Our kids attending the week long summer camp and they loved it. It was the perfect blend of outdoor…read morefun and activities for their age, 9 and 11. They made connections with staff and other campers and were happy to chat about what they did each day. Staff posted email updates a couple of times in the week on what they did and what they would do. Definitely would recommend. I got a real sense that the staff took great care of the kids right from the start and were 100% engaged

My kids love Wilderskills. They come home every day from camp excited to be learning about making…read moreshelter, cooking food, identifying plants, and learning survival skills. And it's so wonderful to have them in nature all day, playing and coming home tired and dirty. Thank you to the counselors and leads for making this camp so special!

The acting classes here are so great and the teachers are so helpful. I find the classes here are…read moreso much more helpful than just being a better actor. You get so much more out of it than that and my speech is clearer and more confident and everything. Insightful guidance in the classes.

I am not sure of others' experiences but after talking to someone twice, I decided the place isn't…read morewhere I would pay money for my son to learn anything. No matter what the subject of any classes are, professionalism is the key success factor but these guys lack professionalism so I figured they can not teach it either.

I first learned about Kristi's class from several other actors who highly recommended her to…read moreimprove on their auditions and to start booking jobs. I was nervous the first day but Kristi creates a welcoming and supportive environment. I felt safe to express myself, make mistakes and to ask questions. The format of the class starts with brief introductions to the other friendly drop in students then warm up exercises which are always different and thought provoking. Then we take turns performing cold reads into the camera. She chooses the scenes and gives us options and flexibility on what we want to work on. (If we let her know ahead of time she will email us the scripts so we have more time to prepare. )Then we get to watch the playback of our performances and receive constructive feedback right then and there that we can immediately implement into our second take of the scene. Kristi gives expert advice and encourages us to be creative and try different things. She can help pinpoint weaknesses and strengths and how exactly to improve upon them. I've gained confidence as an actor and learned techniques that work for me. It's also been helpful to observe the other students perform different scenes and to hear Kristi's feedback for them. I highly recommend bringing a notebook to remember her insightful advice and our discussions. Kristi is a great teacher, personable, entertaining and she knows what she's talking about. I can't emphasize enough how fun her class is! We are all learning and laughing and discovering ourselves- it's an enriching experience. Another bonus is she lets you keep the recordings which helps if you don't have a reel to send out to auditions yet. Anyone can take this class, it's convenient and not too expensive, I don't think there's a better way to spend a Thursday night!

Kristi is a fantastic teacher! Friendly, welcoming, and very helpful for actors of all experience…read morelevels. I've booked a few gigs thanks to her coaching and lessons!

It's been a while since the summers I worked here. It's been even longer since I was a camper…read more I remember the drive: a friend in the backseat with me, little sister up front, and my mom navigating Big Basin Highway. I'll never forget the weeks I spent at camp. Even though it wasn't cheap, my parents worked hard so that they could afford to send my sister and I each for two weeks instead of just one (I believe there were three weeks of each age group). Worth every penny. I'll never forget my summer experiences. I honestly think that this was also the time I first decided I liked to write. I had the opportunity to write letters home and every night I sent one. Years later as a staff person, lots of campers wanted to write to me. I wrote back endless letters for years. I remember the death of a camper (not at camp) who I had been very close to. She called herself Little Frosty. (My camp name was Frosty - see my review of Wendy's and it'll explain my camp name :)). It was very difficult to lose a friend I felt like I'd had so much influence on. I can't review the camp in much detail because I'm sure it's changed tremendously, but there were hiking trails, a "flying squirrel" zip line, a pond to fish, a pool to swim, a meadow to play.... cabins, nearby bathrooms, a room for worship and a huge cafeteria hall. We played games and competed. Learned about each other, taught one another. I've always wanted to return. It'd be impossible with work I think - but not one summer of my life has gone by that I have'nt thought about quitting my jobs and trying to work there for 8 weeks. I think the pay was $250/wk when I was there last... perhaps less. But the rewards were everlasting. My eyes water every time I think about camp. The most amazing people I can remember: Thumper, and Sprocket are the two counselors I remember most from my time as a camper. Thumper was my counselor more than once. Sprocket worked with the kids who rode mountain bikes. I remember the Bruner family all lived there and helped with cooking and maintenance. I believe they're in Oregon now. Soleil was a coworker when I was staff. She was from the same City as me and we had a mutual friend at home. We still keep in touch. I remember Albacore during pool competitions. For some reason I remember his wet hair the most! xoxxox

As a music leader for my church, I have had the opportunity to provide music at many youth…read moreministries and churches in the Santa Clara Valley. From my particular locale, that usually means the retreat centers are in the Santa Cruz Mountains - and there are LOTS! This past weekend, I provided praise and worship and Mass music (it was a Catholic youth retreat) at Camp Hammer. In all the years I've been doing music for retreats, I had never done a retreat at Camp Hammer. Admittedly, on the way up the hill, I was a little doubtful of the place as I had heard mixed reviews from folks at my church. But as soon as we got to the facility, all my doubts were erased. The grounds are GORGEOUS! The facility is tucked within the redwoods along the Big Basin Highway. It's lush with vegetation which really promotes an incredible peacefulness - just what I needed! I knew then that this was a very special place. My first stop was the central hall to unload my gear. When I walked in, I was absolutely amazed to see sub-woofers on each side of the stage! No other facility where I've provided music has had that. I turned to the guy who was running sound for the weekend and said, "SUBS?!!! Oh wow! This is gonna be great!" The reason this was so good is that subs provide that low bottom end that gives a band's sound a much deeper texture. Not only that, the room had two HUGE ceiling-mounted mains and the stage was equipped with big monitors, so hearing ourselves while we were performing was going to be great! As a musician, the sound quality of a venue is very important to me, and Camp Hammer really hits the marks on that note. People have complained that the facility doesn't have that much equipment like mics and mic stands. But to be honest, any performing musician worth their salt should have those items. I brought up three mics of my own - my vocal mic is A LOT better than the standard Shure or Sennheisers most venues use. So if you read this and you're a musician, you'll be in for a real treat! As far as amenities are concerned, my room, which I shared with my wife (we both are very involved with the youth ministry at our church), was the best room I've ever stayed in at a retreat center. I thought Mount Hermon's was pretty good, but this room was ten times better! The food was also VERY good. It's not extravagant. But it's healthy, and more importantly, the cooks make it delicious. What was really impressive was the Sunday lunch, which is the last meal of the weekend. They provided homemade pizza! Lots of different varieties as well. Other facilities usually do a build-your-own sandwich bar with kind of cheap cold cuts and cheese. Not Camp Hammer. They go all out. All the staff at Camp Hammer are incredibly engaging and friendly. They go out of their way to ask if everything's going well or if there are any issues that need to be addressed. They want to get feedback! Admittedly, the staff at Mount Hermon do that as well, but I did feel that Camp Hammer's staff goes just a bit further with their support. In a word, the staff is AWESOME! All things considered, I will make sure other people know about this wonderful retreat facility. Oh! Before I forget, here's a really awesome thing that actually has nothing to do with the facility, but it's a big factor: Cell phones don't work there - no network will connect, unless you have a satellite phone. When you're up there, you're disconnected. And that's great. They do have WiFi available, and even as a leader, I probably should've connected just in case, but I didn't bother because I figured that since I didn't have a direct operational role, the likelihood that I'd need to utilize an internet connection would be minimal. So I disconnected from the outside world the entire weekend! That was SO refreshing.

My son has been learning to fence here for the past few months. All the coaches are incredibly…read morefriendly and helpful with both parents and children. Coach Nate is wonderful with the beginning fencing class, mixing both games and drills/techniques. My son also does a once weekly private lesson with Coach Mike who expects a lot, but also blends humor and works well with my 9 year old. I appreciate that the people who work here love what they do, are knowledgeable, have expectations but also make it a fun environment.

Our son has been fencing at Bay Area Fencing Club for a year, and we all love it. The staff is very…read moreresponsive, answering questions about classes, scheduling, and fencing in general. His coaches are excellent. Their instruction is balanced, helping the fencers to improve while not getting too intense. Besides fencing skills, sportsmanship and values are taught as well. If your child is interested in fencing, give it a try!

My 8 year old daughter has had an interest in sewing since taking a summer camp at Camp…read moreFashionista. We were searching something closer to home and found Linda! My daughter has taken classes with her for a few months and has already made numerous items like a sewing tool bag, a skirt, an owl, an elephant and a tote bag. The items she made were very well designed and pretty impressive! She looks forward to this class, it's her favorite time of the week. One thing my daughter loves most is that she can choose what she wants to work on and she can go at her own pace with Linda's guidance. Linda is a total gem, she is so sweet and has created a warm and fun environment to learn. She has really instilled a love of sewing in my daughter and she has built so much confidence in herself making beautiful and complicated items but having fun at the same time. Linda is an amazing teacher, we're so lucky to have found her!

My 12 year old daughter wanted to learn to use how to use her new sewing machine and we happened to…read morestumble upon this business while online searching. What a find!!! A true hidden gem. Linda has so much positive energy and is so easy to work with. Her knowledge about sewing is extensive and she is able to work with the students in a way that encourages independence while simultaneously developing a unique skill set. My daughter has learned so much and has already completed with a variety of projects. She looks forward to each class and it is definitely a highlight of my daughters week. I would definitely recommend this business!

Walden West is a great place for your kid if your kid likes to hike or likes the outdoors. They…read morehave really good food like waffles, sausages and french toast for breakfast, bagged sandwiches for lunch on the Epic Journey hike, salad bar and chicken tenders and pizza for dinner. Make sure to bring water on the Epic Journey hike! About half of the staff I like and the other half I didn't. Every kid has to have a buddy with them to go to the bathroom or anywhere else, even if it's 20 steps away from where everybody is. If you have some medicine or something to be given by the health clerk, you have to go with a buddy even though it's right next to the cabins and have a water bottle to drink with the medicine. I liked my cabin leader, she was amazing. Overall it's fun but it can also be annoying. I am glad I went though.

Chill as both a camper and cabin leader. Staff are pretty overworked but they care about the kids…read moreEOD. The location is really nice and the hiking trails around are no joke. Field instructors are chill and catch a lot of cool animals to show folks. Overall great subset of the County of Education.

My kids took a summer camp here, and had a wonderful time! Danielle and Pam are excellent…read moreinstructors, my kids had a great time and learned a lot! They're already looking forward to next year. We're looking forward to getting into weekly lessons!!