The Ethel Walker School Welcomes Heads Up! Hartford to Simsbury

Heads Up! Hartford, the nonprofit organization that operates a unique week-long service camp uniting urban and suburban teens from across Connecticut, is moving its 2019 summer service camp to The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury.

“We are excited to be partnering with The Ethel Walker School to offer the 16th year of our service camp,” says Deb Bibbins, a member of Heads Up! Hartford’s Board of Directors. “Earlier this year, we began looking for a location that would enhance our campers’ overall experience. With its beautiful campus, its values that align with ours, and its welcoming leadership team, The Ethel Walker School stood out.”

Heads Up! Hartford’s mission is to promote diversity, develop collaborative leaders, and improve the greater Hartford community. Over the course of the camp week, urban and suburban teens work together in diverse teams and perform 3,000 hours of community service at a number of nonprofits in and around Hartford. Walker’s campus will serve as home base for the camp, where the teens will eat, sleep, and participate in various educational and leisure activities each evening. “We are delighted to be hosting Heads Up! Hartford. The organization provides a unique opportunity for Connecticut teens to participate in activities that enable the building of character and the expansion of worldview. We are pleased to be a part of this life-changing educational experience,” says Todd D’Alessandro, Director of Summer Programs at The Ethel Walker School and a member of Walker’s World Languages faculty.

Over the past 15 years, Heads Up! Hartford has served more than 1,100 youth from in and around Hartford - and from as far away as Newtown, CT. After experiencing camp for the first time, many teens return throughout their high school years. “Former campers often contact us years later, express the positive effect our camp had on them as teens, and ask how they can give back to Heads Up! Hartford so that other teens can have the same experience. When that happens, we realize we’re truly having an impact,” states Basil Mahoney, a long-time volunteer at Heads Up! Hartford and current treasurer of the Board of Directors.

Encouraging community service at a young age fosters ongoing community engagement as an adult and enables thriving communities. And studies show that to create positive, sustainable change in our world, we need collaborative leaders who value diversity, inclusion, and teamwork. “We believe that our new location will enable the most engaging experience for our campers that we've ever been able to offer,” said Deb Bibbins.

About Heads Up! Hartford

Heads Up! Hartford is an all-volunteer, 501(c)(3) charitable organization that operates a summer service camp uniting urban and suburban youth to improve Hartford area communities. Its three-part mission is to promote diversity, develop collaborative leaders, and provide community service to Hartford and its surrounding communities. Heads Up! Hartford has received a 2018 Gold Seal of Transparency by Guidestar and has been named a 2018 Top-Rated Nonprofit by GreatNonprofits. For more information about the camp experience and the organization, or to make a donation that will enable youth to attend the camp, visit www.headsuphartford.com. Connect with us at https://www.facebook.com/Heads... and https://www.linkedin.com/compa....

About The Ethel Walker School

The Ethel Walker School is an independent, college preparatory, boarding and day school in Simsbury, CT for girls in grades six through 12 plus a postgraduate year. Since 1911, Walker's has excelled at preparing students to make a difference in the world. Members of this diverse community are dedicated to scholarship, the arts, athletics, wellness and service. In fall 2017, the school celebrated the 100th anniversary of the school's Simsbury campus; the school's original campus was in Lakewood, New Jersey from 1911 until 1917.