Our Team
We hire only energetic, innovative, and CREDENTIALED teachers to ensure that campers learn from the best.
We hire credentialed teachers from local schools to provide project-based, common core-aligned curriculum. These teachers are supported by college-student “Adventure Guides” (counselors) that assist campers and teachers while contributing their creative, zany personalities to the camp experience. The day-to-day operations are overseen by a Site Administrator, who is typically a current or retired teacher or school administrator. Think you’ve got what it takes to join the team? Click here to learn more and apply! The profiles below cover our “home office” team.
Meet Our Home Office Team!

Jennifer Hartvickson
Jennifer travels the country speaking to schools, art associations and after school programs about the importance of setting goals and making plans.

Hans Hartvickson
Hans is the author of books including the award-winning “Mister Lemur’s Train of Thought” and “It Will Take a Lot of Us to Lift a Hippopotamus,” and the founder of the educational band “The Scheming Lemurs.”

Zee Smith
Zee organizes and manages the recruiting process that brings together AIW Camp’s awesomely amazing team of instructors! As Senior VP, People and Innovation, she is also highly involved in identifying new opportunities to help students progress in their journies as writers.
Zee grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania (home to boxer Larry Holmes… and Crayola Crayons). She went on to study Drama at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and worked as an actress in film, tv, and theatre. Alongside these creative pursuits, she worked privately with families coaching their children in theatre to build stronger self-esteem. When the number of families she worked with grew larger than she was able to cover, she started finding other people to work for them. She then officially started her own company recruiting other performers to work with children as babysitters, tutors, and full charge nannies. Zee’s love of working with children also led to taking on a Founder and Director role in Esteem Preschool in Los Angeles. In her free time, Zee chases after her 4th grader on the Soccer field as a Rec Coach, and takes long walks or runs with her husband or dog.

Jonny D. Williams
Jonny is the musical director for Adventures in Writing Camp.

Caitlin Orr
Caitlin works with schools, districts, and churches to arrange optimal facilities space for Adventures in Writing Camp’s sessions.
Prior to her work in Adventures in Writing Camp’s “home office,” Caitlin served as a camp director at both the Fullerton and Tustin AIW Camp locations. She has coordinated grants for the Fullerton School District’s non-profit arts education program “All the Arts.” In this role, she has helped develop after-school programs, summer camps, arts education professional development activities, student art shows, and community outreach strategies.
In addition, Caitlin has been a project liaison for several years, taught art lessons to elementary school students, and taught English for three years in rural Japan. She is an award-winning, cum laude graduate from Mount Holyoke College.
Writing has always been a passion for Caitlin, and she enjoys writing book and play reviews for local media organizations, and working on her own collections of short stories. Beyond her talents and experience, Caitlin is an infectiously upbeat and creative person. She can’t wait to nurture that love in elementary students through Adventures in Writing Camp! Caitlin believes that fostering a love for writing in students at an early age is a vital part of their success in academics.

Zoe Bader
“Zany” Zoe leads curriculum and staff development for AIW’s online camps and after-school programs.

Emily Garcia
Emily leads the AIW Team as the HR Specialist, supporting the entire AIW staff from initial contact and throughout their development at AIW.
Emily began her HR career in Los Angeles recruiting talent for large Fortune 500 companies such as Edward Jones & KB Homes, and served as the Staffing Manager for the national healthcare recruiting company, Nursefinders.
After years in the corporate sector, Emily decided to pursue one of her life goals to open up her own bakery. After fulfilling her desired venture, Emily decided to accept an offer as the Pastry Chef and HR Specialist for one of Carmel’s most popular Italian restaurants and it’s sister restaurant.
Emily currently lives in Monterey and in her “spare time” she enjoys being with her three children and husband.

Alissa Watts
Alissa was raised in Chicago, Illinois but has lived in many other places, including Washington, Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea and Thailand. She speaks Korean, English, and Spanish.
Alissa is the Parent Support Specialist for Adventures in Writing. She can answer any questions regarding the program.
She was an elementary school teacher for both English and Spanish immersion programs. She also taught ESL to adults from South America and other parts of the world to help them pass the TOEFL exam and to enter universities in the U.S.
While being a teacher, she created her own activities and curriculum to enhance learning and help build confidence in her students. She assists in the creation of the AIW curriculum so the campers fall in love with writing!

Blake Foss
Blake manages the web presences, handles IT needs, and generally oversees all things technical in the organization.