People of Sanborn: Anne
Name: Anne Shingler
Current Role: Associate Director/Program Director at High Trails
Tenure at Sanborn: Anne worked 2 summers on staff and this is her 4th summer as Program Director.
Fun Fact: Her favorite thing in the world is her dog, Bèla. You’ve probably seen her on some of our posts before!
What is your first memory at Sanborn? Anne remembers being super nervous driving up to camp for the first time, but when she drove through the huge aspen grove before the main gate, she felt at home and at peace immediately. Once she arrived, she found the High Trails Office and Ariella hopped into Anne’s car to give her a quick tour of the property. She remembers that she walked into Cook’s Cabin and her roommate, Tully Sandbom, jumped up and gave her a huge, welcoming hug. Anne remarks that this felt different than other places she’d worked - most communities, like schools or colleges, that we enter in our lives aren’t waiting and excited for you to arrive, but Sanborn was. It made her very excited for what that summer would hold and what this community would look like.
Favorite memory? Anne loved the Silverheels long trip that she led in 2015. It was the first trip she led at Sanborn and the group of kids, the staff team, and the views all made for a completely memorable week. She remembers that both the small moments and big moments were important - there was a camper who had fractured her foot before camp and, though she had been cleared for activity, Anne continually had to determine if the camper was struggling because she had medical pain or because she was challenging herself on the trip. The best part of this trip for Anne was that the entire group of campers rallied together to motivate each other through the challenge of one of their first group backpacking trips. Luckily enough, a lot of those campers were just JCs this past summer so Anne was able to watch them grow through the past four years which Anne finds pretty remarkable. She feels so lucky to have gotten to do that with them.
Favorite cookie? Anne doesn’t really love cookies, yet she has found herself recently enjoying the privilege of Bernie giving her a spoonful of cookie dough when she’s testing a new batch.
Hardest camp trip? Leading the Oxford/Belford long trip in 2016 was the most difficult for Anne, mostly because the kids on that trip were so fit that it was actually hard for the adults to keep up with them! She sometimes had to make them wait for her, which was a new and challenging experience to navigate. A few of those kids are now coming back to be on staff this summer, which makes Anne think that one of her favorite things about staying here and working here and still being here over the years is that she gets to watch campers grow and that things don’t seem as hard after some time has passed.
Favorite camp tradition? Anne truly, thoroughly enjoys the Miss Sanborn Pageant. In particular, she loves being a judge and absolutely loves seeing how creative kids can be and the lengths that staff will go to for their campers. Then, during the process, she reflects that the leadership team gets to be ridiculous and ask the candidates silly, challenging questions. Anne thinks the way that both campers and staff dive headfirst into this activity is amazing and hilarious. She wonders who will win in summer 2020…
