Camp Monroe Camp Manager, Sue Hinchliffe, is a great asset. Campers enjoy her kind and joyful demeanor towards campers and her vast scientific knowledge about the area.
Sue taught at Foothill Middle School for 20 years before retiring in 2020. A believer in hands-on, experiential learning, Sue was the teacher/leader for Foothill’s Eighth Grade Spring Break Trip to Washington DC for 13 years. She began her teaching career educating eighth graders in United States History and English. She later transferred her teaching skills towards building a variety of curriculum, including a “Project-based Learning Class” which included the International Standards for Technology in Education. She also taught a Photography Class to challenge students to look at the natural world in new ways and to gain a plethora of photographic skills. Sue created Foothill’s “STEAM Makerspace”, an elective class that included planning, problem solving, and the creation of a variety of projects via the use of software, circuitry, virtual reality, recycled paper, cardboard, and other materials.
Sue earned her Political Science Degree from the University of California, Berkeley, before continuing on to earn two teaching credentials: one in Social Science and the other in English. She has a Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis on Curriculum and Instruction.
An active outdoors person, Sue used to compete in triathlon events. She still loves to swim, bike, and run. A member of the Mt. Diablo Beekeepers Association, Sue is a treatment-free, organic beekeeper and maintains her property’s vineyard, fruit trees, and vegetable gardens. She enjoys training with her dog Jindo, a rescue from South Korea, in Dog Agility courses. Always a loving observer of the changing night sky—when her three boys were younger—many summer nights were spent watching the sky from the backyard trampoline. Sue and her family still enjoy camping, and outings now include the youngest member of the family, Sue’s first grandchild.