Katrina Bitar has been so blessed to be the Camp Director at Camp St. Nicholas for 16 years. The campers and staff are truly her family, so she’s counting the days til she is home with them! Katrina hopes to, once again, offer the community a safe place to seek God and their true selves.

Michelle Nicola is the Assistant Director at Camp St. Nicholas.  She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she works as an 8th grade U.S. History teacher.  She loves hiking, going to Tahoe and really any activity where can can be outside adventuring with people she loves. No wonder she loves camp so much! Michelle is so inspired by the Camp St. Nicholas community, their love for others and how it is constantly growing.  She can’t wait to be with all the campers and staff and see what Camp St. Nicholas 2017 has in store!

Luke Pettygrove just graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in music education. He will start the credential program in the fall and student teach at the elementary and high school level for a whole year. Luke has been a part of Camp St. Nicholas for 15 years as a camper, counselor, head counselor, and now as the administrative director. He has a passion for youth ministry and works as a nanny outside of camp. He grew up in Pomona, CA and his home parish is St. Peter’s in Pomona. He is very excited for another year at camp and is working very hard to make this year at camp as special as possible. 

Marcus Kinan will being going into his senior year at Wichita State University. He was born and raised in Yorba Linda but is currently living in Wichita, Kansas while he is attending school. He has been a counselor for the past three summers and is now excited to fulfill the role of Head male counselor and Afternoon activities director. On top pf all the planning he is having a very hard time deciding if he is more excited for color wars or Two Towers. After a long year, he can not wait to reunite with his campers and friends from the past and is looking forward to creating new relationships this summer. 

Mary Pettygrove is from Pomona, California. She is a rising junior at USC, majoring in choral music with a minor in musical theatre. She enjoys spending time with her lovely friends, reading, napping, drinking tea, and cuddling with every cat she finds. She has been going to Camp St. Nick’s since she was seven years old and this will be her fourth year serving on staff. Mary will be Head Female Counselor and Morning Program Director this summer. She is so excited to learn and grow in a community with such beautiful humans!

Christopher Stokich is a long-time member of the Camp Saint Nicholas family. Spending his work year as a Special Education English teacher for Juniors in high school, he is ready to come back up the mountain and have a great summer with the kids!

Noor Abdo is from Diamond Bar, California and just graduated from UC Irvine with a degree in pharmaceutical sciences. On her free time, Noor likes to read, hike, listen to music, and take naps. This will be her fourth year serving on staff and her first year as the Infirmary Administrator! Noor is beyond thrilled to be serving at Camp St. Nick's this year and make lanyards, experience the love of God, and live in community with everyone. 

George Bahbah is from Orange, Ca and he is currently a second year Sports Marketing major at California State University, Fullerton. George has been coming to Camp St. Nicholas since he was 12, and after all those years, camp has turned into his home away from home. He is super excited to make memories and bonds that will last a lifetime with all of his campers this year!

Grace Bahbah is from Orange, CA and will be a sophomore at the University of California, San Diego majoring in General Biology. She volunteers at a Physical Therapy Clinic in San Diego and will be an Orientation Leader for the incoming freshman class. She also loves going to the beach, which is right in her backyard! Grace has also been involved in SOYO and Special Olympics. Camp St. Nicks has been her home since she was 13 years old and she has come back every year since. Grace can’t wait to meet, laugh, and sing bombers with all of the campers this summer, all while growing closer to God!

Colin Barberg is originally from Buffalo, NY but has lived in many different places such as Maryland, New York city, and Oklahoma.  He is going into his senior year at Hellenic College in Brookline, MA and is majoring in Human Development with a minor in Religious studies.  For eight years he was a camper at the Antiochian village and loved every second of it.  This will be his first year at CSN and he is super excited to have a blast this summer.

Sophia Cisneros is beginning her second year at community college and is planing to transfer to nursing school in the spring. She is from Southern California and has attended camp as a camper for years. Sophia is so excited to be a returning counselor this summer because she can't wait to teach and learn from the campers. Her goal is to make Camp St. Nick's a second home for each camper who comes to stay.

Gabrielle Fadly is from LA, California. She will be a freshman at UCLA, studying psycho biology. She enjoys working out at the gym, going on foodie adventures, going hiking, and hanging out with friends. She is looking forward to being a counselor this summer and hanging out with the campers. She has been going to camp since she was 10 years old and has cherished all the memories that she created with her friends and family. She cannot wait to learn about others, work as a team, create friendships, and serve others. The most important thing to her is to share God’s love with the people around her.

Wadeed Fakhoury is from Springfield, Va (outside of D.C.) and is planning on attending George Mason to study Engineering. He attended the Antiochian Village for 4 years, and this will be his first year at Camp St. Nicholas. He loves being around the youth and experiencing Christ’s love through these amazing environments and atmospheres. His all time favorite order, which he can have everyday, is a nice tall glass of orthodoxy with a side of fellowship. He is so excited to meet and hang out with everyone. He is also very pumped to come and experience what Camp St. Nicholas is all about.

Christian Farradj is from Danville, California, and is going into his second year at Boise State University! He is pursuing a career in Orthopedic Surgery, and is especially interested in Sports Medicine. He was also recently elected president of his local OCF chapter! Christian is very excited about joining the Camp St. Nicholas staff this summer after being a camper for many years. He is ready to create amazing new friendships, and build upon existing ones. He can’t wait to live in community with such awesome people, and find Christ working through everyone at camp to make this summer unforgettable!

Savanah Harmanian is from St. George Phoenix in the sunny state of Arizona. She recently graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Medical Studies. Savanah aspires to become a Physician in fulfilling her passion of serving others. She has held many leadership positions within her Teen SOYO, and has continued to be active in her parish's young adult ministry. She has worked on the Board of Directors for a non-profit organization, bak·pak, that thrives to fight homelessness within the Phoenix community. Additionally, she is a health care provider for children with disabilities at Arion Care Solutions and loves working with her clients, seeing the light of God shine in each of them. Her passion for helping others continued when she became a counselor for the 2018 Winter Camp here at Camp St. Nicholas and loved it so much that she had to come back for more! Her goal this summer is to be a “pencil in God’s hand” as Mother Theresa said, helping her campers grow in their faith.

Joanna Howell is from Angels Camp, California and is in school studying psychology. She loves working with children and strives to be lighthearted. She aspires to one day become a social worker for abused children and travel after her college education is completed. She has been on staff in the past and is eager to return. Joanna cannot wait to meet new campers and staff,  as well as to see returning ones. Joanna’s goal is to make the camp experience for the campers the best it can possibly be. Camp Saint Nicholas is such a blessed and warm community and Joanna feels gratitude that she can be part of it.

Amira Katrib, born and raised in New Jersey, just wrapped up her first year at college studying Biology at Montclair State University. Her future career plan is to head to medical school to become a doctor. Amira loves to crack jokes and make people smile. She has been attending camp at the Antiochian Village for the past seven years and is decided to continue her camp experience by becoming a counselor. Amira has heard beautiful and fun stories about Camp St. Nicholas and wants to experience it first hand. She holds a lot of love and respect for each person she encounters and wants to share her love for life, faith, and camp with the campers and community. She can’t wait to have fun and create endless memories with the people she meets at camp.

Natalie Kouri is from Yorba Linda, California, and is a member of St. Luke's Church, Garden Grove. In the fall, she will be attending Fullerton Community College. She enjoys meeting new people and spending time outdoors. Natalie loves the Orthodox faith and spending time in fellowship with her Orthodox friends. One of her favorite places in the whole world is Camp St. Nicholas. She has been attending CSN for the past 12 years and cannot wait to share her love for CSN with her campers. In her free time, Natalie loves to enjoy good food, spending time with her family, and going on adventures.

Tony Nehme is so excited to drive to camp from Phoenix, AZ! He just wrapped up his first year at Arizona State pursuing degrees in biomedical sciences and neuroscience. Tony has been going to Camp St. Nick's since he was 11, and served as a CIT last year. He loves camp so much, and is blessed to be able to return this year as a counselor. He can't wait to meet everyone and have an amazing time!

Alethia Placencia is 18 and just finished her freshman year at the University of Kentucky. She is a Philosophy major on a pre-med track. She enjoys being involved in her community and is in charge of planning events for the students of this university. She is also the president of the University of Kentucky OCF chapter. She is going to school in Lexington, KY, but she is from Covina California. During the school year she is a youth leader at the parish she attends while she is away from home. Although she only got to attend camp for the first-time last summer, she understands how important this place is and how instrumental it is in the growth of a young Orthodox Christian. Alethia hopes to bring what she has learned from her time at camp and her experience in leadership to aid the growth of campers. She is looking forward to enacting the love of God in all that she does as a counselor this summer and is so excited have a part to play in creating an amazing environment and lasting memories for everyone who attends camp!

Paul Rodriguez-Anter is from South Orange County, California and is 19 years old. He is looking forward to attending the University of Southern California in August for his first fall semester as a freshman. Paul has been involved in the church community for forever, participating in activities such as SOYO, Special Olympics at AV, and multiple YES trips. Paul has been attending Camp St. Nick’s since he was 7 years old and has loved making memories and building friendships that’ll last a lifetime. Camp has given so much to him throughout his childhood and he is very excited to give back to the community and participate in a brand new way as Evening Program Director. He cannot wait to meet all of the campers, build new relationships, and live it up with you all this summer! 

Serena Sabbagh is from a far away land called New Jersey. She is going into her senior year of college and is in the process of changing schools to further her education of becoming a Physical Therapist. She has previously been a CIT at the Antiochian Village, a counselor at Camp St. Thekla and Camp St. Nicholas. She cannot wait to come back and once again join the beautiful Camp St. Nicholas community, sharing our love for God. 

Nick Safady is from Westlake Village, California, and is a member of St. Michaels church in Van Nuys. Nick will be attending college in the fall. He likes playing sports and interacting with new people. Nick loves all his church friends and is excited to create more relationships during his time at camp. Camp St. Nicholas is one of his favorite places. He has gone to camp for 12 years and is looking forward to helping campers experience all of the good things camp has too offer. 

Nick Salibi is super excited to spend another year at Camp St. Nicholas! This will be his 7th year at camp, and his third year as a counselor. Nick is from Santa Cruz, California. He currently lives in Long Beach where he attends school at Long Beach City and hopes to transfer to a university in Southern California to study civil engineering. Nick loves to be active during his free time by playing sports such as basketball, football, volleyball, and golf. He wants to be on staff this year because he wants to give the campers the experience that past counselors gave to him. He is looking forward to continue building friendships and to start new ones with the amazing new people he will get to meet. Finally, Nick can't wait to beat the campers in the annual camper vs counselor two towers game.  See you all this summer! 

Fareed Samaan is from Michigan...that’s the state that looks like a mitten. He attends Grand Valley State University where his major is Criminal Justice and is studying to attend Law School, God Willing! He will be graduating in 2020 and then have another 3 more years of Law School. In the past, he has been a CIT at Antiochian Village, a counselor at Camp Catanese, a Counselor at Camp St. Thekla, and proudly a former counselor at Camp St. Nicholas. He wants to be on staff to build a strong connection to the campers and staff and overall to have an amazing summer sharing love and happiness with each other.

Matthew Soot is entering his senior year at Western Oregon University, where he studies exercise science. He comes from Oregon, and has been at camp every summer since he was seven, because he loves being a part of the loving community nurtured at Camp Saint Nicholas. After graduating high school in 2014, he has been fortunate enough to serve on staff each summer since. Matthew wants to keep coming back to the place that gave him his best childhood memories and his dearest friends, in hopes of providing campers with the same joy and love he experienced while at camp.

Tati Speier thinks it is most important for all of you to know she enjoys all forms of chocolate. On a more serious note, Tati attends Santa Barbara Community College and is majoring in nursing. Her end goal is to be a labor and delivery nurse, then, after some practice in the field, possibly go back to school for a nurse practitioner degree. She is giddy with excitement to be back at Camp Saint Nicholas for her second year as a counselor. She cherishes all the camper and counselor relationships she gained last year and hopes to build more. Most of all, Tati looks forward to the laughter and pure joy camp brings.

Anna Spencer is from Wichita, Kansas. She is majoring in kinesiology at Kansas State University, and she worked as a Certified Nurse Aide during the school year. She has grown up going to Camp St. Raphael in Oklahoma and has been involved in SOYO throughout high school. Last summer, she served as a CIT at Camp St. Nicholas, and she is very excited to return as a counselor this year because she loves getting to know all of the campers in a Christ-centered environment. Camp has always been the highlight of her summer because of her awesome past counselors, and she wants to help make it just as amazing for her campers!

Jenna Taweel is beyond excited to fly all the way across the country to experience Camp St. Nicholas and California for the first time! Jenna is from Fairfax, Virginia and is studying kinesiology at George Mason University. For the last 9 summers, Jenna has been a camper at the Antiochian Village and is thrilled to be a part of the CSN community this summer. She was inspired by her previous counselors who have made camp such an unforgettable experience for her and she is eager to do the same for her own campers. Jenna can't wait to meet all of the wonderful people that California has to offer!

Morgan Veilleux is SO excited to spend another summer at Camp St. Nicholas. Coming all the way from Connecticut, she is thrilled to switch coasts and see everyone’s smiling faces! Morgan just graduated from Point Park University with a degree in Cinema Production, which is why she’s so pumped to take on her new role as Media Director for CSN. Campers, get ready to say cheese and have your camp experience captured!