Staff

The 2011 YES Staff Team…

The group of people that deliver of The YES are all amazing, check out their bios below.

Ashley Cawthra She’s in the know! Who knows what we’re doing next? Ashley does. Who knows what’s for lunch? Ashley does. Who knows the chemical compostion of pluto’s atmosphere? Ashley… well, she knows a lot, and her contagious laugh and bright blue eyes make up for what she doesn’t know.
Nate Hyde Nate will make you laugh and cry with his wonderful storytelling abilities. He’s easy to talk to, fun to be around, and makes you feel comfortable in any situation. Except if you were in a situation where you needed someone to swim or ride a bike. He doesn’t do those things.
Charles Loui-Ying Don’t let his youthful appearance fool you, Charles is in fact, not a teenager! He has two kids who will eventually rule the world with their cutesy looks and mad brains. In the meantime Charles can be found tossing discs and shaking his booty on YES soil once in a while.
Chelsea Lake – Director Chelsea thinks co-operation is the best thing ever. In fact, if you don’t agree, she’ll arm wrestle you for it! Come to think about it, she’s a tad bit competative… In any case, Chelsea’s the captain of this ship, and when she says “Yarr!” we say “Yarr!”
Allan Pearson Allan’s an all around fun guy. He has a contagious laugh that will leave you with legs crossed. He’s a great friend, loves sports and has a heart of gold. Watch out for this one; he’s a charmer.
Ben Mott Ben can play guitar and harmonica at the same time while keeping you totally captivated, and making you wish that you too were musically gifted. Now THAT’s multitasking (i think). He was even a professional busker for a short time, not a long time. Ben hails from the land of summer, and he brings sunshine into all of our lives.
Michael Brin Michael can jump HIGH! One of his favorite passtimes, mattress jumping is his sport. However, Michael is also good to sit down with for a one-on-one chat, or to share a good giggle with. If you like witty-banter, you’ll like him especially. He knows his stuff and he’s smart as the dickens. He also tells a wicked ghost story.
Cody Puckett Cody is the hole in camp’s bagel, the plug in camp’s inflatable boat, and the fris in camp’s frisbee. He helps make camp camp. Cody is full of energy, creativity, and knows how to have a great time, and how to make a great time even better, and a better time, the best time, and the best time….. He knows fun better than fun knows itself.
Jessica Wallin J-Dub. She’s a multi-talented wizard of all things creative and performance related. She is a creative writer, a slam poet, an improv performer, a singer and uh, um, maybe a lion tamer? She’s unbelievable! Come to camp and witness her amazing skills, her incredible jokes, and her ability to tame lions? YES! Come one, come all.
Sarah Hyde Sarah Hyde is an extreme sports enthusiast and can ride up mountains on a bicycle. She can also ride down them but very slowly. Sarah has an awesome sense of humor, she’s smart, small, fights dirty, and loves to roll down hills. She’s also a killer writer and poet, and loves to share her work.
Emile Wilson Emile is King of the Lanks. It wasn’t always that way… in fact, you used to be able to fit him in your pocket, but as time went on his limbs grew long and lean, and now he has accepted his tall throne with pride and passion. His subjects, being lanky themselves, don’t look up to him for the sheer length of his limbs, but instead for his heart of gold, his welcoming smile, and the kindness with which he approaches all people everywhere.
Megan Smith Megan is an energy generating machine. She’s like a windmill, or a solar panel, somehow she just fuels camp with vibrant, happy, positive energy. You can watch her gear up in the middle of the field. First she spins around 50 times, then she jumps up and down, and then yodels at the top of her lungs like a lonely goat herd, and then all of a sudden camp is filled with fun. It’s amazing.
Nellie Lamb At camp we make friendship bracelets, but Nellie’s skill goes far beyond this craft. Nellie can weave, and sew and quilt and surge. She can basically take raw cotton and make you a designer outfit. Beyond her skill in the craft cabin, Nellie is absolutely the best person to dissolve into a fit of giggles with. And her freckles are so so cute.
Devon Clarke Devon is a real life rock-star. Most rock-stars are all ego, but Devon is all awesome. Not only is he a rock-star because his band wins awards, but also because he wins at life. He’s friendly, supportive, funny, and willing to do pretty much anything to make The YES a more rockin’ place.
Danika Brandvold AKA Cheery McCheeryson. Danika has a smile for everyone, and a few to spare. She loves dancing, dressing up in crazy fashions from our tickle trunk, and strutting her stuff down the catwalk. She’s the kind of girl who turns frowns upside down until it’s all coming up roses. She’s all that and a bag of potato chips.
Casey Stainsby Casey breezes by as though carried by the wind. She’s at one with nature; grounded like the roots of a tree; centered like the middle part of a beautiful flower; calm like a reflective puddle that allows you to see that you have food in your teeth. Her hair is orangey-red like the campfire, her skin freckly like rocks on the beach… you get the idea. Being with Casey is as refreshing as a mountain stream.
Megan Millar Megan will make you pee yourself with laughter over her fantastic stories. Something about her own enjoyment of life, and her uncontrollable laughter makes the joy contagious. She’s loud, honest, wide eyed and full of beans! But sometimes she needs a bit of caring and sympathy, you’ll know this is the case when she gets an unexpected injury.
Amanda Carachelo This bird’s a nester.  You can find her perched in her favorite chair making lists of things to make her home homier.  She likes things clean, comfortable and cozy, and once she has this she’s ready to party.  Break out the crazy dance moves, this girl knows more than the twist and mashed potatoes. At camp Amanda’s all in all the time, it’s why we love her.
Emily Waterman If you need an honest opinion Waterman would be happy to help you out. Yes you have food in your teeth, yes your breath definetly smells, and white socks with black shoes is a definite no no. Emily is straightforward, to the point and genuinely sincere. Plus she’ll make you laugh so hard you’ll shoot orange juice out your nose.
Lauren Sortome Lauren is one of the few surviving 100 Mile House Amazons. You can detect this heritage based on her tough-as-nails physique, and her intimidating beauty. Her fashion sense leans towards ‘tight and bright’, which looks great when she rips through the currents while rowing competitively.
Natalie Ho Natalie is from Armstrong, fitting for someone skilled in the art of Karate. But, not only could she cause serious bodily harm if necessary, she could also splint, wrap and elevate the injury with her nursing training. Natalie’s presence at camp means that sunglasses are an important item on the to-bring list, because she’ll blind you with the brilliance of her personality and her beautiful white teeth.
Robyn Putnam Wide eyed and feisty, Robyn always speaks up for herself. She may be young, but she’s strong and wise. Descended from some of the original YES people, Robyn has a square head on her shoulders. Umm, I mean her good shoulders support her head. I mean it is screwed on squarely…? hmmm.
Jess Chapelski Parlez vous Francais? Well, Jess does.  She’s a brand-new elementary school teacher for French immersion.  She also figure skates, cartwheels, swims and is just generally bendy and impressive.  Jess is a super-hero! She has accomplished a lot in her ‘short’ (under five feet tall) life.  She’s amazing and we love her. Go Jess!
Tehya MacKenzie With eyes that could break your heart, Tehya’s beauty reveals a person of compassion, love and honesty. When she’s not obsessing over crooning male singer-songwriters, Tehya is driving around is her parents’ hybrid or smart car. Yes, she’s a responsible consumer too. Except when it comes to cheese, there is nothing responsible about Tehya’s cheese consumption.
Kirsten Parker-Sutton What can I tell you about Kirsten… well, she’s tiny, but loud. Tiny enough that we can suspend her from the wall with duct tape. Loud enough that you always know when she’s around. She’s like a human megaphone. And what comes out of her mouth is laughter, comedy, compliments and enthusiasm. She shouts from rooftops that things that should be shouted from rooftops.
Lindsey Doehle On a scale from 1 to 10, Lindsey rates as an 11 for positivity, 12 for hard work, and 15 for uber-coolness. I could just go on and on about her. If the staff were a bunch of Zoo animals, Lindsey would be the panda bear. Who doesn’t love panda bears?
Alli Matfin Alli Matfin is an amazing mix of brains, muscle, ambition and grace.  She wins incredible scholarships, designs composting projects, skis down mountains, and grows incredible curly hair.  Her strength is evident in all aspects of her being, and you’ll never meet a more lovely friend than you will in Alli Matfin.
Jevta Lukic pronounced Yevta Lukitch. He’s Serbian, he loves Brittney Spears, and he looks great in sunglasses. Jevta was born to dance and cheer; he’s all limbs and ready to flail them, gracefully of course. He’s a barrel of monkeys, or a herd of elephants depending on how you want to look at it, and we love him for all his zaniness. Jevta’s good people.
Hilary O’Reilly Hilary is like camp’s own body guard. She’s tough and scrappy, so beware. If you want to mess with camp, you’ll have to go through Hil first. When there are no dangers on the horizon you can count on this girl for some hip-to-be-cool conversation.  She’ll lay it down. Freestyle.
Aly Lahoda Aly takes things seriously. Even marsh mellow roasting. Her raw talent only gets her so far, it is her perseverance and determination that takes her the rest of the way. Aly is going places in life. It might be the world championships of marsh mellow roasting, it might be somewhere else. Only time will tell. In the interim, Aly lights up The YES with all of her many talents and gifts.
Kelsi Cox Kelsi travels the world fighting for social justice, kind of like a super hero. She’s wicked smart, super fun, and always speaks her mind. Kelsi brings to The YES the most mindful, caring, and grounded presence, until you turn on the Dance Hall, that’s when things get intense.
Eliot May Eliot is a surfer, poet, and traveling yogi. He brings us insights, adventure stories, and rhyming couplets from his nomadic wanderings. He’s got an amazing ability to express all the love in his heart, and a deep sense of appreciation for the beauty of life.