THE CAMP SPINOFF SCHOLARSHIP WINNER RECAP!

Dear Friends, Family & Supporters,

THANK YOU for contributing to our Camp Spinoff Scholarship fundraiser! Together, we sent one female teen to a 5-day overnight summer camp focused on building a positive outdoor learning environment where kids can live, eat and breathe DJ culture with people that share the same passion and interest.

Our scholarship winner was Elizabeth, a 13 year old girl from Las Vegas, Nevada. There were several things that stood out on the application. Mostly, I loved her answer to the question of why she wanted to be a DJ/producer: “I want to become a DJ because I want to make music that my generation likes and that doesn’t have cussing and talk about drugs and money. I want to make music that will inspire young people in a good way.”

Upon arriving, Liz thought she wasn’t going to make friends and afraid she was going to be teased because she came on a scholarship, but quickly realized that everyone was so welcoming and on scholarship too!

During her time at camp, Liz participated in all the activities including scratching on turntables, producing in Ableton, key-note speaker sessions, group challenges, team games, hiking, zip lining, pool parties with a live DJ, salsa dancing lessons, campfire gatherings, smores, and a silent disco closing party.

She won the “Thug it Out” award because of her positive attitude, working through challenges on the turntables and production software, and braving the forest bugs in the natural landscape.

Our cabin produced a track together and Liz rapped on it. She came up with a clever line that had the team impressed and humored: “I don’t like to eat a lot of meat, but with a lot of people I have beef.”

Liz named herself “DJ Big Bird” because she loves Sesame Street, and has always been the tallest amongst her friends at school. She said that when she begins her music career, she would like to collaborate with Blueface and Migos.

Camp Spinoff had its own daily podcast hosted by Amani Roberts where we had a chance to sit and chat about Liz’s camp experience. An inspirational quote she shared when asked what the most meaningful lesson at camp was, “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She is wise beyond her years! Check her podcast interview and more camp photos below.

Seeing the joy these teens experience at Camp Spinoff means the world to me and I am so grateful for your donations, help and support to send Liz to camp. I am truly passionate about this organization and hope to continue volunteering with them for years to come. Another big “thank you” goes to Tina Turnbull aka DJ Tina T for creating this unique camp 10 years ago and changing so many lives because of it.

Thank you again everyone and I can’t wait to share more adventures from Camp Spinoff!

Love,

Tessa Young
tessa@prismdjs.com
(213) 375-8377

Camp Spinoff Podcast interview with Amani Roberts, DJ Big Bird & DJ Tessa starts at 30:50.