Directors and Support Staff | Skylake Yosemite Camp

Skylake Leadership

Jeff Portnoy

Jeff Portnoy
Co-Owner and Co-Director
Jeff graduated from U.C. Berkeley (’69) and the University of Santa Clara Law School (’72). He has been involved with Skylake since 1984, first as a parent when his daughters began to attend Skylake as campers, and then as the owner/director since 1995. Jeff resides in Marin County with his wife Bonnie during the off season.

Jeff has three primary goals as the director:
1. Every child is safe both physically and emotionally in their camp experience
2. Every child experiences the simple and pure joy of a true summer camp experience
3. Every child returns home happier and more confident

Adrienne Portnoy-Durgin

Adrienne Portnoy-Durgin
Co-Director
Adrienne Portnoy-Durgin has lived, breathed, and dreamed Skylake most of her life. She first attended Skylake as a 9 year old camper and spent the next 15 summers at Skylake as Camper, CILT, Jr. Staff, Counselor and CILT Director. After graduating from the University of Arizona, Adrienne relocated to Lake Tahoe where she focused on a career in Special Events and Hotel Sales & Marketing. In 2010, Adrienne returned to Skylake as the Assistant Director and now loves calling Camp her full time career and passion in life as Co-Director. When Skylake is not in session, Adrienne and her husband Mark, live in Truckee, Ca where they are raising their three sons, Jacob, Miles and Asher.

Jessica Portnoy

Jessica Portnoy
Administrative Director
Jessica Portnoy Sonka spent her first magical summer at Skylake as Chickadee in 1985. She hopped on the bus at age 7 for an adventure that turned into 10 incredible summers as a Camper and CILT, followed by 5 more summers as Jr. Staff, Counselor, Girls Head Counselor and Kitchen Manager. Jessica graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a degree in Anthropology, and went on to earn her Master of Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. After dedicating many years contributing to the success of some great non-profit organizations, Jessica felt a yearning to return to Skylake full time in 2016. She lives in beautiful North Lake Tahoe with her husband Matthew, son Noah, and daughter Morgan.

Jon Moore

Jon Moore
Senior Advisor
Jon Moore first came to Skylake in 1971. His intimate knowledge of all that is Skylake comes from over 25 seasons as a camper, a counselor and a director. He did his undergraduate studies at Pomona College and earned a master's degree in physical education from California State University - Fullerton. He currently lives in Alameda, California, with his wife, Beth, and two daughters, Emma and Abby.

Lyle Plantz

Lyle Plantz
Summer Dinner Chef and Winter Site Manager
Lyle joined the Skylake team in 1996 as a High School Student looking for a summer job. He fell in love with the kitchen responsibilities and was privileged to work with many qualified chefs. Lyle worked his way up the ladder from a dishwasher, to cooks assistant, to lunch chef and is now our dinner chef. He is not only a great chef, but a fun personality in the kitchen who motivates the entire kitchen staff. Lyle's mom Ellie was also working in the kitchen in those early years. Lyle has also learned the construction business from his dad. Many years ago, Lyle began to assist our on-site construction contractor, Carl Jackson. Carl and Lyle rebuilt just about every part of this camp over the last 15 years. Lyle is our consistent presence in camp 12 months of the year and is a cherished member of the Skylake team. "Cookie, Cookie, listen while we sing to you…"

Summer Leadership

Riley Riordan

Riley Riordan
Office and Leadership Support
Riley Riordan is a Spring 2017 graduate from DePauw University in Indiana, with her BA in Psychology. Riley grew up outside of Sacramento, California before moving to the mid-west for the last six years. She was a camper for 2 years before coming full circle to be back on staff 10 years later. 2019 is Riley's 5th consecutive summer working at Skylake. Riley is excited to experience the adventure in figuring out what her future holds. Riley is thrilled to return for another summer with familiar faces, first-time campers, Skylake magic and new memories to be created. Riley has been working at Skylake's Tahoe office during the off season and cannot wait to return to camp this summer!

Laura Broadfoot

Laura Broadfoot
Head Girls Counselor
Laura Broadfoot is a Spring 2017 graduate from Wichita State University in Kansas, with a BA in Early childhood education, Elementary education and Special education. Laura was born and raised and currently lives in Wichita, Kansas. Laura started her career two years ago teaching prekindergarten and is now taking on the role of a first grade teacher. Laura enjoys getting to travel in her spare time, especially the adventures of the outdoors. Summer of 2019 will be Laura’s 4^thconsecutive summer working at Skylake. Her first year at Skylake she was the head lifeguard, the following two years she took on waterfront director and for her 4^thyear she will be our head girls counselor. Laura truly enjoys and looks forward to building positive relationships and making countless memories with campers and staff.

Matt Wallock

Matt Wallock
Head Boys Counselor
Matt Wallock first fell in love with Skylake back in 2006 as a 10 year old, Bobcat. Matthew was a counselor at Skylake in 2016 and is extremely excited to return to camp as Head Boys Counselor for the second year in a row, his 10th year at Skylake! Matt's goal is to make camp as fun and inclusive as possible, and specifically to make boys camp run smoothly. Matt grew up in Santa Barbara, graduated from Wesleyan University in CT, and has recently worked in music journalism and communications consulting. He is now looking forward to another summer of Skylake magic!

Counselors

Skylake will have 65 counselors this summer. Counselors are required to have obtained their Lifeguarding, First Aid, and CPR certifications. In addition all staff attend 6 days of on-site staff training immediately preceding the arrival of the campers. Skylake counselors have both the responsibility of being cabin counselors for the 32 cabins and for running a specific activity. Our Trips Counselors additionally are required to have Wilderness First Aid Certifications. All of the Skylake counselors are college students or who have already graduated. The hiring process includes interviews, reference checks, and full criminal background checks.