BONNIE POWELL
Ithaca, New York native and Cornell University Mechanical Engineering studies major, Bonnie Powell is eager to head west and hit the road on our Pacific Coast trips! Although she calls upstate New York her home, Bonnie is no stranger to outdoor exploration. She has seen the Northern Lights in Alaska, been swimming with sea turtles in Hawaii, and has pedaled her way along tulip lined bike paths in Holland. When Bonnie isn’t in the Cornell library studying, she’s often found contributing to research conducted in the Environmental Engineering and Hydrology labs at Cornell. Outside of academia, Bonnie is an active participant in outdoor clubs and classes around campus. Bonnie offers a smiling face and warm personality to incoming freshmen when she leads Outdoor Odyssey trips, Cornell’s pre-orientation program. On top of all this, Bonnie finds time in her busy schedule to teach private rock-climbing classes, dances on a student-run dance team, and facilitates a physical education class called High Adventure. Last summer, Bonnie had the opportunity to share her enjoyment for high adventure as she led 8 -16 year olds through Cornell’s Hoffman Challenge Course high and low ropes course camp. As Bonnie joins the Apogee team, she is looking forward to instilling confidence in her students and helping them to discover new abilities and interests among the tall trees and beautiful beaches of the Pacific Coast!
MIKE WHEELER
Growing up in Groton, Massachusetts, in a family of cyclists, triathletes, hikers, and swimmers, Mike Wheeler has a sense of activity ingrained in his genes that will benefit him and his students this summer on the Pacific Coast! The middle child of five siblings, Mike found enjoyment getting outside by himself or with his family to explore the nearby woods, rivers, and mountains. After high school, Mike headed to Pennsylvania, where he recently graduated with a degree in History from Swarthmore College. At school, Mike’s thirst for leadership, adventure, and creativity served him well when he became a Resident Assistant in one of Swarthmore’s dormitories for two years. Although Mike found great enjoyment rock-climbing and balancing on a slackline between trees during college, Swarthmore didn’t have any established groups focusing on these activities. He took his passion for these endeavors and got his peers involved, chartering both a bouldering and a slacklining club on campus. Last summer, Mike worked at the Marcus Lewis Day Camp as a Sports and Games Specialist and was truly in his element creating and running outdoor games for 4 -15 year old campers. Mike’s infectious excitement to take on adventure and share the Pacific Coast trip with his students and co-leader will surely make a special summer for all!
LINDSAY PATTISON
With her hard working, intuitive, and playful personality, Lindsay Pattison will be an incredible addition to the Apogee family this year as a leader of our Pacific Coast trips! Lindsay comes to us originally from Altamont, New York by way of Hamilton College where she recently graduated with a degree in Geoscience. In Altamont, Lindsay’s backyard was 100 acres of woods, rivers, and bogs which she explored regularly. These outings inspired a great interest and love of hiking, camping, kayaking, canoeing, skiing, and swimming. At Hamilton, Lindsay served as the Summer Assistant Director for pre-orientation trips, a fitting culmination after both participating in and leading these trips throughout her collegiate career. As a part of this role, Lindsay also facilitated ropes courses and rock wall classes for local high achieving students. In 2014, Lindsay worked as a summer Adventure Trip Leader at YMCA Camp Chingachgook, leading biking, service, hiking, and rafting trips for campers. Last summer, Lindsay took her skills out west to work as a Field Intern at the Colorado Outward Bound School where she lead backpacking and mountaineering trips for 12-18 year olds around Colorado and Washington State’s San Juan Islands. Lindsay is looking forward to meeting her students this summer and taking in the beauty of the Oregon and California coast lines!
SPENCER WUEST
A dual-citizen of Canada and the United States, world traveler Spencer Wuest will be joining the Apogee team this summer to lead our Pacific Coast trips! Growing up in Quebec, Canada with his parents and beloved dog, Spencer came to the United States to attend St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire for high school. At St. Paul’s, Spencer served as a prefect, welcoming new students and supporting older students as they balanced academic and extracurricular activities. Spencer returned home to Quebec from New Hampshire for three summers to work for Camp Cyclo Immersion where he led bike trips around the Eastern Townships of Quebec. (Hint, hint: Spencer is fluent in both English and French!) While on trips, Spencer honed his bike maintenance skills and led nightly games and activities for his campers. His thirst for adventure has taken him to a wide variety of locations around the world. His love for skiing has sent him to the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and the Alps. Spencer also took time to hike the Tour du Mont Blanc in Europe as well as explore many other countries including China, Thailand, and New Zealand. Spencer is now a rising Junior at Bowdoin College, double-majoring in Government and Psychology. Outside of his studies, Spencer can be found on the rugby field playing for his college team or thoughtfully writing for Bowdoin’s international affairs magazine. Spencer’s down-to-earth and approachable personality will surely go miles with his students this summer along the Pacific Coast!