Staff

In her fifteenth year as Camp Director, Cookie Mellitz Shapiro, brings both her five years of experience as the camp Aquatics Director and fourteen years of experience as a Physical Education teacher at the Bank Street School for Children. She directed the 13's Musical Theater Production for 10 years. She is a dancer, choreographer and free-lance lighting designer. For the past five years she has been teaching Literacy through Theater, a course in New Perspectives within Bank Street College. Cookie received her M.S. in Education from the Bank Street College in Educational Leadership. She is certified in RTE, CPR, Lifeguarding, and WSI. As well she is a lifeguard instructor prior to Bank Street, Cookie directed a teen travel camp in New Jersey, ran a 6-week travel camp in Israel, and served as the Creative Arts Director of a summer camp in the Boston area. Her dedication to the camp program came from her positive experiences as a camper and counselor in an overnight camp in Connecticut.

Contact: Cshapiro@bankstreet.edu

Dylan Morgan has worked at Bank Street Summer Camp for the last eleven years. Upon graduating from the School for Children he became an LIT (Leader In Training) for the Musical Theater program and soon rose to the position of counselor when he developed the Film Writing and Directing program, the Animation program and then Photography After Camp. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a Bachelor degree concentrating on Film and History. This is his third year in the office and second year as the Assistant Director.

Contact: Dmorgan@bankstreet.edu

This is Jenel Giles's eleventh summer with the Bank Street Summer Camp. She is currently the Upper Camp Unit Head.  She has held various positions at the camp during that time including Head Counselor of Travel Camp and five years as Aquatics Director. She has taught swimming at various camps and programs for the past twelve years. Jenel is also a certified Red Cross Water Safety Instructor as well as a Lifeguard Instructor. During the school year Jenel is the 5/6's teacher at Bank Street School for Children.

Contact: Uppercamp@bankstreet.edu

Lower Camp Unit Head, Julie Sokoloff, has worked at the Bank Street Summer Camp for the past four years and has been involved with other various suburban camps and town camps for the past 10 years. At Bank Street she has been a Head Counselor and the Program Coordinator. Julie worked for two years as an assistant teacher in the School for Children and in the 3's and 5/6's after getting her graduate degree in Early Childhood and Childhood General Education from the Bank Street Graduate School. For her undergraduate degree, she went to Binghamton University and majored in Human Development. Currently, Julie is a head kindergarten teacher at Avenues: The World School.

Ife Collymore is a Bank Street School for Children Alum. She received her Bachelor's Degree in English Arts from Hampton University. She was a Substitute Teacher’s Assistant for Sara, Evi, and Oliva’s 6/7’s. Ife is certified in CPR and RTE. For a number of years, she was an Aquatics LIT and Junior Counselor for the Sports group at the Bank Street Summer Camp. This is her third year as the After Camp Coordinator.

Contact: Aftercamp@bankstreet.edu

Chris Mera has been a member of the Bank Street community for a long time. He is a School for Children graduate, and has been working at the Bank Street Summer Camp for the eleven summers. Certified in water safety instruction, Lifeguarding, CPR, and RTE, this summer will be his 3^rd year as Aquatics Director for the Lower Camp. During the school year Chris is the assistant teacher for the 7/8s in the Bank Street School for Children and is currently getting his Master’s Degree at the Bank Street Graduate School. 

Contact: Riverdaleswim@bankstreet.edu

Jordan Haynes is an alumn of the Bank Street School for Children and an assistant coordinator of the lower camp aquatics staff. He has certifications in lifeguarding, Water Safety Instruction, C.P.R. and First Aid. He is a recent graduate of Brooklyn College, having studied television, radio and film. It has been a pleasure for Jordan to be a part of the Bank Street community for most of his life, and he is thankful to continue to have the opportunity to work in such a well revered youth oriented program. 

Contact: Riverdaleswim@bankstreet.edu

Becca Baye is very excited to return to Bank Street Summer Day Camp! This will be her second summer at Bank Street. Last year she was a Head Counselor for the Bank Street on Wheels program and has been both a camper and counselor at other camps since she was 4 years old. She even spent 13 summers away at sleep away camp in Pennsylvania. During the school year, she is a First Grade Teacher in West Harlem. She taught Kindergarten for three years and studied at Indiana University  before going to Hunter College for her masters degree. She is currently getting a second masters degree in Special Education at Hunter College. Supervised by Assistant Director.

Contact: Summercampcoordinator@bankstreet.edu

Nancy Ireland began as a SEIT in June 2011.  She got her degree in 2010 and then worked as a Special Education teacher in a center based program the summer of 2010. This summer she is responsible for accommodating social, emotional and behavioral differences in camp. The Camper Support Coordinator may be asked to sit in on a class and asses the needs of a particular camper and/or help the counselor come up with an approach. Supervised by Camp Director.

Contact: Campsenco@bankstreet.edu

Shuber Naranjois a Hunter College graduate with a Master of Bilingual Ed. degree, and is in charge of the Summer Camp Spanish Immersion programs. He worked at La Escuelita pre-school for four years, with children ages 2 thru 5. This is Shuber's fifth year teaching at Bank Street as a Spanish teacher in the Lower and Middle School.

Devin Norik is the head of the Storefront Ensemble for the Hunts Point Alliance for Children and a teaching artist for Hunts Point Children's Shakespeare Ensemble.  As an actor he was most recently seen in Unnatural Acts at the Classic Stage Company for which his performance earned him the inaugural grant from the Rosemarie Tichler Fund.   Other New York credits include Robert Mapplethorpe Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Red Fern), I Am Frightened of My Body (Ars Nova), The Smoking Gun(Studio Tisch), and Sex of the Baby (NYU Graduate Acting).  Regional theater credits include The Lion in Winter (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey) and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Geva Theatre).  Devin has appeared on film and television in The Trouble With Cali directed by Paul Sorvino, Surviving Family, Absense of Love and "I Just Want My Pants Back."  Devin Norik received his MFA from NYU Graduate Acting Program.  Supervised by Upper Camp Head.