this year! I absolutely love camp and working with kids and come to the Reptile Store Summer Camp with a variety of experience in both camping and working with children. I have worked for both CYO Camps Marydale and Brebeuf, in both the Summer Camp and Outdoor Education programs. My experiences at camp helped me realize my love for working with children and inspired me to pursue a career in teaching, and I am now a certified teacher. I am very much looking forward to meeting lots of great kids this summer and learning along with them about a whole bunch of fabulous creatures! Hope to see you soon!!
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 | Katie Howie, Animal Manager:
I have worked with a variety of different animals over eight years and I am pleased to say that the Reptile Store and the Reptile Store Summer Camp has allowed me to work with the best! I have worked at the Reptile Store doing shows, and this is my second year at camp. I am attending McMaster University for cultural studies and languages, in order to incorporate animal and nature preservation into our modern culture. Of course, I enjoy being in outdoors, both on solid ground and in the water! I am very excited to be at the Reptile Store Summer Camp as the Animal Manager and look forward to seeing the campers learn about, and how to care for animals and nature.
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 | Bailey Willock, Program Leader:
Hi! I'm Bailey I am offically camp staff this year but I have been an L.I.T. with the Reptile Store Summer Camp for 2 years I love learning new things and meeting new people at the Reptile Store I can do both while doing what I have always wanted to do PLAY WITH ANIMALS. As far as I can remeber animals have been my life I would bring home cats and other strange creatures and ask the same thing everyone else asked "can I keep him" it doesn't matter how big how ugley how slimey I love them all (spiders creep me out) with my love for having fun I believe I can help your child have a great time at camp!
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 | Nicole Ossachuk, Program Leader:
Hi, I’m Nicole and I am proud to be part of the Reptile Store Summer Camp Staff. I attended the camp last year with the L.I.T program. I absolutely love this camp!! It has so much to offer aspiring animal lovers like myself. I am so glad that I can do something that I love! My two passions in life are ANIMALS and dance. Currently, I am enrolled in the Cuban School of Dance and will be traveling to Havana to perform. I can't wait for the summer so I can continue to learn awesome animal facts and pass them on to the campers. I have over 30 "exotic" animals at home but to pick favorites I would say: LIONS AND TIGERS!! I am looking forward to an awesome, fun, amazing, informative, and crazy summer!! I can't wait to meet all the eager campers and help them pursue their love for animals.
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 | Colin Newbiggin, Program Leader:
Hey I’m Colin and I am looking forward to working at with the Reptile Store Summer Camp this summer. I have always loved animals (especially reptiles) and have caught almost every reptile you could think of in Ontario and reptiles in other parts of the world as well. I love to work with reptiles and have a great time teaching the campers about them as well. I like a hands on style of teaching and the kids seem to love this style as well. I hope to see you all at the camp this summer and at the camps and the other events through the year that the reptile store has.
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 | Kendra Lupton, Program Leader:
Hey everyone I’m Kendra and this is my first year working at the camp but it’s not my first time at the camp. I started out as a camper then did the L.I.T. program. It was lots of fun and I met a lot of cool people along the way. One of my favorite things about the camp is that I can say I wrestled an alligator where else could you say that? I also love to work with the kids and teach them more cool stuff about the animals and I also learn a lot of cool facts from the kids too. Hope to see you this year at our summer camp so you can finally say that you wrestled an alligator too.
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Congratulations to our newest staff members for the 2009 Summer Camp season! The Reptile Store Summer Camp is pleased to announce the hiring of former L.I.T's Kendra Lupton, Bailey Willock, Nicole Ossachuk and Colin Newbigging. The new young staff will do a fantastic job this summer!
I would also like to congratulate another former L.I.T. Alysha Fekete was hired for the City Of Hamilton Parks Soupie program!
Be sure to check out our "Leader In Training" section on the website for more great summer camp staff information! Our L.I.T.'s are amazing!
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