Dr. Pam Charles Chosen to Lead Sunny Days

Nightingale is pleased to announce that physical education teacher Dr. Pam Charles has been appointed the new director of our Sunny Days program. While Dr. Charles joined Nightingale's physical education department in 2008, she has long participated in Sunny Days as the head Dinosaur Rex counselor, and in fact was an original founder of the program in 1992 (with Joan Porricolo-Sullivan, Marc Travanti, and Jenny Smith, who directed the camp until her retirement last year).

"My goal," says Dr. Charles, "is simply to build on the successes we've had over the past 20 years and take the camp to the next level." The structure of the camp will remain basically the same: three weeks in June for children entering Kindergarten through fifth grade, with an average of about 200 campers per week. On top of this, she hopes to introduce more music and specific sport instruction into the program and also expand the camp's activities outside the schoolhouse.

And, of course, Dr. Charles plans to continue her favorite aspect of the program: the community. Sunny Days is marketed as a program for Classes K–V, and it's a wonderful opportunity for incoming Kindergarten students to familiarize themselves with the school, their new classmates, and some of their soon-to-be teachers. But the program also benefits Middle and Upper School students, who form bonds with girls across grades and gain valuable experience as counselors-in-training. "It's fantastic to see the number of girls and alumnae who have decided to go into education after their time helping to lead Sunny Days," said Dr. Charles. "We're really excited to keep that community going."

Prior to teaching at Nightingale, Dr. Charles taught at Chapin for eight years and coached varsity soccer, swimming, and softball. In 1994 she left Chapin and to attend Life University where she specialized in chiropractic neurology. Dr. Charles maintains her practice after school and is currently a fellow of the American Board of Functional Neurologists and a Dipomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Neurology.

For more information about Sunny Days, please visit www.nightingale.org/sunnydays later this spring, or e-mail sunnydays@nightingale.org.