Many Country School students and their families were “Freezin’ for a Reason” at the Tred Avon Yacht Club in Oxford on Sunday in an effort to raise money for Camp Sunshine. The camp hosts Polar Dips throughout the country and yesterday’s event raised more than $15,500, enough to pay for 6 families to attend the program for children with life-threatening illnesses.

The Loeser family attended Camp Sunshine last summer and amassed “Team Gabe” for the event.

Based in Casco, Maine, on picturesque Sebago Lake, Camp Sunshine’s mission is to offer a place of comfort, hope, and support for families facing their most difficult challenges. To date, the organization has served more than 48,500 people from 49 states and 27 countries, and currently stands alone as the only full-time facility in the nation whose sole purpose is to provide respite for the whole family of children with serious medical conditions.

Country School third grader Gabe Loeser attended Camp Sunshine with his family and had a huge outpouring of support at the event. Participants donned yellow and black “Team Gabe” shirts and spent some uncomfortable seconds in the water to support Gabe and his family. Through the generosity of the Loesers’ friends and family, Team Gabe raised more than $5,000.

“We are so grateful and humbled by the support the Country School community and that which so many of our friends have offered to our family,” said David Loeser. “Gabe’s brain tumor diagnosis in 2014 hit all of us hard and our focus was really on his medical improvement. It was easy to allow the magnitude of this to wash out the daily needs of each member of the family.

“When we found out about Camp Sunshine, we were hesitant, frankly. We felt like we had enough sadness and that spending a week with other cancer patients and their families would be too difficult,” Loeser continued. “We couldn’t have been more wrong. Camp Sunshine provides valuable therapy for every member of the family. …We agreed that it was our favorite vacation and hope to attend annually.”

Camp Sunshine is free to families, thanks to donations and sponsorships from civic groups, corporations, foundations, and individuals. Donations were still coming in as the event closed down on Sunday.

“What an amazing event and such a remarkable community,” said Camp Sunshine director Michael Katz. “To see everyone’s heartfelt support for both Gabe and other families facing similar challenges was most inspiring. Between the hard work of local organizers John and Dodi Sutton and the way the entire community rallied together, the event was a huge success. Camp Sunshine is very appreciative of everyone’s efforts and support and looks forward to making this an annual event.”

The Country School would like to extend its deepest thanks to the Camp Sunshine staff for their commitment to children and their families.

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The Country School is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Lower School Head, Kitty Davis. Davis will succeed Susie Wheeler, current Lower School Head, who will retire at the end of this school year. Wheeler joined The Country School in 1987 as a tutor and was appointed Lower School Head in 1991. She has devoted 25 years to guiding The Country School’s curriculum for kindergarten through grade 4 with a balanced focus on age-appropriate academic challenge, social-emotional health, and overall wellbeing for the school’s youngest students.

Kitty Davis is currently Assistant Lower School Head of Early Childhood Education at Roland Park Country School, a girls’ day school and coed preschool in Baltimore. During the search process, Country School Headmaster Neil Mufson reviewed 55 applications and invited 6 candidates for day-long visits, during which they had interviews with parent, student, trustee, and faculty advisory committees, in addition to the administrative team. Davis quickly made an overwhelmingly positive impression on each group.

“The Country School is truly fortunate to have found Kitty Davis to head our Lower School,” said Mufson. “Her warm and compassionate nature, matched with her focus on truly knowing the children and encouraging joy in learning, makes her an ideal match for us. I feel confident that Kitty will seamlessly carry on the exceptional work that Susie Wheeler has done over the last 25 years.”

Davis has two sons, 23 and 20, and enjoys cooking, reading, hiking, and all thing Eastern Shore. The Country School staff are confident that she will soon become an indispensable addition to its faculty and to the Easton community.

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Left to right: Darlene Jones, Gabe Loeser, Kim Lewers

The Country School presented a check on Monday to Darlene Jones after she ran the Richmond marathon to raise awareness for A Kid’s Brain Tumor Care campaign and in honor of her neighbor, third grader Gabriel Loeser, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2014.

Country School P.E. teacher Kim Lewers promoted a “dress down day” for all students and asked that they bring in spare change to raise money for Jones’ campaign. Gabe’s third grade class counted every cent, which totaled $1,247.06.

For years, Jones has run the marathon to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. This year, she decided she would do it for brain tumor research, which is sorely underfunded—particularly the type of tumor Gabe has. And despite injuring both knees during the race, Jones crossed the finish line.

For his part, Gabe asked friends to donate to Jones’ campaign in lieu of gifts for his ninth birthday, raising more than $800.

“Gabe always has a smile on his face,” Jones says. “He has a big heart and is so considerate of others. It was an honor to run for such a worthy cause and an amazing young man.”

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