Staff Bios

Our instructional staff is comprised of adults 18 years and older. Our head instructors, Mark and Kris, have combined for more than 50 years of classroom teaching in grades k through 8. The majority of the rest of our staff is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students, majoring in computer science, computer engineering, performing arts, graphic design and other related fields. We sometimes have high school juniors and seniors who serve as assistants, but are never in charge of teaching our curriculum. Our training program is intense, and our hiring process is very selective!

Mark Stansell spent 26+ years teaching in the Palm Beach County School District – including 10 years at Poinciana STEM School & 11 years at Don Estridge High Tech Middle School. Stansell holds State Of Florida certification in Instructional Technology for grades 6-12 and a Media Specialist certification for grades PreK-12. He founded Digi-Camp in the summer of 2006, and first opened the doors that December. In the time since then, Digi-Camp has become the premier Winter, Spring and Summer Camp provider for South Florida’s youth interested in photography, video and television production and anything in between. Stansell credits Digi-Camp’s business model of being family friendly and affordable, as well as a ton of fun for kids as being the main reason for its success. Mark holds a B.A., Elementary Education, & a M.A. Sports and Business Management.

Mr. Swanson is a 25+ year veteran Palm Beach County School Teacher. Mr. Swanson holds a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Science and Math, bringing a wide range of talents and experiences to Digi-Camp. He is one of only a few teachers who works with NASA and is responsible for building the Poinciana Elementary STEM Magnet School’s Planetarium program – the only one of it’s kind in the State of Florida. Mr. Swanson is an Innovation Specialist at Pine Crest School in Boca Raton, and spends quite a bit of time conducting teacher training opportunities throughout the area and beyond. Mr. Swanson has been with Digi-Camp since 2008, and is our curriculum director extraordinaire. Kris holds a M.A. degree in Information Technology!

Amanda is another FAU Alumni that works for Digi-Camp! She currently teaches 1st grade at Addison Mizner Elementary School in Boca Raton. Amanda loves Harry Potter! She is a self-proclaimed nerd who loves working with her hands and with kids!

Alyssa Stansell is currently studying Software Development at WGU and has been working at DigiCamp since 2012, teaching everything from Video Game Programming to Web Building to Photography. She plans to pursue a Master's of Education and teach Computer Programming. Her hobbies include Lego, karaoke and tabletop RPGs. Alyssa loves embracing her nerd, recently bragging, "I have read the Harry Potter series about 15 times."

Andrew is a senior at the University of North Florida studying Computer Science and is a robotics nerd at his core. He has been competing and coaching in all levels of the FIRST robotics competition for over 6 years and has been with Digi-camp for even longer. Andrew loves working with kids and passing on his knowledge and love of robotics to as many kids as he can.

Jensen Cole is a graduate of Boynton Beach High School. She was involved in Education Rocks, a program where we help send kids to school who can’t afford it in third world countries, so you can see she likes to help children develop the skills they need. She was a Varsity athlete completing Cross Country, Soccer and Track season. She has a triple certification in Microsoft Office Powerpoint, Word, and Excel. Being very experienced with children she finds it easy to work with kids, from babysitting to working with children who have special needs, children are a breeze.

Suzy currently attends school in Tallahassee, is a graduate of Spanish River High School where she spent a great deal of time with marching band and fellow theatre geeks. She loves sewing and working with her hands to build cool things! Suzy plans to pursue theatre and acting as a career! She loves working with children.

Cameron Haffke is a graduate of Park Vista High School, where she was an AICE student, captain of the lacrosse team and a member of the National Honor Society. She is a dedicated student, worker and athlete who enjoys the opportunity to have a positive impact on the community and young children. Cameron is headed to the University of Florida for post-secondary studies!

Vy is a graduate of the International Baccalaureate Program at Atlantic High School, where she was the co-founder and co-president of the Girls who Code club at Atlantic, the outreach coordinator for Habitat for Humanity's Youth United Board of Directors, and an officer in Spanish National Honor Society as well as club participant in Health Occupations Students of America and Model United Nations. Her favorite moments are when she is able to make children around her laugh and smile! Vy is headed to Drexel University for her post-secondary studies.

Samantha Rose attends Northeastern University as a Communication Studies major. She graduated from A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, also as a communications major, where she concentrated in print journalism and film. She was Editor-in-Chief of Dreyfoos' newsmagazine and news website, The Muse. Samantha also has been involved in the production of several short films, some of which have been featured in showcases and film festivals at Dreyfoos. In addition, she served as an officer for the National Honor Society, Communications Honor Society, and Key Club. She enjoys teaching and helping children succeed.

Kaitlyn Ockerman is a member of Pine Crest School's high school class of 2018. This is Kaitlyn's second year as a counselor at DigiCamp. She is an active participant in Pine Crest School's robotics program and is the current captain of the all-girls robotics FTC team Crown Joules. In addition, Kaitlyn plays an integral role in Pine Crest School's MATE Underwater Robotics Team, leading Panther Robotics to internationals two years in a row. During the school year, Kaitlyn participates in an organization called Girls Who Code with the intention of teaching young girls basic coding and allowing them the opportunity to pursue studies in the field of STEM.