The environment and vibe of a community is based on the people who make it come alive. Campersand values and prioritizes its community because they are ones who teach, model, and mentor our kids to think and reflect on their potential while also reminding them to be playful.
RUBY AIDUN
Ruby just completed her freshman year at Columbia University where she is an engineering student. Her favorite classes last year were her computer science courses because the assignments were often fun logic puzzles in disguise. When Ruby isn’t stuck studying she spends her time walking, reading, or watching baking videos on YouTube.
WENDY K. TAM CHO
Wendy is a Professor at the University of Illinois where she has appointments in Political Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Asian American Studies, Law, and at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Mathematics is the tie that holds together her eclectic interests. She has loved math all her life, but really discovered its beauty when she started teaching math to her sons, who love math even more than she does! Her sons wanted to do math with other kids, so she began her own math circle and started teaching at math summer camps. Her mathematical journey has been immensely fulfilling and has taught her that sharing mathematical beauty (especially with children) is the surest and quickest way to multiply its appreciation and joy.
ANITA CHOU, Camp Director
Anita, coming from an electrical engineering degree, is deeply interested in math and science education. She holds a special interest in helping radically accelerated kids meet their needs. Towards that end she sits on the board of and is actively involved in several local gifted advocacy organizations. She is excited to be on the forefront of coordinating resources, local and afar, and working closely with families in staging Campersand 2018.
CHRISTIAN GESKE
Christian is a graduate student in Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin – Madison whose thoughts drift daily through the realms of topology. Since his maiden encounter with a proof sublime, he became a digger not a sprinter, eager – some may say stubbornly – to drain every last insight from his learnings. But for him it is the teaching and shared learning that make the fruits of that labor sweet. He has had experience teaching in various settings, including interactions with gifted youth.
TREVOR LAYMAN
Trevor is a lifelong educator and learner. His love for the Classics has led him on a path of teaching Latin, Ancient Greek, and Ancient History to students ranging from young gifted learners to those in university. His love for Ancient and Modern languages is evident in his fluency of Latin, Greek, Turkish, Spanish, and Russian. Crisscrossing disciplines has him on his current path of exploring different methods of teaching the history of science and exploration and now mathematics. Named National Geographic Educator of the Week in 2017 for his creative teaching of Latin and Moon geography, his lens of discovery has him generating teaching moments in uncommon places. When not immersed in classics studies, he can be found running trails and practicing yoga.
BURTON NEWMAN
Growing up, Burton always wondered what it was like to be a mathematician working on a math problem and why such brilliant minds would dedicate themselves to this sort of activity. What do they see in it? What do they value? He decided the best way to answer these questions was to become a mathematician himself. He gained the most insight into these questions while working as a counselor for two summers at the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS) at Boston University. There, he realized the importance of immersing oneself in whatever culture one is trying to understand. Today he spends his time working as a data scientist and playing with the newest toys in math ed tech.
ROLFE SCHMIDT, Academic Director
Rolfe has been playing with math since he was young enough to be a camper, always looking forward to school breaks when he would have uninterrupted time with his books. It wasn’t until he began teaching mathematics to his sons that he realized how much fun the field had to offered. Seeing the benefit of a social community he created and modeled such a setting for his and other mathy kids. He started a math circle in Seattle and directed and taught at several math camps.
His math background is foundational to his research in distributed systems and cryptography at Zouggla, where he is founder and CTO. When not playing with math or writing code, Rolfe is outside running, hiking, or skiing with his family.
