Camp Director Dr. Alexis Filippini is the organization’s creator and executive director. She holds a PhD (and MA) in special education from UC Santa Barbara, a BA in linguistics, and an education specialist credential. She loves spending summertime exploring words… in the wild.

Now in its 7th year, Alexis originally launched Words in the Wild as the popular Readers and Writers in the Garden at St. Paul’s Episcopal School.

During the school year, when she's not teaching after-school programs with us, Alexis can be found working with schools and families on behavior, literacy and learning differences. www.alexisfilippini.com

This will be Ryan's third year teaching alongside Alexis to integrate literacy and the outdoors. Ryan ("Mr. Nepo") also teaches experiential environmental education at a school garden in Oakland with kindergarten through eighth-grade students. He earned his B.A. in Environmental Education from Warren Wilson College and has since been teaching in a variety of ecosystems from the sandy coast of North Carolina to the oak woodlands of the East Bay. He is excited to explore, read, and write with students this summer in the diverse gardens that Oakland has to offer.

Our Teaching Fellow is either in the process or recently finished their teacher training program. This competitive Teaching Fellowship is designed for post-baccalaureate educators looking to gain experience in research based reading instruction and fun student-centered teaching practices.