Director brings passion, experience to ClapHans
NORMAN — As a teen, Paxton Stieber volunteered for two summers at a camp for kids with disabilities. The experience was eye-opening and life-changing for her.
She learned patience, gratitude and acceptance while working with children at Camp Barnabas in Missouri. She was inspired by the joy and perseverance shown by the campers and learned that “laughter is a universal language.”
“It taught me how to love unconditionally,” Stieber said. “I ended up getting so much out of it.”
Now, the Broken Arrow native is leading a camp for children with disabilities in Oklahoma.
Stieber is the director of Camp ClapHans, a residential summer camp in Norman that is an outreach program of the J.D. McCarty Center for children with developmental disabilities.
“I am so excited about this job and for the opportunity to serve campers and their families this summer,” Stieber said. “I had the privilege of being a member of last year’s camp staff, and I am honored to get to lead this summer.”
She was was hired in September after the former director, Kyle Cottrell, resigned to accept a job out of state.
Firsthand experience
Stieber heard about Camp ClapHans through a friend, and the two worked at the camp last summer. Stieber served as a unit leader, and her duties included planning and organizing daily activities and evening programs.
“I loved it. It gave me a sense of purpose. The kids were amazing.”
Stieber said she was impressed with the camp and the McCarty Center and decided to apply for the director’s position to give her more opportunities to serve children with disabilities.
“I have a passion for doing something that will positively impact this community, and specifically, these kids’ lives.”
Stieber’s professional background includes jobs in management, customer service, marketing and event planning. She has served on the operations staff for The Big Event, the University of Oklahoma’s day of community service, and volunteered in the Tulsa area at Hillcrest HealthCare System, the Parkside Psychiatric Hospital & Clinic and the Little Light House, which offers educational and therapeutic services to children with special needs.
Mike Powers, an administrator at the McCarty Center, said Stieber’s initiative, dependability and determination are qualities he noticed during her work at Camp ClapHans last summer.
“She was able to see a task, and she would step right into that gap and fill that need,” said Powers, administrative programs officer and coordinator of quality assurance and performance improvement at the center.
Seeing ‘so much more’
Stieber’s interest in working with children with special needs grew out of a desire to serve others, which is what prompted her to volunteer at Camp Barnabas. The first summer she worked with a camper with Angelman syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes developmental disabilities and neurological problems, such as difficulty speaking, balancing and walking.
“She changed my outlook on life,” Stieber said. “She taught me so much about people with disabilities that I had misunderstood in the past. And she and I connected in a unique way, because we both knew we were different than everyone else. She struggled with a disability that affected her nervous system, and I was born partially deaf.”
Registration underway
Registration is underway for Camp ClapHans, which serves ages 8 to 18. Deadline to register is March 11.
To register, call Stieber at 307-2814 or email pstieber@jdmc.org. For more information about the camp, go to camp claphans.com.