Gretchen Stanicek, 22, is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a major in Communication Studies and Media & Journalism. She grew up in Wake Forest, North Carolina and spent her summer in high school as a counselor for Camp Cheerio. She loved serving her campers and making lots of fun memories with them, and will use those experiences to make the best summer ever for her Moondance students! Gretchen is energetic, intelligent, and loves being around teenagers. She will make so many memories for her students in Maui!

Riley Smith, 22, hails from Athens, Georgia and just graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Communications. Outside of the classroom in Tuscaloosa, he worked as a Leasing Agent at HA Edwards Real Estate, was the lead guitarist in his band, Highwater, and was a member of the Lambda Pi Eta Communications Honor Society. Riley is a two-time Moondance alum—reaching the top of Africa and trekking the Tour de Mont Blanc on our Kilimanjaro and Chamonix trips—and has dreamed of being a Trip Leader ever since. Riley has a huge heart, fun-loving personality, and a passion for Moondance and wants to emulate the incredible, enthusiastic, and positive leaders he had on his trips in order to leave a lasting impact on all of his students this summer. We are over the moon confident he will do just that in Maui!

Ben Ringers, 20, joins the Moondance family from Dunwoody, GA and is a rising junior at UGA where he is studying Entertainment Media Studies! In Athens, Ben spends the majority of his time outside of the classroom serving the Men’s Basketball Team as a Creative Media Student Volunteer doing anything from creating recap videos to live Tweeting games. Ben’s leadership experience stems from his involvement in multiple clubs and teams in high school and his time at YMCA Camp High Harbour during the last four summers as a counselor, Advanced Leadership Academy Head Counselor, and Program Director for Media. We are so excited to have Ben’s dynamic and charismatic personality on board for this summer and know he will leave a lasting impact on his students!