Camp Nebagamon

Compiled by Louis Levin

With the 2024 election drawing near, our campers are seeing the adults in their life make choices about the world that they will inherit from us – and at the same time, none of our campers can vote in the election next week. Still, there are so many ways our campers can make a difference this election year, and I wanted to highlight some young people in the news who did just that in the leadup to this consequential election.

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  Jane’s winning sticker

  In Michigan, an initiative to refresh the classic “I Voted” sticker yielded nine new and particularly unique designs submitted by folks of all ages across the state. 12-year-old Jane Hynous’s design featuring a werewolf shredding its shirt in a celebration of patriotism is my particular favorite – it beat out almost 500 other designs by a pretty wide margin. You can see all the new stickers here.

• Voter registration drives at schools are an effective way to help teens who are becoming eligible to vote prepare for upcoming elections. Organizations like New Voters and The Civics Center provide resources to high school students to organize a voter registration drive in their school. Jesse Cai, a teenager in Maryland, registered nearly 200 students at her High School to vote last spring. Plus, 20 states now allow voter pre-registration for 16 and 17 year-olds to ensure that when they turn 18 they are eligible to vote. And it works! The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement has done polling to show that these types of events that increase voter education lead to teens growing up to be adults who are more informed about their political choices and who are more likely to vote.
• Speaking of voter education, mock elections in middle and elementary schools help kids form the voting habit early. In Phoenix, Arizona teens at local Valley of the Sun YMCA cast mock-ballots for the same candidates that will appear in their local and state-wide elections, learning more about the politicians in their area and the importance of voting. And in Fayetteville, Arkansas the public library registered kids to vote for their favorite books using the actual voting machines that their parents use on election day. Corbin, age 8, adorably voted for the eventual winner of the graphic novel category, David Pilker’s superhero comic book series Dog Man. (Although, Corbin, I wouldn’t make a habit of announcing who you’re voting for on the evening news.) There was a tie in the contentious election of favorite classic book between The Very Hungry Caterpillar and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Recounts are underway now…

I would love to hear about the ways our campers are getting involved in the upcoming election! If you or your campers are making an impact, send me an email at [email protected] and we might include it in an upcoming Arrowhead newsletter! Most importantly, I implore our readers who are eligible to vote to do so. If you have not yet made a plan to vote, head to https://vote.gov/ to make sure your voice is heard this election cycle!

With the roadshow underway, we’ve got news to share — if you have anything you’d like to share with the camp family, send it my way or fill out the form here.

IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW… In St. Louis, Alastair Wolkoff is playing Center for his hockey team. Troxler Brodsky is active in his school’s pottery club, as well as playing pickleball and practicing yoga. Spencer Scissors is keeping busy as a three season athlete, playing cornerback for his football team and looking forward to basketball and baseball seasons. Tristan Mattson is working on his defensive game in soccer, and spending free time exploring the woods behind his house with neighbors. There are some paddlesports experts in St. Louis as well; Henry Sonneland is playing squash and golf and Bernie Goldstein is keeping busy with tennis and soccer, as well as competing for his chess team. Speaking of chess, Sam Bernstein won 1st place in a St. Louis Chess Club tournament, beating out over 40 other competitors, and later that day joined us for our St. Louis reunion!

IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT… It’s a girl, Lilah Hess Kerr, for Malcolm Kerr (Brooklyn, NY, 2000-’06, ’08-’11) and Anna Hess! It’s a boy, George Fromm, for Elijah Fromm (Kansas City/Boston) ’06-’10,’12-’15,’17-‘19) and Sophia Gatzionis (Athens, Greece/Boston, ‘19). It’s a girl, Madeline Doris Quiat, for Dan Quiat (Denver/New York, 2003-’07, ’09-’11).

WEDDING CONGRATULATIONS GO TO… Max Goldsmith (Evanston, IL/Ghent, Belgium, (2008-’12, ’14, ’16) and Camilla Zecker.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW… Zack Colman (1994-’99, 2002-’06) is headed to Seattle to start a new job as a Senior Technical Product Manager at a little startup called Amazon. Will Meyer (New Paltz, NY/Easthampton, MA, 2003-’07, ’09-’13, ’17) has a new food truck, Vegan Pizza Land, serving (you guessed it) vegan pizza out of an airstream trailer. You can read an interview with Will about his pivot to pizza in the most recent edition of the Hampshire College alumni news.