Camp Kanuga's Trailblazer Adventure Leadership

Meet the Directors

LeeAnne Martin

Trailblazer Adventure Director LeeAnne Martin has spent much of her life in the woods. With a park ranger father, it is easily understood how she came to her current position. Growing up, LeeAnne spent entire summer vacations camping with her family in the state parks of Kentucky.

She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a degree in biology in 1999 and came to Kanuga in the fall of 2001 as an instructor in the Mountain Trail Outdoor School. Her enthusiasm and dedication in sharing the natural world with the students coming to the outdoor school is ever apparent. She is now director for MTOS during the academic year while her summers are committed to the Trailblazer Adventure.

After completing her first summer in 2002, LeeAnne noted, “Each session was an interesting group of persons, and I learned so much from each group as I hope they learned from me. The best part was sitting on a mountain top with a beautiful view as the sun set and hearing several of the Adventurers echo what I was thinking — that it was amazing to be lucky enough to be where we were at that very moment. To me that is what the Trailblazer Adventure is all about: stopping to appreciate the simple things.”

Jim Buckalew

As Kanuga's Adventure Programs Manager, Jim Buckalew brings more than 20 years of camping experience to the position. He first came to Camp Kanuga in 1985 as a camper, which led to successive summers as a counselor in training, junior counselor and counselor. In 1992, he became an instructor for both the Trailblazer Adventure and Mountain Trail Outdoor School pilot programs, then returned to Camp Kanuga in 1993 as head male counselor.

Jim graduated from Furman University in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in studio art and received his teaching certification in 1996.

Since 2001, he has been an integral part of the Mountain Trail Outdoor School teaching team. In his full-time position, he maintains the safety standards for all high adventure activities on and off Kanuga property. He keeps up to date on safety procedures and training through a number of nationally recognized organizations including Project Adventure and the Association for Challenge Course Technology.

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