Meet the Team

- Center Director Stacy Burns -

Greetings

Dear Friends-

Hello and welcome to the Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Educational Center! We’re thrilled that you’ve found your way to us. Whether you’re a parent sending your child for summer camp, a teacher looking for new hands-on learning opportunities, or a group looking for a place to retreat, you’ve found a phenomenal facility with an excellent staff committed to making your stay with us the best experience possible. As an American Camping Association accredited camp, we adhere to the highest standards for safety, operations and program quality with a core mission to serve all youth in North Carolina as they gain critical life skills through an experiential learning model.

If you’ve never been to camp, it may be hard to envision how profound an impact the camp experience can have on youth. However, as a Youth Development professional with over 17 years of experience in the field, I can confidently say that there are few tools as powerful as camp to positively impact the lives of young people. Over the course of my 12+ year tenure at BJP, I’ve seen this facility, its programs, and its dedicated staff change lives every single day. You don’t have to take my word for it, however. Watch this first-hand account from former camper Joey Garron, YouTube link on the left.

The camp experience is so important for young people because it helps them find their voice and gives them a sense of purpose while helping them grow as individuals and as members of a larger community. Whether your child is coming for a day, a week, or longer, they will grow in leaps and bounds, make new friends, and have an experience that will stay with them forever.

I’d like to personally invite you, your child, or your school to come to experience the magic of Betsy-Jeff Penn. Our phenomenal staff and highest quality programs will ensure your time with us are safe, fun, and fulfilling. Welcome to Betsy-Jeff Penn and happy camping!

Sincerely,

Stacy Burns, Center Director

- our staff -

Meet Our Leadership

Stacy Burns

Center Director

Kyle Shillinglaw

Education Director

Candace Hairston

Food Service Director

Jeff Johnson

Facilities Maintenance Manager

The camp experience is so important for these children because it gives them a sense of identity, a sense of purpose, it adds to their self-efficacy ten times over. It changes you.

Coming here is going to be the best week of your life. Regardless of what week you come, regardless of who you are, you’re going to change.

We love 4-H camp. It builds relationships, leadership skills, self-discipline, self-motivation, and gives young people a safe environment for personal growth.

This place, I feel like I can be myself. I’ve waited a whole year for summer just to get back here.

First I was afraid to talk to people and I was shy. Now I can talk and be myself.

Everybody makes it so that every week is the best week of your life here and that’s really special.

Every year there is always the person on your side of the cabin who becomes a great friend.

Coming to BJP showed me there are people out here that want to help you, there are people who want to change your life every day, there are people who are going to pick you up.

I always said I can’t and now I say I can.