Hi! my name is Celeste Manka, I’m 21, and am ecstatic to be one of this year’s new Camp Augusta Counselors!  For four years, I taught at a surf camp in Humboldt County, braving the shark-infested waters and having laughing matches with the seagulls.  I am currently a Child Development major with a minor in French and Special Education.  I love working with others and feel strongly that an open mind, a splash of color and vivacious spirit can help everyone learn.  I plan to take this exuberance to my future career as an Elementary School teacher.  I thoroughly enjoy traveling and learning new languages and customs, which I plan on bringing back in future to the kids I teach and expose them to all the places I travel and explore.  

I spent last summer in a study abroad summer school session in Nantes, France, immersing myself in the language, culture and of course plenty of chocolate and cheese!  I revel in being in the outdoors, backpacking, hiking, horseback riding, cross country skiing, whitewater rafting, canoeing, stand up paddle boarding, surfing and swimming as well as others I have yet to discover.  During the school year, I work for Adventure Outings, where I get to exercise my zeal for the outdoors by leading fellow students on outdoor adventures such as surfing, stand up paddling, and backpacking.  Another passion of mine is horses, and I delight in taking long trail rides up in the hills with different horses in the community that I help to exercise.  Between those long trail rides, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Chico Community Childcare center last semester, where I competed in multiple trike races and aided in the construction of massive sand castles.   Special magic about me (other than being too fast to be seen) includes my high-spirited bounciness, the fact that I can wiggle my ears, and that I am conversational in French and fluent in Pig Latin.  FRUITT!!!!! Is my absolute favorite food everrrrrr, especially blueberries!  I hope that my excitement about camp and all its activities rubs off and my campers are infected with my thirst for life in every detail!  I look forward to meeting so many new individuals and learning the special qualities possessed by each staff member and camper alike.  Can’t wait to see y’all! Here is a riddle that you can ponder until camp:  What runs but never walks, has a bed but never sleeps and has a mouth but never eats???