Jesse Scherer - Camp Director

Jesse has lived his entire life in and around the camping business. Starting as the youngest camper at Eagle Hill and rising through the ranks to become a waiter, counselor, Group Leader, Head Counselor and Camp Director, Jesse’s years of camp experience at Eagle Hill serve him well as he leads the camp through its fifth decade of operation under his family’s ownership. After receiving an undergrad and law degree, Jesse has spent the last 20 plus years running camp on a full time basis, recruiting campers and staff, developing the camp program during the off-season and directing the operations during the summer at camp itself. As the father of twins and career “camp person”, Jesse prides himself on taking the time to get to know each camper personally and has the ability to affect each camper’s experience with the individual camper’s needs in mind.

Toba Duggan - Operations Manager

Toba joins her brother Jesse each summer as an integral part of the management of Camp Eagle Hill. As the Operations Manager, Toba is involved with overseeing the workings of the camp’s kitchen, dining room, office, canteen, infirmary and laundry service. Toba is a 3rd Grade Teacher with the Mount Vernon Board of Education and the mother of three daughters, all of whom have been campers for many years at Eagle Hill. As a former camper and longtime staff member, Toba understands the value and worthwhile nature of the kind of camp experience children can have at Camp Eagle Hill.

Marie Peterson - Program Director

Marie is thrilled to be a part of the Eagle Hill team. As the oldest of seven children and having worked professionally as a school teacher, Marie has been involved with the education and care of children her entire life. Marie holds certifications in elementary and special education from St. Thomas Aquinas College in New York as well as a certification in middle school math education from The University of Notre Dame in Indiana. Marie has worked with children of all ages and currently works as a gymnastics instructor with children from ten months of age through college-aged students. Marie has been teaching gymnastics for 11 years and has recently supervised the Eagle Hill gymnastics program in addition to her responsibilities as the camp’s Program Director. Marie has worked with Girl Scouting groups, Cheerleading groups and many, many other groups over the years. New and different experiences are the absolute best way to learn, grow and gain opportunities, in Marie’s opinion. Marie is excited to bring to camp that which she has learned through her vast experiences and enjoys contributing to the growth of Eagle Hill’s wonderful group of campers and staff while continuing to add to her own personal growth through her work at camp.

Marika Dawkins - Tennis Director

Marika welcomes the opportunity to continue to share her knowledge of and passion for tennis. Marika studied at the Hampton School for Girls and uses her experience as a tennis player & director to run the Eagle Hill Tennis Program. Marika started playing tennis at a very young age and fell in love with the sport. She has played on high school and college tennis teams. At the college level, she played #1 singles and doubles from 2003-2006. Marika is a PhD Student in Juvenile Justice at Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, TX.

Courtney Hudgins - Waterfront Director

Courtney is looking forward to returning to the waterfront at Eagle Hill for her third unforgettable summer. Courtney joins the Eagle Hill team from Nova Scotia Canada where she works as a Preschool Teacher. She has studied Sociology at Saint Francis Xavier University and is currently working towards obtaining a diploma in Early Childhood Education. Holding certifications as a water safety instructor, lifesaving instructor/examiner, swim instructor and water art instructor, Courtney feels very at home on the waterfront. Spending many years as a varsity athlete, Courtney also looks forward to helping out on the courts and fields at Eagle Hill. She strives to create a fun, safe environment for the campers and staff and cherishes her summers at Camp Eagle Hill.

Ricky Stakem - Theater Director

Ricky is looking forward to an exciting season at the Eagle Hill Playhouse. He is a May graduate of The Johns Hopkins University (M.S., School Counseling) and works for Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) as a teacher and children’s theatre director. He also hopes to spend some more time in Eagle Hill’s gymnastics pavilion. As a NCAA/USA Gymnastics Level 10 official, he enjoys contributing his expertise to this area of camp as well.

Ricky has studied acting, voice, dance, music, and theatre at the professional and collegiate level. He has directed, music-directed, and/or choreographed productions of You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, All Shook Up, Beauty and the Beast, High School Musical, Aida, Seussical, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cinderella, Seussical, among others. Performance credits include All Shook Up (Chad), The Wizard of Oz (Scarecrow), Grease (Roger), Into The Woods (Jack), Cinderella (Prince), High School Musical (Zeke), A Chorus Line (Don), Children of Eden (Shem). He offers quality theatre instruction in exchange for hard work and energy from campers.

Heather Patterson - Art Director

Heather Patterson is the head of the Arts Program at Camp Eagle Hill for 2011. This is her third year heading up the Barn at camp and she is looking forward to another exciting and creative summer. New in the Barn for 2011, Heather will be teaching a Fine Arts program, where campers will be painting en plein air in oils throughout the camp as well as still life and figurative studies in the Barn's back studio. She will also be working with Ricky in Camp Eagle Hill’s Theatre Department to run a set design workshop at camp.

Heather is an award winning professional artist who currently resides in Rye, NY with her husband and two children, Zoe and Louie who are campers at Eagle Hill. Her paintings can be seen online at www.paintingrye.blogspot.com and at Gallery 52 in Rye. She is also the President of Boardwalk Art Inc which produces the Boardwalk Arts & Music Festival at Rye Playland as well as other arts events.