Welcome
Introduction
Camp Fitch Tech Focus provides an inspirational education program to children and young adults. Our
program
is constantly evolving to provide a relevant, foundational, and real-world knowledge in computer
programming, content-creation, and robotics.
Our highly innovative program combines the intellectual challenge of computing and technology with
Camp Fitch's traditional summer camp program. It is a one-of-a-kind program and is held at one
of the country's oldest and most successful year-round camps.
Regular sessions are open to anyone between 8 and 16 years of age. Please don't hesitate to contact us
if you have any questions. Our regularly returning staff, campers, and their parents believe you will find
the camp
to be an excellent value and an incredible experience.
What sets us apart45Years!
- Individualized and adaptive program
- At least one counselor for every two campers
- Traditional summer camp activities
- Very high breadth and depth of course offerings
- Extremely high return camper (and counselor) rate
Location
Camp Fitch
Camp Fitch Tech Focus is part of
Camp Fitch, which is located in
Pennsylvania on the shore of
Lake Erie, just a few miles from the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. Camp Fitch is within driving distance
of Erie, Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.
A shuttle is available to pickup non-local and international campers from Cleveland Hopkins
International Airport (CLE).
Camp Fitch
12600 Abels Road
North Springfield PA 16430
Staff
Charlie Hayes
Director
Charlie is Senior full-stack software engineer and technical lead in Chicago. Charlie earned a
Bachelor of Arts in Computing and Master of Science in
Human Computer Interaction from DePaul University. He has led and contributed many projects using
Java, C#, PHP, Python, SQL, JavaScript, and CSS.
He's been part of camp since 1997, his first of three years as a camper. He is passionate about
usability, graphic
design, and the future.
Grant Cohoe
Director
A self-proclaimed cloud plumber, Grant has been involved with camp since 2003. He has
a degree in Networking & System Administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. A
resident of Cambridge Massachusetts, he works in the financial sector doing cloud infrastructure
engineering
and DevOps. His free time is spent traveling, watching/playing hockey, and hanging out with friends.
Andrew Fitz Gibbon
Director
Andrew (aka Fitz) first attended camp as a camper in 1996. CFCC gave him a solid
foundation and passion for working in the Computer Science field. In addition to being at camp
every summer, he's spent time working in systems administration, educating people about
supercomputers,
writing software, and helping others write better software. He currently works for Google and spends
his
free time skiing, taking photos, and figuring out how to better teach Computer Science.
Megan Rodgers
Director
Megan has been a counselor at camp many times since 1997 and became a Tech Focus Director in 2016.
In college, she studied computer engineering for a short while before earning her degree in Graphic
Design. Since then, she has gone on to get her Masters in Education and is currently an 8th grade
Science
teacher in Northeast Ohio. She is also the advisor of the Middle School Stem/Coding Club and the
school's Theatre Program. Throughout her career
she has worked with students of all ages. In her spare time she enjoys traveling and photography and
one day hopes to relearn to play the piano - this time by ear.
Ryan
Senior Counselor
Ryan has been a part of camp since his first year as a camper in 2004. He has
a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois and currently works for a
defense contractor doing software development. He writes mostly in Python and C, but his first and
only true love will always be QBASIC. In his free time, you'll find him running along the Space
Coast beaches in Florida and having bad movie nights with his friends.
Tina
Senior Counselor
Tina has been a part of the Camp Fitch staff since 2006. She has worked as a dish crew member, a
counselor and as the Archery Director. She joined the camp Staff as a Counselor in 2015.
When she is not working at camp she is an elementary school Intervention Specialist in
Northeast Ohio.
Jonathan
Counselor
Jonathan has been affiliated with Camp Fitch since he was first a camper in 1998.
He has worked with A/V technology for over two decades and currently works as a commercial A/V
programmer in the Washington, DC area.
A self-described "inveterate tinkerer", Jonathan enjoys exploring technology in his home lab.
In addition to his passion for software, he brings a love of SCUBA diving, world travel, and
discussions of spiritual philosophy.
Ian
Counselor
Ian has been part of CFCC since 2009, and spent his last two years as a CIT and then a counselor.
He is
familiar with Python, Java, and PC computer hardware. In his free time, Ian enjoys running, playing
in the
Jazz and Marching bands, and online computer games.
Jordan
Counselor
Jordan has been part of the Camp Fitch Bunch since 2011 as a camper and 2014 as a counselor. Jordan
is
familiar with a wide variety of languages, but his favorite is his first, Java. During the rest of
the
year, Jordan is a student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana studying Computer Science.
He
works at a dining court as a Student Cook, sings in choir, develops apps with the Association for
Computing Machinery (ACM), and watchs Disney movies with the Disney Appreciation Club.
Zak
Counselor
Zak, once a camper in 2008, returned as a CIT in 2014 and has been a counselor since. Zak currently
owns and operates EpicGeek Web Services & Technology Consulting, a small firm specializing in long
range target engagement systems development, website/application development/hosting, and
server/network deployment/administration. In his free time Zak is an avid science fiction
aficionado, enjoying all things Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Marvel, and somewhat regrettably,
DC Comics. On occasion when he does decide to step outdoors, Zak can be found sport shooting,
natural rock climbing, kayaking amongst great lake islands, and teaching at local ski resorts
during the winter months.
Ben
Counselor
Ben has been a Tech Focus counselor since 2016. When not teaching web development at sunny
Camp Fitch, he is a Senior Software Engineer at Toast in Boston, MA. Ben graduated from the
Rochester Institute of Technology in 2014 with a degree in New Media Interactive Development.
Outside of work and camp he enjoys rock climbing, writing songs on his guitar, and playing board
games.
Riley
Junior Counselor
Riley first started at camp in 2015 and became a counselor in 2018. He teaches Python and is an
avid Dungeons and Dragons player and Dungeon Master. He is currently enrolled in the game design
program at Shawnee State University.
Katherine
Junior Counselor
Katherine is an undergraduate student at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is majoring in
Computer Science. She is passionate about technology and climate science and hopes to work on
climate modeling in the future. In her free time she likes to sing, take hikes, and
learn new things.
History
Camp Fitch Tech Focus (originally Camp Fitch Computer Camp) can trace its roots back to 1982, when Roger
Patterson and Bill Schrack,
math teachers from Boardman, Ohio decided to extend the work they were doing with computers in their
classrooms to a summer camp setting at Camp Fitch. Camp was originally run out of the Nature Lodge. They
used the latest hardware in the then emerging field of personal computing. This hardware included TRS-80,
Apple II, Atari personal computer, and Commodore 64 computer systems. As computer hardware technology and
operating systems advanced, CFCC kept pace with these changes and added "IBM compatible"
PCs and Apple Macintosh computers.
From its inception, CFCC's focus has been teaching its campers computer programming using languages such
as
BASIC and eventually incorporating LOGO, PASCAL, and C into the course work. Programming exercises designed
by Roger and Bill were intended on teaching concepts of computer programming along with various concepts in
mathematics and problem-solving. More advanced campers were able to work on projects independently or in
small groups to create games, network chat programs, and more..
In the late 1990's robotics was introduced using LEGO Mindstorm and similar robotics kits. Students
learned how
to write programs to control robots they designed. CFCC also began using satellite technology to connect to
the internet. It was always fun trying to figure out where to point the satellite dish every summer in order
to get the best possible signal. CFCC also adopted its new home in Mirto Lodge, which remained as the
computer center until 2012.
Over the past several years, CFCC has kept true to its main goal of teaching computer programming to campers.
In addition, the curriculum has expanded to include teaching concepts in multi-media, configuration of web
servers, and working with various hardware such as 3-D printing. In 2012, CFCC moved to its new home, The
Banana Tree Room, located in the Skeggs Lodge dining hall facility.
Because the ratio of campers to counselors averages 2:1, coursework for each camper is customized to address
their particular level of knowledge and individual interests they may have. This has been a mainstay of camp
since its early roots.
CFCC continues to stay current with leading edge information technologies as they emerge. This is possible
because the vast majority of the CFCC staff works as software developers or are studying computer
science/software engineering at college level and are constantly being exposed to changing technologies.
Since its inception in 1982, CFCC has always offered its campers "a head start with essential skills",
and with the passion of our staff and campers, this will continue into the future.
Founders
Roger
Co-founder
Roger Patterson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth College, the home of Time-Sharing and
BASIC. He He has a M.S. in Mathematics from Ohio State University, and 36 years of experience in
education. He retired from teaching mathematics and computer science at Boardman High School
in Youngstown, Ohio where he received several honors. Later, Roger was an instructer at Youngstown
State University and Mount Union College. He has authored many of the Logo activities which are used
with great enthusiasm by the younger and less experienced campers at Camp Fitch. In addition to his work
in the classroom, Roger has authored software for school use.
Bill
Co-founder
Bill was a co-founder of computer camp and was co-director of the program for 21
years. Bill has a wealth of experience in both the computer and education fields. He taught
mathematics
at the secondary and university levels and computer science at the secondary level. He is a graduate
of
Youngstown State University and received his master's degree from the University of Dayton. His
thesis
was written on individualized instruction, an area in which he specialized throughout his career. He
taught 26 years, the last 16 of which were spent developing and directing an individualized
mathematics
program.
Bill is a past president of the North Eastern Ohio Teachers Of Mathematics. He is a recipient of
the Joe Check memorial Award presented by the Youngstown, Ohio YMCA which reads "IN RECOGNITION
OF HIS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AND UNTIRING DEVOTION TO THE YMCA". In 1984, Bill was nominated for
the outstanding mathematics teacher in the state of Ohio.
Previous Directors
Chuck
Previous Director
Chuck was associated with camp from 1999 to 2014, and had been a friend of Camp Fitch
since 1992. His career covered more than 30 years as a commercial software developer, systems designer,
systems integration architect, and has managed at every level of an IT organization. He was the
principal architect of an Electronic Medical Record platform which was awarded the Nicholas E. Davies
Award of Excellence for achievement in the implementation and value of utilizing Information Technology.
Chuck was also the Chief Information Officer for Whole Health Management, a leading healthcare delivery
organization, prior to its acquisition by Walgreens.
Chuck earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Allegheny College, and he served several
years
on the IT Business Advisory Board for the Ohio Department of Education.
Kathy
Previous Director
Kathleen was associated with camp from 1999 to 2014, and has been a friend of Camp
Fitch since 1992.
Her career has been spent in healthcare information technology and healthcare analytics. She spent
her earlier years as a software developer, eventually transitioning to the administrative side
of healthcare. There she leads projects developing analytic data warehouses and reporting
environments.
She serves as the technical liaison between information technology and the business, as well as the
lead
for reporting and analytic projects.
Tom Seiler
Director
Tom is a Staff Software Engineer at Sprout Social. Tom specializes in Python, and he's familiar with
most popular programming languages.
He's fascinated with the fields of Software Engineering and DevOps, and he has been involved with camp
since 1998, his first year as a camper.
