Julie Kirchner (Camp Director)

Julie will be working as the camp director again this year.  She has many years of experience working in administration and with children of all ages. She has an Associate in Business degree (Heald Business College) and an Associate Degree in Arts and Science (Olympic College). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Education degree through Western Washington University. During the school year, she works for the Central Kitsap School District as the first grade teacher for the Off Campus Program and she substitutes in classrooms whenever possible. She enjoys being around children so much that she went half way around the world, to Africa (Sierra Leone), to teach math and reading skills and strategies to children in the Children of the Nations (COTN) orphan compound and surrounding villages. She is excited to be returning as a part of the Kitsap Mountaineers Youth Theater Camp program.

Lee Ann Hittenberger (Education Coordinator/ Choreographer/Instructor)

Ms Lee Ann was one of the originators of Youth Theater Camp. She has taught theater to kids from West Sound Academy (Drama Instructor), Bainbridge Performing Arts Theater School (1st thru 8th grade including workshops in film and stunt fighting), Kitsap Forest Theater Youth Theater Camp (Education Coordinator), Edmonds Children’s Theater Camp (Education Director), Stone Soup (Teaching Artist), Village Theater (Combat Instructor), Tacoma Little Theater Winter Camp (Fight Combat Instructor), Bainbridge KidiMu (Brain Dance), Costume Construction for the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and Garment Construction for the Art Institute of Seattle. She directed Charlotte’s Web for Edmonds Community College. Professionally she has produced stage fight and/or dance choreography for numerous regional groups including BPA, Driftwood Players, Burien Little Theater, Freehold Studio Series, Mountaineer Forest Theater, Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theater, Jewel Box (Poulsbo), Greenstage, Seattle Prep, Madrona School and Lakeside Middle School. She trained at Freehold Studio in the Meisner Program, Ensemble Training Intensive and Shakespeare, has an AA in fashion/costume design, and BS in Occupational Therapy from U of W with additional training in The Brain Dance from Creative Dance Center. She holds an advanced actor combatant status with Society of American Fight Directors with skill proficiency in 8 stage combat weapons. Ms. Lee Ann has worked for PNB, 5th Ave Theater, ACT, Paramont, Intiman, & Seattle Opera through the Theatrical Wardrobe Union and has performed professionally with Village Theater, Civic Light Opera, Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theater, Renton Civic, and Minnesota Rep. In 2006 she won Best Actress Award by Kitsap Arts & Entertainment for portraying Ms Helen in Road to Mecca at Changing Scene Theater, Bremerton.

Ken Michels (Movement/Stage Combat/Clowning Instructor)

Acting-Training: Directors Studio, Seattle Wa. American Conservatory theatre, S.F. Ca. H.B. Studios, N.Y. N.Y. American Academy of Dramatic Arts, N.Y.N.Y. Dance/Movement: Virginia Corkle, Seattle, Wa. Ann Marie Garvin, S.F. Ca. Twyla Tharp N.Y.N.Y. Richard Morse, Morse Mime Co. Philip Burton, Actors Movement Studio, Rasa Allen, Mummenschanze,  Pilobulos,  Teaching Experience: Artist in Residence, Seattle Public Schools. Created a physical theatre program for Marymount College, Tarrytown N.Y. Taught Mime at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Morse Mime co and the Actors Movement Studio in N.Y. Stage Combat with David Boushey.  Performed With the Morse Mime Co. on Broadway at Lincoln Centers Alice Tully Hall. Artistic director and Performer for the Picc a. As a performer for numerous productions including the title roll of The Elephant Man in N.Y. and other various rolls ranging from Tigger in Winnie the Pooh,  D'artagnan in The Three Musketeers , Quasimodo in the Musical Hunchback of Notre Dame and Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. FILM: Dr. Bird in Robert Altmans The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. T.V.: The Broque Opera Companys The Ring of the Fettuccinis. Currently he will be directing for Bainbridge Performing Arts and The Mountaineers.

Beth Tesh (Theater Camp Medic, Assistant Camp Director)

Combining her love for children’s education, outdoor activities and first aid, she is delighted to return to camp! She’s been involved with Kitsap Theater since 1974 & been in school choirs since age 12. Her favorite holiday is Halloween -- guess why! Her experience comes from childhood adventures in CA., OR., WA. & Canada. Whether hiking, boating, fishing or clamming, her family continues these traditions. The mountains hold a special place in her heart after many years as a backpacker and professional ski patroller. She is currently at Stevens Pass Resort & Seattle Public School District, as well as returning to college for the Medical Assistant Program. Ms. Tesh is happily married and has 2 teenage sons who share the love for the out of doors.

Kitsap Forest Theater Mountaineers member 1974-current Committee Chairwoman; co-producer, house mgr, prop mgr, costume mgr, set construction, chorus/dancer, backstage childcare, cook Camp Counselor, Medic, Cook Dancing Coyote Nature Camp 2008 – 2010 outdoor ed for ages 7-13, rafting, swimming, horseback riding, hiking, climbing/rappelling, paper-making, weaving, sewing, crafts Out-of-school-time Instructor ages 7 - 18 years 2001-2010 Professional Ski Patroller Stevens Pass Resort 1978 - 2000

John Lange (Acting Instructor)

John Lange has done more than a few things as a theatre practitioner.  After securing a drama degree from the University Of Washington (and later a masters from Western Washington) he went on to teach and direct drama at Seattle Preparatory School for 25 years while directing in community theatre over 10 years.  More recently he has taken up work as a driving instructor for Seattle Schools, has put pen to paper as a late-blooming playwright and is drawn to a certain summer camp held in good weather in a forested setting.  He has been with camp for three years. Hobbies include biking, guitar/banjo playing and walking his dogs Binna and Wolf.

Abigail Best (Music Director/Instructor)

Abigail is a Seattle area actor and pianist. She holds a BFA in Acting and has spent more than 20 years on the piano bench. She has played the piano for countless auditions and shows in Seattle and has music directed productions at Stone Soup Theatre, Driftwood Players and Kitsap Forest Youth Camp. Abby has taught theatre classes for Taproot Theatre Company and Circle of Friends for Mental Health. In 2004, Abby went to Harvard University to study with members of the Moscow Art Theatre where she played Sonya in Uncle Vanya, directed by Yuri Yeremin. Favorite roles in Seattle include Liesl in The Sound of Music with Seattle Performing Arts Fellowship and the Electric Eel in Captain Intrinsic with Redwood Theatre. Abby currently studies acting with Charles Waxberg, Artistic Director of Theatre 9/12 and teaches piano lessons. This will be her fifth year with Youth Theater Camp

Janna Shields (Acting/Movement Instructor)

Janna has been involved in the theatre for as long as she can remember (since sophomore year in high school!). She believes that it saved her from her shy self and opened her up to the world of the living. She participated in numerous performances over the years, including a few roles that still make her giddy today: Huckleberry Finn in a production of Tom Sawyer at Edmonds Community College, and Wilbur in a production of Charlotte's Web. She attended the Creative Dance Summer Institue for Teachers to intigrate movement into the class room and teach The Brain Dance. She has been involved in teaching, helping, and running up and down the trails for the Mountaineers Theatre Camp for the last three years and taught acting (and fun) for a year in Poulsbo at The Galletta School of Dance. Janna's passions are strong in a deep love of the environment and the belief that we spend so much time acting everyday - than why not do it on stage? This camp position is a joy to mix both of these passions together. Working with the younger folks of the world gives her sense of happiness unmatched. She has been with camp since its inception. Janna hopes to return to college soon to get her BS in Environmental Studies and dreams of being a National Park Service Ranger that can teach kids about caring about our planet through the stage.

Katha Miller-Winder (Co-Chair, The Mountaineers Kitsap Branch Education and Conservation Committee; General Coordinator, All Around Help)

Mountaineers Youth Theater Camp is one of the programs over which the Kitsap Branch Education and Conservation Committee has oversight. Katha is proud to be able to offer such an incredible program and to lend a hand as needed. A passionate advocate of getting young people outside, Katha loves the fact that theater camp not only teaches theatrical skills but also gives campers useful life skills and fosters connections with the natural world. She has a doctorate in Political Science from Vanderbilt University and teaches for the Central Kitsap Off Campus program. This will be her fifth year associated with theater camp.