A new website

Before the semester began, Historian Aaron and Co-Fundraising Chair RJ worked diligently to update the website to its current state today. The old website was out-dated, clumsy, and rivaled the 1996 Space Jam website design. The new website narrowed the scope and darastically reduced the number of board headaches caused. Special thanks to CW Alumni Kevin Scott for his guidance and support on this project.

Virtual Meetings and Socials

As a result of this year's ongoing public health hazard, Camp Wildcat was forced to hold meetings and socials online via zoom. Trevor Kammerzell and Trinity Parker, the 2020-2021 chair and vice-chair, did a fantastic job engaging members but ongoing zoom fatigue and a lack of in person camps meant lower attendance on Sunday nights.

Meeting online meant new innovative ideas for socials. Julia Richman was scary good at lying to our faces during the Among Us social. At the powerpoint social, we were treated to empasssioned epitaphs on the topics of choice of CW members (We still are laughing about Sara Davis' presentation of the evils of Veggie Tales). The kahoot social proved that we don't know our members or board members as well as we thought while the scribble.io social proved that we need to work on our spelling. George Saphir was our Wikipedia speedrun champion and Sara Davis was our origami sensei.

Despite the pandemic, there was one in person social; a spooky picnic held in late October. In previous years, a picnic outside of the Arizona State Museum would have been a normal occurence but this year it took on a special significance. All attendees tested 24 hours beforehand, diligently wore masks, and made sure to social distance. In a year of isolation, it was nice to see fellow camp wildcat members in person, if only for an afternoon.

Pen Pals

Pen pals this year were organized by Adela Diaz, the day activities chair. Camp Wildcat members sent out their letters and received heart warming and thoughtful responses. Due to the ongoing health crisis, in person meetings between pen pals was not possible but a good time was still had by all who participated.

Homecoming

The homecoming game this year had very limited in person attendance and the parade and other festivities were cancelled. However, this did not stop Camp Wildcat from meeting with some alumni in a virtual environment. Mackenzie Colwell, the alumni relations chair, and Aaron Leucht, the historian, were the organizers of this event. Members and alumni alike shared stories, gave life updates, and enjoyed each others' company. Although the virtual setting is less than ideal for communicating, it allowed for more alumni from all over the country to attend.

Virtual Camps

Virtual Camps were the most frequent and best substitute for normal camp wildcat camps. Our camps coordinator, Angelica Wilson, set up dozens of hour-long classroom visits throughout both semesters. Directors for these events had to get creative in how they delivered content and engaged the kids but it led to some of the most awesome ideas we have ever had. Shout out to director extraordinaire Olivia Pictl who was also the fundraising chair this year. She came up with many winning ideas for virtual camps whose results can be seen on the right. From creating new constelations to talking about sustainability and college life, virtual camps had it all.

Julia Richman

Camp Wildcat member from 2018-2021

Julia had a constant positive attitude and was a staple of Camp Wildcat while she was a member. For the last two school years she managed the Camp Wildcat Social media as the Community Relations Chair. She is smart, competent, charming, and will be sorely missed. Julia was best known for being a positive influence with everyone she interacted with, an impassioned Harry Potter fan, an Animal Crossing, a hater of roller hockey, and a TikTok queen. In the fall, Julia will be attending the nursing program at the University of Arizona Pheonix campus. While we are excited to see all the amazing things she does in Pheonix, she will sorely be missed. We are greatful for every moment we shared with her.