Meet the Eagle's Nest Staff

Eagle’s Nest takes pride in the quality of its camp counselors and instructors. We maintain a strict selection process of hiring highly skilled and educated counselors and teachers. We carefully choose counselors who are creative, mature, engaging and fun-loving. Our staff enjoys the outdoors and has a love for working with children and youth. In fact, many of our counselors are previous Nesters. Campers are surrounded with positive role models. Eagle’s Nest has one staff member to every four campers, and all staff members must be at least 18 years old, the majority being college students.

Paige Lester-Niles

Camp Director

Education

Salem College, B.A in English
National Outdoor Leadership School, Baja
College International de Cannes, France

Experience

Associate Director, ENC 1996-1999
Hanté Director, ENC 1994-1997
Wilderness Instructor, Birch Tree, ENF 1992
Camp Counselor, ENC, Summers 1990-1993

Paige Lester-Niles is the Director of Eagle’s Nest Camp. She graduated with a B.A. degree in English from Salem College in Winston-Salem. While studying education in college, she applied to work at Eagle’s Nest Camp because she loved her own camp experiences as a child and thought that working at a camp would give her invaluable teaching experience. Her first summer at camp, Paige helped direct the musical and taught soccer. Throughout college, she continued to spend her summers at Eagle’s Nest teaching everything from ceramics to swimming to Explorer’s Club and leading Hante Appalachian Trail treks and bike treks. After graduating, she started working full time with Eagle’s Nest and has now worked here for more than 15 years. During that time, she served as the Hante director, Head Counselor, Junior Counselor Coordinator and Associate Director. Her husband, Andy, whom she met at Eagle’s Nest, is also an educator.

Noni Waite-Kucera

Executive Director, Eagle’s Nest Foundation

Education

Wake Forest University , B.A. in Anthropology
Wake Forest in London Program

Experience

Camp Director , ENF 1993-2003
Business Manager, ENF, 1989-1999
Assistant Camp Director, ENC 1984-1986
Developed Eagle’s Nest Whitewater Canoeing and Hante Bicycling Program

Elizabeth Waite-Kucera (Noni) is the Executive Director of Eagle’s Nest Foundation and serves on The Outdoor Academy Advisory Board. She graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., with a B.A. degree in anthropology. Previously, Noni was Camp Director at Eagle’s Nest Camp and Business Manager for Eagle’s Nest Foundation. She has also been the Swimming Director, Paddling Director and Hante bike trek leader.

Noni’s grandfa ther, Alex Waite, head of psychology at Rollins College, founded Eagle’s Nest Camp in 1945. Helen and Mo Waite, Noni’s parents, served as directors for the Eagle’s Nest Carolinas’ Camp for Diabetic Children. Her mo ther served as director of Eagle’s Nest Camp and executive director of Eagle’s Nest Foundation for many years. Noni spent her childhood years growing up at camp and is honored to carry on the mission of Eagle’s Nest as Executive Director of the foundation.

Julie Slobin

Assistant Camp Director

Education

Macquaire University, Sydney, Australia, B.A. in Recreational Management
Nor thern Beaches College TAFE, Sydney, Australia
Queensland College of TAFE, Queensland, Australia

Experience

Internship in Camp Administration, Eagle’s Nest Foundation
Regional Coordinator, Camp Counselors U.S.A, Sydney, Australia
Summer Camp Staff, Eagle’s Nest Camp
Ambulance Officer, New South Wales
Lifeguard/Manager/Swim Instructor, New South Wales
Administrative/Tour Assistant, New South Wales
Customer Service Representative, The Catalogue Studio Nor thern Beaches, New South Wales

Julie has been flying back and forth from Australia since 1998 when she first joined our summer camp staff as a swimming and athletics instructor. Since then, Julie has served as Waterfront Director, Athletics Director, head cabin counselor, Hante instructor, Junior Counselor Coordinator, and Head Counselor – all while teaching scores of campers how to swim and enjoy the water as much as she does. In addition to her experiences at Camp, Julie has also spent approximately 18 months working as a trainee for Eagle’s Nest. During this time she did everything from supporting OA students to traveling across the Sou theast to promote camp. In her role as Assistant Camp Director, Julie is focused on promoting camp and providing leadership for the camp program.

Innes Gamble

Assistant to the Camp Director

Education

Wake Forest University, B.A. in Sociology
University of Ghana, Semester Program

Experience

Summer Camp Staff, Eagle’s Nest Camp

Innes Gamble has been a camper, JC, and counselor at Eagle’s Nest since 1991. During her time at Eagle’s Nest, Innes has been very involved in the musical theater program and with athletics. As a young camper she starred in the Eagle’s Nest production of “Annie”; as a staff member she directed a number of o ther musicals including “Peter Pan” and “The Wizard of Oz.” Innes recently graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Sociology. After graduation, Innes worked as a counselor at Eagle’s Nest for the summer of 2006 before traveling to Tanzania to do volunteer work on an orphanage in Mahango Village. She remained in Tanzania until late December before returning to the states and becoming a part of the full time Eagle’s Nest staff at the end of January.

Christie Etter

Program Director

Education

Warren Wilson College, B.A. in Outdoor Leadership
North Carolina Outward Bound School

Experience

Teacher, Good Hope Summer Enrichment Program, St. Croix, USVI
Adjunct Professor, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
Instructor, Inside Out Inc., Flat Rock, NC
Yoga Instructor, The Learning Community School, Black Mountain, NC
Director, Shenandoah Summer Adventure Camp at Sheridan School, Luray, VA
Assistant Director, Sheridan School Mountain Campus, Luray, VA

Christie has been leading/teaching outdoor programming and team-building for 12 years. She started out as a raft-guide! She enjoys traveling and has taken the opportunity whenever life presents it, having traveled to the British Virgin Islands, England, New Zealand, Belize, Guatemala, St. Croix, and Alaska. Christie also has several years of experience as a professional dog groomer and trainer. She grew up in Maryland and the panhandle of West Virginia. Her favorite outdoor activities are hiking with her dog, gardening, sailing, and napping in a hammock. She never went to camp as a kid, but had some great camping trips with school and says she found a lot of her self-confidence in those experiences.

Jeremy Campbell

Hanté Director

Education

Brevard College, B.A. in Wilderness Leadership/Experiential Education

Experience

Carpenter, Head Kayak Instructor, Camp Illahee, Brevard, NC
Lead Educator- First Year Crew, Shackleton School, Ashby, MA
Wilderness Program Co-Instructor, Brevard College, Brevard, NC
Director of Experiential Education, Flint Hill School, Oakton, Maryland

Jeremy is a kayaker and rock climber who graduated from Brevard College with a BA in Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education. He has worked as a Wilderness Program Co-Instructor for Brevard College developing and leading 21-day expeditions, been the Director of Experiential Education at the Flint Hill School in Virginia, been a lead educator and taught Spanish at the Shackleton School in Massachusetts, coached soccer at Carolina Day School in Asheville, and most recently worked as a carpenter and kayaking head at Camp Illahee in Brevard. Throughout this time he has also led several international trips to Costa Rica, Botswana and Zambia, and “stateside” expeditions to the Wind River Range in Wyoming and to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

Michael Moore

Kitchen Manager

Education

California Culinary Academy, A.A. Associates of Occupational Studies in Culinary Arts and Food Science
NC Justice Academy, Raleigh, NC, B.S. Criminal Justice and Police Sciences, NC State general certification
University of North Florida, Four Semester CIT
Nash Community College, Horticultural Studies

Experience

Sous Chef and Chef de Cuisine, The Lomo Grill
Line Cook, Pastry Chef, Plated Design and Concept, The Marketplace Restaurant

New to the Eagle’s Nest community, Michael began working as our Kitchen Manager in January of this year. Michael brings a great deal of talent and diverse skills to his position. A native of North Carolina, Michael recently returned to the state after studying culinary arts at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Prior to his time there, Michael worked with law enforcement in North Carolina. Michael is excited to share his passion for cooking local food, educate through food preparation, and be of service to o thers.

Sharon Jackson

Office Manager

Education

University of North Carolina at Wilmington, B.S. in Biology
National Outdoor Leadership School, Lander, WY

Experience

Program Coordinator/Administrative Assistant, Black Mountain Center for the Arts
Sales Representative, Alpine Ski Center
Canine Assistants, educating the public about training dogs for individuals with physical disabilities
MS 150 bike race- fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis

Sharon moved to Charlotte, NC from New York at the age of 12. She graduated from high school in Charlotte and moved on to study Biology at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Sharon moved to Winston-Salem in 2004, when she began working with Eagle’s Nest. Sharon is the Winston-Salem Office Manager for Eagle’s Nest. She works at our Winston-Salem office for most of the year and helps out at camp during the beginning and end of the summer. Sharon handles all camp applications and payments and makes sure parents receive all the information and forms they need to send their children to Eagle’s Nest. She also answers any questions parents may have regarding camp.

Mari “Jo” Winkle

Development Director

Education

Old Dominion University, B.S. Computer Science
John Wesley College, B.A. Ethics in Management Experience

Experience

Project Manger & Grant Administrator, Hospice & Palliative CareCenter, Winston Salem NC
Executive Director, Association for the Benefit of Child Development (ABCD), Winston Salem NC
Director of Development, Volunteers & Community Resources, Winston-Salem Churches in Ministry, Winston Salem NC
Coordinator of Volunteers, Resources & Bereavement Support, Hospice of Savannah GA
Campaign Associate for the Combined Federal Campaign, United Way of Northeast Florida, Jacksonville FL

Mari "Jo" has been the Development Director of Eagle's Nest Foundation since October 2004. She is responsible for planning and executing all annual fundraising programs including major gift solicitations and direct mail donations from former campers, Outdoor Academy alumni and their families. She also works directly with the Board of Trustees in planning annual meetings and retreats.

She has over 25 years experience working in the non-profit sector She has assumed leadership and volunteer positions in organizations with multiple and diverse constituencies both locally and at the state level. Currently they include the board of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Triad Chapter and board of the Piedmont Wind Symphony. She is an active volunteer with Winston Salem Foundation's ECHO Conversation Groups, the Piedmont Craftsman, and the River Run Film Festival. Past involvement includes United Way of Forsyth County executive council, Acción Hispana board, the NC Association of Volunteer Administration board, state delegate for the Governor's Summit on Volunteerism, YMCA Community Outreach board, the North Carolina Coalition for School Age Children board and many others. Jo's hobbies include hiking, kayaking, water gardening and gourmet cooking.