TWB June 14th 2025 Experience: 2025-05-25

Teens Westward Bound 2025: TRIP 1!

Hey there, America! Get ready to meet your 2025 Trip 1 counselors and directors! We are so excited to take this journey across America with you all in the program's 50th year! We can't wait to take in the beauty and wonder that makes our country amazing! But until then, let's meet your staff for Trip 1. June 14th is just around the corner, and we're just as pumped as y'all are.

See you soon!!

LET'S DO THIS THING!!!

Grant Deaton - Program Director!

HELLO AMERICA! My name is Grant Deaton and this is my 25th year traveling across this amazing country with TWB. I started going out west in 1996 and 1997 as a participant. In 2001, I began traveling as a counselor and became the tour director in 2003. It was such an honor and privilege to take on the role of Program Director in 2016. Words cannot express how excited I am about traveling out west again this summer with such an incredible group of young people. We are going to have a blast!

I have worked as a Marketing teacher for 13 years in North Carolina. I enjoy golfing, mountain biking, backpacking, as well as hanging out with my family and dogs. My wife, Kitch, and I are extremely blessed to have four wonderful little boys in our lives. Connor (14 years old), Brandon (12 years old), Samuel (10 years old), and Grayson (6 years old) bring so much joy to our family. I will miss them so much this summer.

Dallas Godbold Trip Director (TWB 2010 Trip 1) - Site Managers!

HELLO TWB!!!!! I am SO EXCITED FOR TWB 2025!!!!

I’m Dallas Godbold and I am from TWB Headquarters, Mooresville, NC! I had the amazing opportunity to go on TWB in 2010 and it forever changed my life. My first summer as a counselor was in 2016 and I quickly realized I wanted to spend every summer on TWB. This will be my 10th trip as a staff member. To say I am excited about traveling out west with you all, is definitely an understatement!!!

I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2015 with a degree in Elementary Education! I loved Greensboro so much, that I’ve lived here ever since college. I am currently a math instructional coach at Washington Elementary in Greensboro. I support kindergarten -fifth grade teachers with coaching, planning, modeling lessons, and pulling small groups. Previously, I had taught 4th grade math for 6 years. I am so thankful that being a teacher allows me to travel with YOU each summer!

Some of my favorite things include….ICE CREAM, coffee, Taylor Swift, Disney, ( I can't wait for Disneyland!!!!) and Reese’s! I also love to travel and visit as many new places each year. I love traveling so much, I became a part time travel agent to help others take those dream trips!I love spending time with my family. I have 4 siblings, so we are always having fun in the Godbold house!! When I am not on TWB in the summer you can find me hanging at the beach by the pool. I hope you are ready for a special summer, I promise it will be a summer you will ALWAYS remember! We are going to have 23 days filled with sunshine, happiness, and excitement. See you on June 14th!!!!!!

Kayleigh-Scarlett Hopper (TWB 2012-2) - Cooks!

Hello TWB! I'm Kayleigh-Scarlett Hopper or KS as most people call me, and I am so excited to be going out west with all of you this summer. I went on TWB in 2012 on trip 2 as a participant and this summer will be my 6th trip out west as a counselor. There are certain moments that stand out in your life and TWB is definitely one of those moments. It instilled a love of traveling, meeting new people, and seeing new places that has forever changed me. I grew up in Cherryville, NC with my parents and two siblings. I talked about TWB so much that my brother, Aulden, decided to go west in 2016. I now reside in Raleigh and I am a first-grade teacher in Wake County. I absolutely LOVE teaching and my first graders! I graduated from NC State with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education (2018) and with a master's degree in Literacy (2019.) GO PACK! In my free time, I love to attend Wolfpack sporting events, spend time outside especially on a beach, sing karaoke (my carpool karaoke mic will be traveling out west with us-Get ready for some Dolly Parton & Taylor Swift), and spend time with my family and friends. Get ready for the trip of a lifetime! You will laugh, cry, sing, dance, sweat, and maybe even get a little sleep. See you June 14th! pro tip: pack your clothes in ziplock bags, in case your suitcase gets wet! You never know when a Grand Canyon monsoon will appear :)

Ian Objio (TWB 2019-4) - Dishwashers!

Hi there! I’m Ian, and this will be my third year taking on the west with TWB! I went as a participant in 2019 and from the moment the bus left Mallard Creek, I knew I wanted to keep the TWB magic in my life (or maybe Deaton stew is just that good?). I graduated from Appalachian State in 2023 with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and minors in History and German, and I’m currently finishing my Master’s in International Relations. After that, I’m on deck to join the US Navy as an air wing intelligence officer. Feel free to ask me about the places I’ve been to, tips and tricks for getting ready for college, or about Grant’s Elvis impression!

Brooklynn Watkins (TWB 2019-3)- Bus Cleaners!

Hey hey TWB 2025!! My name is Brooklynn Watkins and I’m so so so excited to be a counselor on Trip 1 of TWB this summer!! I went on TWB as a participant for Trip 3 in 2019! It changed my life in so many amazing ways, so I’m just as ready to take on TWB again but as a counselor! 

I grew up in the small town of Oxford, NC (about an hour north of Raleigh.) From 2019-2023 I was a Meredith College angel! If anyone is looking at Meredith for college PLEASE ask me about it, I love talking about MC! After graduating in 2023, I became a teacher at PS Jones Middle School in Washington, NC. 8th-grade ELA has my whole heart! I got engaged last August in the beautiful North Cascades National Park, and I’m getting married to my best friend in June 2026. In my free time, you will find me reading a book on the couch with my dog, Benny, right beside me! I also enjoy going to OBX and Kerr Lake on the weekends. 

I’m so excited for each and every one of you to get this amazing experience! TWB is such a special and precious thing that so few people in the world get to do, and you won’t know until it’s over how lucky you were to experience it! My sage advice is: enjoy every. single. moment.  The memories you make on TWB will stay with you forever, so soak it alllll up. I can’t wait to meet y’all!! 

Caleb Brannock (TWB 2019-3) - Bus Packers!
 
Hey TWB Trip 1!!! My name is Caleb Brannock, or as my students know me, Coach B! I was a participant on Trip 3 in the summer of 2019 and it changed my life forever! Last summer, I was lucky enough to go out west for the first time as a counselor and am eager to get back on the road for another summer! I am from Ridgeway, Virginia but now have the pleasure to live and teach in Boone, North Carolina. I graduated from THE Appalachian State University in the fall of 2022 with a degree in Health and Physical Education with a minor in sports science and coaching. I have taught every grade K-12 and some college classes as well. I currently teach at Valle Crucis School which gives me the pleasure of teaching K-8 every day! I coach our middle school men and women's basketball teams. When I’m not at work I love sitting on the porch, eating hotdogs, eating hotdogs on the porch, playing guitar hero, and absolutely anything sports related. We are going to have 23 amazing days that you will NEVER forget. It is such a pleasure to call myself your counselor and I am looking forward to knowing each and every one of you!!!

Ashton Woodruff (TWB 2021) - Bloggers & Researchers!
 
HEYYYYY EVERYBODYYYY!!!! My name is Ashton Woodruff and this is my 1st trip on staff and second time going on TWB! I’m from Charlotte (Lake Norman area) and went to Pine Lake Prep. I got the opportunity to go out on the solo TWB trip of 2021 and just graduated from Appalachian State University (I have more classes to finish but who’s counting?) I studied Media in Criminal Justice with a minor in Social Work! I am hoping to work in the nonprofit field or utilize my media skills in either the sports or nonprofit sectors. 
 
For the past three summers I worked at a summer camp outside of Yosemite National Park as a photographer/videographer (2 summers) and camp counselor, (3rd summer). I was the Photo Editor at App State’s student newspaper for a year and I self-designed my major (ask me about it!). I have also never broken a bone (but I have had 7 concussions). In my free time, I enjoy anything and everything outside (hiking, snowboarding, snorkeling), cooking (and eating, duh), photography, and sports (volleyball, lacrosse, hockey, F1, baseball). Ask me anything about photography, videography, movies, sports, or the great outdoors!! 

I’m SO excited to go back out west with you all this summer! I absolutely loved seeing the nature of the West, exploring new towns, and making new friends, some of which I’m still good friends with now! This trip is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so take it all in and live in the moment. You’ll get out every bit that you put in, I promise!! See you all soon! Can’t wait!!

If you ask us: Trip 1 is ALWAYS the best :)

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