Meet the Counselors!

                             

                        Teens Westward Bound THE Trip 2022!


Hello America, meet your 2022 TWB counselors and directors! We are so excited to learn everything there is to know about you while traveling America this summer. For now, here is a little information about us. We cannot wait to see you on June 13th! Let's go west!!


Grant Deaton- Program Director-



HELLO AMERICA! My name is Grant Deaton and this is my 22nd year traveling across this amazing country with TWB. I started going out west in 1996 and 1997 as a participant. In 2001, I began traveling as a counselor and became the tour director in 2003. It was such an honor and privilege to take on the role of Program Director in 2016. Words cannot express how excited I am about traveling out west again this summer with such an incredible group of young people. We are going to have a blast!

I have worked as a Marketing teacher for 13 years in North Carolina. I enjoy golfing, mountain biking, backpacking, as well as hanging out with my family and dogs. My wife, Kitch, and I are extremely blessed to have four wonderful little boys in our lives. Connor (11 years old), Brandon (9 years old), Samuel (7 year old) and Grayson (3 years old) bring so much joy to our family. I will miss them so much this summer.

 

Enjoying every minute of life is so important to me. Going out west every year with the best young people God has to offer is the best way to spend a summer in my mind. I can't wait to see you soon!! LET’S GO WEST!!!





Vickie Wilkins (TWB 1906)- Trip Director- Site Managers & Dishwashers

Hey  hey, I am the V, Ms Beautiful, V, and RARELY do any of my friends call me by my legal name of Vickie Wilkins!  I Sanford, NC, the Brick Capital of the World is where I reside.  My passion is being an educator, and my home away from home would be Southern Lee High School!   I teach students in the areas of Health and Physical Education, Teacher Cadet, and PEPI.  I am the SGA Advisor, I coach Girls and Boys Tennis, whooooooooooo hoooooooooo, had doubles teams that made it to Regionals with both teams this year.  I also teach a bunch of wild women in Sunday School, and the fellowship and the projects that we take on make us realize how blessed we are.  I AM the most blessed woman on the planet to be able to have traveled  on TWB with the Big D, aka Dennis Deaton for years, and now I am beyond blessed to travel with his son Grant!  This family and their extended families eat, breath, and sleep TWB 365 days a year.. I am  forever grateful to this family for what they have let me do with them for over 35 years.  Our nation is breathtaking, and when you put yourself in all the places we will go, you realize there are many threads, fibers, and fabric which make us a country that is ever evolving.  IDo you think I am excited to be traveling with you this summer, - jyeeeeeeeeesssssssss I am!  I look forward to meeting you and your family as we begin our unbelievable adventures of 23 days across AMERICA that will leave numerous footprints upon your heart.  Just so you will know - I have some favorite snacks, and since you have your parent’s credit card, I am sure they will not mind if you buy me a snack every now and then!!!!!  I love fruit, peppermint gum,, Sugar Free Powerade/Blue, which reminds me of my 2nd passion place, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  It’s a fantastic place to go to school, and I also work part time for the Athletic Department being an Usher Supervisor in football and basketball. GO HEELS!  Looking so forward to traveling with all of you - get yourself ready for 23 unforgettable days across AMERICA! 


Ashley Beaty (TWB 2016- Trip 2) - Cooks


Hey yall!!!! I am Ashley Beaty and I am from good ole Gastonia, North Carolina. I graduated from Queen’s University of Charlotte and majored in nursing. I am so excited to not be studying EVERY minute of EVERY day while we are out west!!!! A little bit about me – I played soccer all the way from 3 years old to my sophomore year of college, I LOVE ice cream (can’t get enough of that stuff), I have a huge family and they are simply the best people, I have a job on a Critical Care unit at my local hospital (so I got you for any knee scrapes from our Grand Canyon hike and I promise to always have a band-aid on stand-by), I love Coke Zero and I heavily rely on caffeine, I have a 7 year-old niece and a NEWBORN nephew (happy Auntie over here), I LOVE to laugh and travel…oh and I love Jesus!!! He made this beautiful country that we are about to explore!!! You may wonder how a 3 week trip could change your life…but just trust us when we say it does. SERIOUSLY!  I went on TWB the summer of 2016 after my sophomore year of high school and I still talk about it A LOT. I am still in touch with MANY of my TWB friends and counselors and talk to them all of the time still! It truly is the best connection with people that you will ever have. So….prepare yourselves for a TRIP TO REMEMBER and I will see you folks on June 13th!!!

Ashely on her Teens Westward Bound Trip in 2016!


Kevin Kang (TWB 2017- Trip 2)- Dishwashers & Bus Packers

Hi everyone! I hope you are all as excited for TWB as I am!! My name is Kevin Kang and I am from Cary, NC. I had the experience of a lifetime when I had to privilege to travel out west in 2017 on Trip 2, and I can’t wait to do it again with you all! I graduated from Panther Creek High School in 2018 and just graduated this May from the best school in the world, NC State University!!!! I studied Mechanical Engineering and after this summer I will be working for Corning as an Equipment Engineer in Durham. 

 

I really enjoy sports, whether it’s watching or playing them. I could talk about them all day, specifically: football, soccer (the actual football), and basketball! I love dogs! In my picture you can see my newly adopted puppy, Suki, named after Suki from Avatar: the Last Airbender!

 

I can’t wait to get this summer started and help you all experience a trip of a lifetime!


Kevin on his TWBTrip in 2017!

Payton Holt (TWB 2018- Trip 4)- Bloggers 

Howdy TWB trip 2!!! My name is Payton Holt and I am so so excited to meet and get to know all of you this summer! I was blessed to be on the very first trip 4 in 2018 and I am so stoked to get the opportunity to travel around the most beautiful country again this summer with all of you! 

I am from Mount Ulla, North Carolina and I went to good ole West Rowan High School. I am a recent grad, earning my B.S. degree in Exercise Science and Clinical Health from Emory & Henry College outside of Bristol, TN (BRISTOL BABY!). At E&H, I played for the Women’s tennis team, worked in housing, and was the administrative assistant to the Director of Campus Recreation so I am always down for a little competition. In January 2023, I will be going back to school as a part of Campbell University's Doctorate of Physical Therapy program, GO CAMELS!

I am a huge dog person, as in I really like big dogs (but small dogs are cute too). I love doing all things outdoors so I'm really looking forward to sleeping on the ground for 23 days ;). As a former college athlete I am super competitive so I can't wait to see all of the dance moves and funny jokes you all can think of to win the competitions that will be held! I also love all things sports, especially if it involves tennis, basketball, formula 1, and especially the Carolina Tarheels! 

I can't wait to meet all of you this summer and have the best trip ever! Payton on her Teens Westward Bound Trip in 2018!



Staff Weekend


TWB STAFF WEEKEND 2022!!!

Early in June, all of the staff met at the Deaton house to learn everything there is to know about TWB. We all got a little practice packing light, sleeping in close proximity to each other, and waking up early, so we are prepared for our upcoming 23 day adventure. We covered every important detail about the trip and talked about past TWB trips. After a weekend of talking about everything TWB and getting to know each other, we're all so excited for THE trip! 


            Your fantastic Trip 2 counselors and the greatest Program Directors in all of the land! 


                                                    TWB Legends- Ms. V and Mr. Deaton!        


When in doubt, TENT it out! Hopefully we will not have to pull out these bad boys on our trip! :) 


            Checking out our trips trailers, which houses our kitchen- the home of the cooks!

                                                           
                                                           Donut time for the Deaton Boys!!


Ms. Beautiful teaching all the counselors how to be the best tour guides of the USA for all of you!


                Our Wolfpack counselors all dressed in red. One of Ms. V's least favorite color! :)



                               We are so excited to meet all of you and travel around beautiful USA!


Staff weekend was a success, and we are very excited to meet you. We hope you're getting excited, because the next few days will fly by and we will be heading west before you know it! Make sure to check out our "Meet Your Counselors" blog to get to know more about your counselors and trip director. SEE YOU SOON!