A Magical Experience

Instead, here he is, 16 years later, with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step, serving for the third year as Collegiate’s Director of Quest Programs, a post he earned by climbing the ladder diligently, enthusiastically, and one rung at a time.  

 

You see, when his mother Kathy, a Summer Quest art teacher, brought the recent James Madison University graduate to campus all those years ago to work as a rookie counselor, he, in essence, started at the very bottom.

 

“I really liked it,” he said one afternoon recently as he reflected on his career. “I didn’t think it would end up being my job, though.”

 

From his entry level position, Etheridge rose through the ranks to Cougar Quest counselor, then assistant director, then associate director, then director before assuming responsibility for the triumvirate of Quest programs.

 

“I just enjoyed working with the kids and being in this environment,” he said. “There’re a lot of adults who helped me out along the way and that I look up to like Farley Macdonald, Robby Turner, and Page Chapman. There were a lot of people who were nice to a young guy and helped guide me. I’ve stayed here and tried to pay it back with those who have worked with me.”

 

In his current role, Etheridge oversees Cougar Quest and Activities Quest, both of which occur during the school year, as well as Summer Quest, quite a challenge considering that the leadership of any one of these programs is time and labor intensive and all involve considerable overlap in planning and execution.

 

“It’s 100 percent not about me,” he said. “It’s such a big program that you have to have the right team. I love my team: Natalie Price, Shauna Maines, and Claire Hayden. Everybody has specialties, but everybody knows how to do everything I’m doing, and I know how to do everything that they’re doing. Working as a team is the key. Nothing’s individual in this department. It requires a whole village to make this happen. You’d hear that from anybody who directs big programs.”

 

After a Fourth-of-July-week hiatus, Summer Quest returns to action July 8.

 

So far this year, 1,600 individuals have registered and will fill 4,300 spots, a slight increase over last summer. As is the case each summer, applications continue to arrive.

 

“A lot of families don’t just enroll for one camp,” Etheridge said. “They come to be at Collegiate. A lot of them stay all summer long. They trust us with their kids’ care. They love this place. They want their kids to be part of it.”

 

Sports camps abound. Lower School academic-based camps such as Hooked on Books and Mighty Math continue to thrive. There’re offerings that prepare students as they make the transition to Junior Kindergarten, Kindergarten, Middle School, and Upper School.

 

Various versions of Turner’s Discover Richmond camps remain well subscribed, as is the camp, led by Outdoor Collegiate director Brad Cooke, that offers training on the Stephen P. Adamson ’92 Ropes Course.

        

There’s also a host of specialty camps.

 

“We have a camp called Greeked Out where kids learn all about Greek plays,” Etheridge said. “We have gardening. There’s a really fun art and dance fusion camp where the kids will dance and do art rather than have a whole day of one activity. A lot of the camps are what the teachers are interested in providing.”

 

In a typical week, as many as 100 adults and 80 teen-age counselors work the Summer Quest offerings. The success of the program, Etheridge said, is less about the offerings than about the people who provide the offerings.

 

“The biggest thing,” he said, “is the special relationships the counselors develop with the kids. It’s great to see the way the [younger] kids gravitate to our [older] students and how professional they are. They make this so much easier, but it’s not really an easy job. You’re moving the kids around, getting them to the right places, making sure they’re all having a good time. That’s the secret.”

 

At JMU, Etheridge earned an accounting degree and figured that, one day, he’d run his own business. As his career has evolved, he feels he’s doing essentially that, albeit nowhere near the way he envisioned.

 

“I don’t think school is a business at all, but it sort of feels that way,” he said. “You have your departments. You get to interact. We’re selling a product and that’s the experience and that’s why it’s magical.”

~Weldon Bradshaw