Welcome the A-Team!!!

For the first time ever, Youth Odyssey  has DOUBLED our program staff, to eight!  We hired four new summer staff to work with camps and programs; and together they make up the first ever Activities Team (A-Team). We are very excited to have them and are expecting a busy summer filled high energy and smiles. Each brings different skills and passions that will help enhance our summer programming.

So without further ado, here is our new A-Team.

Julie Ross

A-Team Julie

Julie grew up in the small town of Burleson, TX just outside of Fort Worth. Both sides of her family instilled hard work and manual labor and the result was always worth the work! Her grandfather has a ranch near Springtown, TX and her other grandparents own land in Possum Kingdom lake. Julie was always on the land and helping maintain or build sandbag walls, dig paths, mow fields, cut down trees and pave ways. After a hard days work she and her family would sit back and enjoy either the sunset, fire, night fishing or a jump in the lake! This seeded a forever blossoming, grounding love for the outdoors. Today she loves everything nature, her most favorite part of nature is sunrise and sunset she also loves fishing, being on the water, wake boarding, camping, enjoying the beach, playing soccer with her dogs, to simply driving around. Currently, Julie is pursuing a degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Sports Management and minor in Marketing, she plans to graduate in December 2020; and has a certification in CPR/First-Aid. Julie’s career goals have always been to impact as many lives possible in a positive constructive way. She plans to help youth and college athletes in their journeys and ensure their fair treatment from the best staff possible.

 

Bella Gallardo

A-Team Isabella

Isabella was raised in San Antonio Texas. While in high school Isabella found a passion in athletic training which brought her to Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. In 2019 Isabella graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and has a certification in CPR/First-Aid. During college Isabella participated in junior achievement where she realized working with youth was a path she wanted to continue and develop. While growing up Isabella spent a vast sum of time in Rockport with her family fishing and playing on the beach. Isabella’s family always travels together to places like Tennessee where she enjoys hiking and exploring the outdoors. In Isabella’s down time she enjoys reading, crocheting, and playing basketball.

With two dogs and one cat, Isabella has also learned the benefits of animals. And how they can greatly impact people’s lives via animals therapy and companionship.

Austin Perez

A-Team Austin

Austin is a Corpus Christi local raised just 30 minutes away in Rockport, Texas. Growing up his most cherished experiences were his family summer road trips. Every summer his family would visit a national park. Through these exposures to preserved wilderness his love for the outdoors grew. Currently he is attending Del Mar college studying geology. He is also   CPR/First-Aid certified. His goal is to one day be a park ranger and explain to tourists the depths of natures beauty. In his free time, Austin likes to collect, catalog, and display bugs to show others the details that they miss when out in nature. He strives to show the many details hidden in the big picture of the world we live in.

Tevin Grey

A-Team Tevin

Tevin was born in Cincinnati Ohio. Growing up he moved around to parts of Maryland, Indiana and now Texas. This is where he developed his love of exploration and nature. This passion continues today as he works with the youth in the community, teaching many sustainable life practices including cooking, gardening, survival skills, nutrition, environmental awareness and more! He has many ongoing programs within the community helping the youth broaden their experiences. He is currently working with both Corpus Christi Montessori school and Grow Local South Texas in a joint effort to educate youth on what it takes to run a business that allows them to sell the food they grow in their gardens and other crafted goods at the Downtown Farmers market. Tevin has completed certifications for becoming a Natural leader, Plant-based cooking and CPR/First aid. As he continues to learn, develop and hone his skill set from herbology to primitive skills, Tevin instills these practices while educating his family and friends about the importance of learning and preservation of these skills!

Welcome A-Team!

If everyone can take a few minutes to welcome our new A-Team. We are super excited to have them working along side us and impacting many more kids here in our Coastal Bend. Their training has already begun and we are seeing great things out of them. We are sure they are going to fit right into Youth Odyssey and will be changing lives in no time.