Staff

2009 CAMP SHOLOM STAFF

Mimi Winston, Director Mimi Winston has over a decade of experience working with children in public school, religious school, and camp settings. She has previously worked as a staff member at the Orange County Bureau of Jewish Education and served as Camp Sholom’s Special Needs counselor last year. This June she is completing her elementary school teaching credential and is excited to continue her summer building relationships with children, staff, and parents at Camp Sholom.		Jordan Vaughter, Assistant Director Jordan Vaughter is a familiar face at Temple Beth Sholom. He has served as an assistant youth advisor for BSTY and OCTY the last three years and works as a Hebrew tutor in the TBS Religious School. Jordan has staffed numerous NFTY retreats, winning “Staff Member of the Year” in 2008. He grew up as a camper at Camp Sholom and Gindling Hilltop Camp and has worked for the past four summers as a counselor for the Wilshire Boulevard Temple Camps.
K'vod Weider Ruach/Avodah K’vod Wieder, M.A received his masters degree from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto. K’vod has been teaching classes, leading retreats, and counseling students in meditation, prayer, and creative forms of Jewish spirituality in the United States for over twelve years. He is also a professional magician who has performed at restaurants and private parties. K’vod has served as the assistant director of Chochmat HaLev – a Jewish meditation center in Berkeley, director of the B’nai Tzedek Teen Philanthropy Program for the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, and program director for Elat Chayyim Center of Jewish Spirituality. Currently, K’vod is a student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism.		Haley Penan, Art Specialist Hayley is super excited to join the Camp Shalom staff for the first time this summer. During the year she attends UC Berkeley and her specialties are art and music. She's really looking forward to spending the summer with everyone at Camp Sholom!
Rose Thompson, Drama Specialist Rose is excited to be the Drama Specialist at Camp Sholom this summer after spending the past few years as a volunteer. She is looking forward to integrating her theatrical experiences and interests in a Jewish Camp setting. This fall, Rose will be a Senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts, where she is a Creative Writing major.		Adam Chester, Sports Specialist Adam is returning to Camp Sholom for his third summer as the sports specialist/Rishonim counselor. He loves spending time entertaining the little ones and they love him! During high school Adam spent much of his free time coaching a basketball team for kids with special needs. This fall Adam will be entering his first year at Fullerton College and will then transfer to UCLA where he plans to study to become a child psychiatrist. Adam is very excited to start his first summer as sports specialist and can't wait to see all of the kids.
Cammie Ahles, Counselor I'm excited to experience my first summer at Camp Sholom! I'm from Fresno where I attended our Camp Shalom there for eight years and was a counselor last summer. I will be entering my junior year at Chapman Universityandam a Biology major with a Psychology minor.		Matt Duncan, Counselor Matt Duncan is thrilled to be back for another summer at Camp Sholom. During the year he is a full-time college student who spends much of his time working with youth at Temple Beth Sholom’s Religious School and the Bureau of Jewish Education.
Kelsey Negrete, Counselor Kelsey has been attending Camp Sholom every summer since she was in Kindergarten and will be returning for her third summer as a Rishonim counselor. Kelsey has worked as a Lapid at Temple Beth Sholom’s Religious School and attendsthe University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.		Juliet Schwartz, Counselor Juliet will be a Freshmen at USC majoring in biomedical engineering in the Fall. Juliet grew up at Camp Sholom and will be returning this summer for herthird time as a counselor. Juliet is very invested in our camp and the youth programs at Temple Beth Sholom and loves to work with our youngest kids! She worked as a madricha and Hebrew tutorinthe Temple Beth Sholom Religious School andserved as President of OCTY (TBS’s High School Youth Group) this past year.
Mark Schwartz, Counselor Mark will be a senior at Esperanza High School this year. Home grown, Mark isexcited to bereturning this summer forhis second yearas a counselor. In addition to his work asa Temple Beth Sholom Religious School madrich and a math tutor, Mark works on computers andtheir networks in his spare time. Mark is also amember of the Esperanza Tennis Team.		Liora Schneider, Counselor Liora Schneider is happy to be back at Camp Sholom, where she has served as a counselor for four years and as an art specialist for two years. A longtime member of Temple Beth Sholom, she is studying to become a veterinary technician at San Diego Mesa College.
Audrey Taylor, Counselor Audrey is really excited to be a counselor this year at Camp Sholom. Audrey loves playing volleyball in my spare time. She has waited to be a counselor for a long time at camp and now the time is here and “I am so excited!” This fall Audrey will be a Freshmen at Cal State Fullerton.		Cameron Vaughter, Counselor Cameron has been attending Camp Sholom since he was in Kindergarten. He will be returning this summer for his third year as a counselor. Cameron is very invested in our camp and the youth programs at Temple Beth Sholom. You will recognize him from Temple Beth Sholom’s Religious School, where he worked as a Lapid for the last two years. This fall Cameron will be a Freshmen at Cal State Fullerton.
Sarah Newell, Jr. Counselor Sarah Newell is a Junior at El Modena High School and lives in Orange with her parents, two sisters, and lots of pets. Sarah has been involved in all aspects of synagogue life, from attending youth group and recently was Confirmed. She currently hold a position on the OCTY youth group board as the historian and secretary, worked as a counselor on the TBS family retreat, and is a madracha (counselor/assistant) in the Temple Beth Sholom Religious School. Since elementary school, she has looked forward to becoming a counselor at Camp Sholom and is very excited to be able to work with such wonderful people this summer!		Natalie Telson, Jr. Counselor Natalie will be a Junior at Foothill High School in the Fall. She is involved with the lacrosse and water polo teams, ASB, Assistance League, and California Scholarship Federation. In addition, Natalie is in the International Baccalaureate Program. This Spring, she was confirmed with her class at Temple Beth Sholom. Natalie has also been a madrachim for the First Grade Sunday Religious School at TBS. She loves working with children and is very excited to work at Camp Sholom this summer!
Benji Wigley, Jr. Counselor Benji has grown up with Camp Sholom and is thrilled to join the staff as a junior counselor after being a volunteer last summer. He is looking forward to a very exciting summer at Camp Sholom.Benji will be a Junior at Tustin High School this fall.