By Ava Lingerfelt

Every summer, Collegiate offers Summer Quest, a summer day camp program that offers over 200 camps. There is a wide range of camps suitable for kids from the age of four to teenagers in high school. Summer Quest offers a caring community with many opportunities for kids to fill their summers with excitement, exploration, and new experiences.  

Girls lacrosse camp. Photo credit: Neil Etheridge.

Summer Quest has a variety of camps that are suitable for all ages. There are educational camps such as
mathematics and reading camps, but there are also outdoor camps, such as fishing and mountain biking. There are also Minecraft and robotics camps. There are camps available for all interests and camps fit for every student. Camps are open to everyone; with the exception of Upper School courses for credit, a child does not have to be a Collegiate student in order to attend Summer Quest. Summer Quest offers morning camps, afternoon camps, and all-day camps. If a student would like to participate in a morning and afternoon camp, or an all-day camp, there is lunch offered in Collegiate’s cafeteria, or students can pack a lunch.   

Summer Quest continues to grow every summer. During the summer of 2022, there were 4,214 students in camp, and a total of 1,650 families that registered for camps. Director of Quest Programs Neil Etheridge explains that, “It grows about 100 to 200 families per year.” Etheridge says how, “Over the past 10 years, [Upper School Director of Student Life] Beth Kondorossy has done a great job offering more and more camps every summer.”

Campers participating in slip and slide at all-day camp. Photo credit: Ava Lingerfelt.

When planning for the summer, Summer Quest staff look at which camps the students enjoy most and are most popular and create similar camps. Etheridge says they take the “foundational things of sports camps and educational camps, such as Hooked on Books, which have been most successful, and we have created different versions of that.” This offers a wider variety for students. This summer, Etheridge shared that Summer Quest is going to have “a new outdoors adventure camp where the kids will be able to go kayaking and rock climbing with RVA Paddlesports, which the older kids will definitely enjoy.”

Collegiate has many camps for Lower and Middle Schoolers, such as cooking, art, gymnastics, lacrosse, fishing, mountain biking, swimming, and more. Summer Quest also offers various camps and classes for credit for Upper Schoolers. Etheridge explains that Summer Quest, “offers four for-credit classes, College Application Jump Start, as well as Health and Wellness I, which is very popular.” These courses are very appealing to Upper School students who want to get ready for college or want to complete a course over the summer, before the school year. Rising juniors and seniors who attend Collegiate have the ability to take a four-week English elective, which frees up a period for a semester during the school year that can be used for another class or a study hall. 

Students singing in a musical camp. Photo credit: Neil Etheridge.

Upper School students can also work at the camps as counselors. Etheridge explains that, “The kids look up to the older kids, and they enjoy spending time with them.” Some younger campers form bonds with the Upper Schoolers at camp and view them as role models. Etheridge also says that, “Some of them are taking camps that maybe aren’t their favorite, but they love one counselor, which makes it their favorite camp.” The bond shared between the campers and the counselors at Summer Quest contributes to Summer Quest’s welcoming community. Etheridge says that, during the school year, “the kids can see some of the former counselors who attend Collegiate around school, which is really neat, and it really builds that community that is so important here.”

Camper playing on the Collegiate playground. Photo credit: Neil Etheridge.

My mother, Lisa Lingerfelt, says that my brother and I “attended Collegiate camps growing up, and it was the highlight of their summers.” She also says, “My children attended a variety of summer camps, but Collegiate camps were by far their favorite.” Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab is the parent of a 6th Grader at Collegiate who has participated in Summer Quest since he was five years old. Svab says, “he’s always had fun and enjoyed getting to know the teachers and counselors. He’s done sports, Minecraft, woodworking, and many other activities over the years. It’s a great way to keep him active and learning over the summer.”

Many Upper Schoolers enjoy their time working for Summer Quest during the summer. Andrew Ascoli (‘24) says he loved working at Summer Quest because every day was full of exciting activities. He worked at a soccer camp last summer and enjoyed playing soccer with the kids, as well as making personal connections with them. He says, “I spent a lot of time with the kids while working, so we all got to know each other really well, and I would talk to the kids during breaks and during lunch, so I learned a lot about the kids at camp.” 

Boys lacrosse camp. Photo credit: Neil Etheridge.

Meredith Lanning (‘24) also worked at Summer Quest in 2022. She worked at extended care, which is held in the main Cougar Quest space in Luck Hall in the Lower School. She played games, played outside, and did various arts and crafts with the campers. She also grew up attending Summer Quest camps herself, and she says,“This is probably one of my favorite parts, because I could compare and contrast from my personal experience and hopefully give the kids a great experience.” She also says,  “I felt that I was able to personally connect with a lot of the kids, since I was there quite a few weeks during the summer.” 

I also worked at Summer Quest over the summer, and it was one of the best decisions I have made. I attended Summer Quest when I was younger, every summer between Kindergarten and 8th Grade. I loved going to Summer Quest as a camper and enjoyed working there just as much. I loved making connections with each camper and seeing the smiles light up on their faces every day when they walked through the door. I am so grateful to have grown up going to Summer Quest because I made some of my best childhood memories there, and I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work there. The people I met at Summer Quest are people I consider my best friends to this day. 

Camper jumping in the pool at an all-day Collegiate camp. Photo credit: Neil Etheridge.

Etheridge says Upper School students should consider working for Summer Quest during the summer of 2023. If you worked last summer and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, then Etheridge would love to have you back. He says, “We would love to have back the people who enjoyed working with the kids.”

Registration for 2023 Summer Quest camps begins on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 at 9 a.m. For further information about Collegiate Summer Quest camps, visit Collegiate’s website and go to Summer Quest’s page.