Latest News

March 24, 2009 - Ralph Geilker's latest Field Camp videos can be found here:  

Check them out.  Ralph is the best.  Others are found on the "Film Fest" button at the left.  

April 29, 2008 - The third week of camp just filled up, so here I am updating the website.  News?  Not much.  Most of the counselors are coming back, with the notable exception of Michael Beirne who is getting to the summer internship phase of college and will be working in DC this summer.  He will be missed as he has been at Field Camp every summer since it opened.  Also, Robert Mosolgo-Clark is going to be in China most of the summer teaching English, and we hope to see him at the end of it to tell us how it went.  He won't be there for the Olympics, but he is fulfilling his goal of learning about China this summer.  We're holding the Elijahball tourney during the second week of camp on the Fourth of July.  And the Film Fest has officially displaced Field Camp Day as the second-to-last Friday activity, this year scheduled for August 8.  Field Camp Day will be held August 1.  Enjoy the Spring and see you in the summer.

February 10th, 2008 - I haven't made an update in six months due to my immersion in the Field School.  In September, after several years of planning, I opened Field School of Charlottesville, a boys' middle school located in Crozet Park.  We now have 23 boys in 5th and 6th Grades, many of whom are veterans of Field Camp.  It has been a wonderful year, we're looking forward to growing next year and becoming an established part of the local independent school world.  For more info, check out the news and photos on the website.  See you all in the summer.

August 21, 2007 - Christopher and The Yellow Submarine made the cover of the C-Ville this week--check it out...

See the story at http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=121304062461064&ShowArticle_ID=11432008073506944

ay 29, 2007 - Please join us for our June 8th & 9th Summer Reading Book Fair.  Come and buy books for summer reading at Village School on Friday from 12 to 7 and at Crozet Park on Saturday from 9 to 3.  Choose from hundreds of title and help support the Field School Scholarship Fund.  

May 28, 2007 - I spent the Memorial Day Weekend camping on the Eastern Shore with 7 Field Camp campers who have been participating in a Leadership Program this year.  They are, from left to right back row, Alex, Adam, Beck, Ralph Geilker, Catherine Wilkerson, and Lucy, with James in front.  We enjoyed the 62-degree ocean water at Chincoteague Beach and saw the famous ponies in the fields.  

March 3, 2007 - I have posted pictures below from one of our two most recent hikes, with a group at Old Rag on February 11.  Thanks to all who participated.  

January 26, 2007 - Yesterday, Meredith Montague and I took 5 Field Camp counselors and longtime campers to Landon School's Ethics and Leadership Conference.  I set this conference up last year when I was working there as the Ethics Chair, and remained as the program director this year.  We managed to persuade Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and Washington Post writer Charles Lane to join us this year, along with many other speakers and presenters in a day-long conference aimed at improving school integrity and leadership.  I was tremendously proud of our Field Camp contingent's participation, and we look forward to making this an annual pilgrimage.  

Campers at the Landon Ethics and Leadership Conference	Emily, Lucy, Tupelo, Meredith Montague, Catherine Wilkerson, James, and Ralph Geilker at Landon School in Bethesda, Md.
Sandra Day O'Connor gives the keynote address at the Landon Conference	Hikers at White Oak Canyon

January 10, 2007 - We had our biggest yet offseason hiking crowd during one of these unusually pleasant winter days.  With temperatures reaching into the 60's and the poor redbuds starting to show blooms, we ventured up White Oak Canyon.  Without foliage, the views were wonderful all around, particularly of the falls.  Thanks to all who participated.  Our next hike will be February 11 at Old Rag.

October 16, 2006 - We did our first-ever offseason Field Camp hike yesterday at St. Mary's River.  As the Leadership School had told me, much of the trail was washed out in 2003 when Hurricane Isabel drenched the region.  It was a cool day, and we tried to stay out of the 46-degree water, scaling a wall of dirt and rocks down by the river at one point.  We made it far up the river, but not quite to the swimming hole.  It was a beautiful fall day, with the leaves showing orange, yellow, green, and red--the front side of the fall colors.  Special thanks to Peter and Betsy Agelasto for coming along and providing us with a few more excellent tour guides. 

September 15, 2006 - I've just launched a new series of Field Camp hikes for the fall, winter and spring.  Check them out and consider bringing the whole family along.

September 1, 2006 - I'm just now getting around to updating the site from the summer.  It was a great one, with more campers than we've ever had, and several new Friday morning activities including Variety Pack and the Moormans River Festival.  I'll do my best to document it all here in the next few weeks and get the site fully updated again.  I am now also working on developing the Field School project, and anticipating putting together some off-season hiking trips and overnight camping adventures.  I will share these with all of you as they develop.  Enjoy the fall, and remember, if you see me in town, say "hello." 

June 20, 2006 - Camp is now officially full for the summer.  Thanks to everyone for signing up--we are looking forward to a great summer.  Thanks also to all those who so generously supported the Field School Book Fair over the weekend.  It was a great experience for us, and we are hoping to build on it with a little better fair every summer.

June 5, 2006 - I had this bright idea a few months ago to hold a summer reading book fair.  When I initially looked into the matter, I couldn't find a company to work with to my satisfaction, so I scrapped the idea.  But then a few weeks ago, I learned about a Northern Virginia company called Bookworm Plantation that allowed a great deal of discretion in the selection of titles.  And so, at the last minute, I am staging a Summer Reading Book Fair.  It will feature most of the titles we have used in camp for readaloud over the years, plus, of course, many more.  We will have from 300 to 500 titles for children from elementary ages through middle school.  Come to the village School at 211 E. High Street on Friday, June 16th from 1 to 7 p.m. or Saturday June 17th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to peruse the titles.  I will be there both days to talk about camp or Field School, and to perhaps help with book selection.  All proceeds will benefit Field School of Charlottesville.  I hope to see you there.

May 7, 2006 - I've just logged in to make updates to the site since the first and last weeks are now full.  I've been busy campaigning for Field School--the new MS for boys I am opening next year.  For the first time in 8 years, I'll be living full-time in Charlottesville next year.  I have thoroughly enjoyed living near D.C., but I am ready to move back full-time and not drive my car quite so much.  Tupelo is also looking forward to spending more time running about around the cabin.  I have decided to open a tutoring business next year, the details of which I will be sharing with all the camp parents soon.  This will be a good way for me to continue to do what I do best while meeting a wide array of Charlottesville-area families and potential students/campers.  We are also getting all geared up for camp, of course.  I am excited about several of our new staffers, including Karim Logue, Gretchen Goodrich, Meredyth Haas, and Natalie Woolworth, whose bios will show up soon on the staff page.  In addition, most of the old regulars are back--Meredith, David, Michael, Elijah, Robert, and Ralph.  We are looking forward to another great summer.  See you all soon. 

January 10, 2006 - Happy New Year!  I have been seeing many camp families recently in Charlottesville in a series of meetings I am holding in order to gauge interest in starting a middle school for boys in 2007.  Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive.  For more information on the effort, go to www.fieldschoolcv.net.  Also, I have had to change our dates for this summer a bit.  Please consult the registration page.  Enjoy this spring-like winter (60 degrees today!) while it lasts.  I will be visiting the various camp fairs in town in the next few months and I hope to see some old faces and meet some new campers there. 

September 29, 2005 - Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill out and return the evaluations from the summer.  It was a great one--safe, fun, and growing.  It stayed wet enough, from multiple thunderstorms which seemed always to come on Thursday evening, keeping a good flow in the river.  We had a great staff, and great campers from all over the area and as far away as Florida, New Mexico and Arizona.  We're still updating the site from the summer (it's a big job), and will have all the pictures in from this one soon.  I have posted the dates for next summer on the homepage, and look for two sessions of the Leadership School next year, a beginner's and an advanced version.  I hope to see all of you around C-ville soon. 

July 16, 2005 - Kerry Moran kindly gave me an article this week on Richard Louv's book that I noted below--Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.  He makes a passionate plea to encourage parents to get their kids into the woods.  He thinks our society, by virtue of over-exposure to the omniscient TV and computer, is depriving children of a full connection to the world. His work is indeed an argument for spending time hiking, exploring, and wandering through the outdoors, just as we have the opportunity to do at Field Camp.  Not an hour passes here that a child does not come to me, hand outstretched, telling me that I must look at his newfound creature.  Or maybe it's a rock or a leave.  Sometimes, a camper wants me to have it.  I came home this week with a blue rock in my back pocket--blue but with a patch that faded a bit toward purple.  It was a beautiful rock.  I typically tell everyone that we go swimming in the afternoon or on our hikes, but the truth is that the campers typically swim briefly, followed by hours of other things--examining rocks, catching tadpoles, chasing water snakes, inspecting crayfish, digging holes, or dressing themselves in river mud.  Though my training as a teacher makes me inclined to program the whole day, I am often doing the best job I can when I just simply take all the kids to a nice spot and let them explore the river bed.  This past week, we were lucky to find the Rapidan River on Tuesday a little high, incredibly clear, and refreshingly cold.  And it was pretty much the same on the Moormans at Snake Hole.  The kids found lots of critters, overturned many rocks, slipped and fell and righted themselves, saw big fish darting about in the shadows, and came back with stories of big adventures.  We are looking forward to visiting Paul's Creek this coming week with Field Camp, and Meredith and David Montague are eager to begin the Leadership School.  On Friday, we will all participate in our first-ever Andy Goldsworthy competition, inspired by the renowned nature artist.  I am excited to see what the kids will create.  

July 8, 2005 - We just had our first-ever week off during camp, and it has been a relaxing and fun time for all of us.  We began the summer with two excellent weeks before the break.  The full-time staff consists of Todd Barnett, Meredith Montague, Jay Fennell, Bart McIntosh, Michael Beirne, Elijah kirsch, Robert Mosolgo-Clark and Charlotte Hornsby, as well as David Montague, George Craddock and Sara Foster-Reeves, each of whom will work at least two weeks.  On our June 30 hike up to Snake Hole, we saw a dead copperhead in the middle of the road and got to look it over, but later, we had an even better sighting--a black bear.  He or she was scraping at the trunk of a dead pine about 15 yards off the path and we all had a good look for several minutes before he or she spooked.  That marked the first time we had ever seen a bear in that neck of the woods.  

May 23, 2005 - I just heard this story on NPR's "Morning Edition" about "nature-deficit disorder," the idea that kids are not getting out into nature enough and that it is adversely affecting their brain development.  The guy has some interesting points, ones that argue for sending kids to outdoors camps.  Hear it at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4665933.

April 17, 2005 - Hey everyone.  It's the middle of spring, and the registrations are coming in quick for this summer.  We will be at Camp Albemarle all seven weeks this year.  Meredith, Michael, Bart, Elijah and I are due back, along, of course, with Tupelo.  Darren and Mimi are not returning, however, as one has taken a full-time job at the MS Society and the other is pregnant.  Guess which is which.  Congratulations to both of them whom we will see often this summer. 

October 21, 2004 - If I am going to bill this as the latest news, I clearly need to update it more regularly.  I've been in touch with most of the counselors over the past few weeks, and it sounds as if everyone is doing well.  I saw Mimi and Darren over the weekend in Charlottesville at the Tim O'Brien concert at the Prism.  Meredith is working very hard in Maine at Rockport College in a photography program.  Michael Beirne is also laboring away through his senior year and doing his college applications.  I heard from Carling at Virginia Tech, where she is continuing her agricultural program.  And Tupelo, whom everyone is really wondering about, is very happy.  Last night, I had a lot of leftover chicken that I fed her, and she was quite satisfied.  I am going to update the website over the next week or so, and then start the full-scale planning for next summer.  We have decided to transform our various older kids' programs into two elements, including a continuation of the Leadership School from last year and 3 "High Adventure" Camps, featuring rock climbing, paddling, and mountain biking.  I will have something in the mail to all our former campers in the next few months.  Take care and happy trails!  --Todd

June 27, 2004 - Sunday evening and I am now fully rested from the first week of camp.  I had such a good time this week.  I had the opportunity to get to know a few of our new counselors better--Darren Ball and Mimi Pohl.  Darren has just finished a Master's Degree in Education at U.Va. and he will be teaching special education next year at Fluvanna High School.  Mimi has just moved here from Orlando where she worked the last five years as a killer whale trainer at Sea World.  This week, Darren showed us how to select campsites and build tents while Mimi did a lesson on water purification.  Mimi also showed us some film of her work with the whales in Florida.  We visited Riprap Run which, despite its 55ish degree temperature, was so enticing that practically everyone got in.  We saw an unidentified large animal in a cave behind the lodge at Camp Albemarle, we made rock art by the river, we played a few frankly uninspiring games of capture-the-flag (we can do better!), and we had great days by the river despite all the rain.  The big star of the first week, though, was probably my new dog Tupelo.  She got so much attention, in fact, that I decided to dedicate a webpage to her.  I am constructing that next, so look for it on the left if I don't run out of time.  See you all next week.