The Gordon JCC is pleased to announce our new Camp Davis Leadership Team! Director Andrew Fishman, Assistant Director Max O’Dell, and Inclusion Director Abby Pierron are excitedly preparing for the 2022 summer, our 92nd year of giving your children the best summer of their lives. 

In addition to their own personal experience, our team joins an extensive professional network of over 60 Jewish day camps as part of the Jewish Day Camp Network. The JDCN connects camps across North America, enabling peer to peer support, access to expertise and the ability to leverage the member benefits of a large association - without sacrificing their autonomy and unique Jewish mission. 

 Though this will be Andrew and Max’s first summer with Camp Davis, they have learned all about what makes Camp Davis so special – from Maccabiah games to the amazing Friday Shabbat celebration, and of course the incredible ruach of it all! The team is excited to bring their expertise to Camp Davis and help elevate the experience we’ve always offered. Camp Davis has grown tremendously in the last five years, and we are now planning for camp with at least 200 campers each week! This requires careful attention to detail without losing even a little bit of fun.  

 Our incredible traditional camp model that has brought Nashville kids joy for over 90 years will mostly remain the same; one of the larger areas of focus for this summer will be revamping our specialty camp offerings. Campers can still choose from three specialty tracks – Sports, Art, and STEM (renamed from Brain Builders), but these camps will now be taught by professionals in their fields from the Nashville community with clearer learning objectives and an enhanced level of fun and structure. You can see all these new camps and specialists in our 2022 Camp Guide, which should be in families’ homes soon or on our website www.campdavisnashville.com.  

 Additionally, this team knows the benefits that the brand-new Madeline Pargh Arts and Craft Center will bring to camp! This space will serve as a beautiful home base for campers and staff while also creating incredible opportunities for all-camp engagement and events throughout the summer and year. This camp home will also provide the first step in our pursuit of accreditation through the American Camp Association. 

With all this careful planning and energy, we are confident that Summer 2022 will be the best Camp Davis yet!  

Read on to learn more about this amazing team, and about how this summer will be our best yet! 

Andrew Fishman  

Director of Camp Davis and Children's Services 

Andrew Fishman is beyond thrilled to serve as the new Director of Camp Davis! He brings a myriad of unique experience within education to the role, including teaching preschool, tutoring writing, teaching high school English, and serving as the Curriculum and Operations Coordinator of the Gordon JCC’s ECLC. Most notably, Andrew worked at the prestigious Elmwood Day Camp in White Plains, New York over five formative summers in a variety of roles from counselor to Operations Manager. He was also a camper at Camp Kinder Ring (Hopewell Junction, NY) and Ardsley Day Camp (Ardsley, NY) as a boy, which helped instill a love of the outdoors and the world of camp in general. "In terms of activities, my favorites are Gaga and the ropes course, but my favorite parts of this new job are inspiring young people to have a similar appreciation for camp and fostering an environment that is a fun and safe place to be one’s self." 

 Andrew earned his Bachelor of Arts in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Pittsburgh and his Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Virginia. Aside from camp, Andrew loves cheering on his alma maters and other favorite New York sports teams, trying new recipes in his air fryer or cast-iron skillet, and hiking the many parks of Tennessee and beyond.  

Max O’Dell  
Assistant Director of Camp Davis and Children's Services 
Max grew up here in Nashville and has been working in the camping world since he was sixteen. Those years including working at Whippoorwill Farm Day Camp where he spent five amazing summers. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and Entrepreneurship, Max returned to camping, working at Tim Horton Camp Kentahten for the past two years. Max loves Camp because, “It provides a unique environment where people of all ages from our kindergarten age campers to our staff get to be themselves, sing songs, play, and enjoy the simple moments in life. It's a place where we aren't distracted by Twitter or TikTok and get to appreciate the amazing people we have around us. Best of all, it’s FUN!” When he’s not at camp, Max can be found wandering the isles of Trader Joe’s or hiking in the woods. 

Abby Pierron (AP)  
Camp Davis Inclusion Director 
Abby Pierron, (also known as AP) grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but loves living here in Nashville with her husband, Chad, and their giant dogs, Bear and Goose! She attended Lipscomb University and completed a B.S. in K-8 Special Education Intervention. This is her 5th year teaching in the Comprehensive Disabilities classroom at West End Middle School. This year will be her 3rd summer at Camp Davis. “I love that Camp is a place where anyone and everyone can show up and be fully themselves. Such fun, genuine childhood experiences are fostered at camp, and I love the opportunity to get to be a piece of that!” AP states.  

For more information, contact Andrew Fishman at andrew@nashvillejcc.org or visit our website campdavisnashville.com.