Summer Exploration Goes Beyond the Classroom

Azariah Charles ’26 is a familiar face to Tower Broadcast News (TBN) viewers as one of the newscast’s anchors and executive producers, but this summer she took on a role that put her under a different spotlight.

In August, Charles,  whose family hails from St. Kitts and Nevis, was invited to perform a dance for Dame Marcella Althea Liburd, Governor-General of St. Kitts and Nevis, during the politician’s visit to New York.

“It was a dramatization of a poem I wrote called ‘My Roots, My Home,’” explained Charles. “I was a little nervous but overall, just excited to perform.” The experience brought Charles “a greater appreciation for my culture through my performance.”

Meanwhile, the Camacho siblings, Allistair ’28 and Sofia ’26, got their feet wet when they became certified adaptive scuba dive buddies this summer with Diveheart — a nonprofit dedicated to building confidence and independence in people with disabilities through adaptive scuba therapy.

They completed an intensive weeklong program of advanced open water and rescue diver courses in Cozumel, Mexico. The training focused on emergency response, rescue techniques, first aid and CPR. Sofia and Allistair completed more than 80 dives combined and learned to use specialized equipment and adaptive gear tailored to the needs of divers with disabilities.

“I'm grateful for the opportunity to get involved with Diveheart, and I've met so many amazing people during the course,” said Sofia, who’s been diving for six years. “I've developed a deeper sense of empathy and patience, and I feel much more accomplished in my scuba diving skills.”

Her brother Allistair, who’s been diving for five years, found the experience rewarding and enjoyed sharing his passion for marine life with others. “I love diving because of the animals and sea life we see underwater,” he said.

In July, Masters’ resident bird expert Alex Pinnock ’26 headed to Boston to work with Dr. Michael Sorenson, a biology professor at Boston University, on his science research project that combined his passion for evolution, genetics and birds. Pinnock learned how to do computational DNA sequence analysis.

“I learned a lot about how working with genes actually functions and about all the different methods that are used to extract information from the data,” Pinnock shared.

During one assignment, Pinnock checked the gene sequences of Estrildid finches, a group of birds parasitized by indigo birds, a brood parasite, to make sure they were aligned correctly.

“It is a very interesting experience to really understand how the scientific method works and how thorough you must be to make sure there are no loose variables, while also making sure you cover all grounds,” Pinnock explained.

Mia Steinwurtzel ’26 also found time for some hands-on learning during her science research internship at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Under the guidance of her mentor Dr. Anna Penn, the head of pediatrics at Columbia Hospital, and Wiliam Yakeh, a graduate research assistant, Steinwurtzel studied “how an insufficiency of cholesterol in the placenta affects the neurodevelopment of the fetus: specifically focusing on the risk for autism spectrum disorders.”

“There are people of all ages doing challenging but extremely fascinating and interesting projects,” she explained. “All of the projects in the lab related to neuroplacentology, which is the study of the placenta's relationship to the brain and neurodevelopment.”

Her takeaway from a summer of experiential work?

“This is a subject I would like to pursue after Masters,” she said. “The medical world intrigues me. Getting to work in a lab has brought the research papers I have read online to life.”