Letters from NJ@KT Camp – Wednesday Wow!
Greetings Friends and happy Wednesday! It’s been another wonderful day in the Northeast Kingdom, and campers have really hit their stride. We received a few bits of wonderful news yesterday that has all of the staff and coaches buzzing! First, thanks to the hard work of our three trail work groups yesterday, Kingdom Trails Association has re-opened the New T, River Run and Webs trails! The trails manager sent a personal note of thanks, and is excited for more great work from our folks. Finally, we’ve received feedback from numerous local friends and business owners/employees on the tremendously positive attitudes and demeanor on display by NJ NICA campers. They are embodying our camp themes of Respect and Ride with Gratitude, and we are so proud of them! Our students are leading by example and people are noticing. How wonderful is that?!
In other news, this year’s camp not only has more coaches than ever before, we have three recent graduate coaches on campus! These graduates are not only amazing humans, they are blossoming into effective and caring leaders. We had the honor today of recognizing Coach Ania Kondratowicz with the Future Leader Award. All of our coaches here are rock stars, but Ania has set herself apart, both in preparations leading up to camp and in all of her daily duties. She is ever-present and engaged with campers, both on the trails and on campus. She constantly seeks additional responsibility as a coach, and leads by example with her kind and calm demeanor, particularly with students. She embodies NICA’s core values! Congratulations Ania on this very well earned award!
We also reward a camper each day who stands out with the “Camper of the Day” award. Today’s award winner was Danny S., who was recognized for his stellar performance during trail maintenance. He slung dirt like a champ, and was genuinely engaged with the trail maintenance crew to learn the techniques. He is eternally kind to all of the other campers and coaches, and is always first to lend a hand or offer words of encouragement to his peers. Great work Danny!
The evening activities presented a golden opportunity for our more senior campers. Darrell Gray, Burke Mountain Academy’s High Performance Director, in cooperation with Coach David Kahl (BMA ’83), presented a session on nutrition and training in the Ronnie Berlack Training Center, BMA’s state-of-the-art indoor training facility which earned recognition as a U.S. Ski Team High Performance Center in 2019. The building is named in honor of Ronnie Berlack, BMA ’12. Ronnie earned a spot on the U.S. Ski Team development squad in the spring of 2013 and was officially named to the team in the spring of 2014. Tragically, Ronnie lost his life in an avalanche in Soelden, Austria, on January 5, 2015.
Students and coaches were captivated by Coach Darrell’s inspirational discussion. Topics included the history of BMA and the Ronnie Berlack Training Center and a variety of training topics. Perhaps the most impactful part of Darrell’s talk was his sharing of Ronnie’s journey as an athlete. Students and coaches alike were mesmerized. Thank you for sharing your space and knowledge with our community Darrell!
