Teachers and fellow students learn about Upper School researchers’ projects at the fifth annual HRA Research Symposium

During the afternoon of Wednesday, April 29, Upper School students and faculty members at Hampton Roads Academy gathered in the Spencer Commons to deepen their knowledge of cutting-edge science and celebrate seven hardworking Navigators’ projects at the fifth annual HRA Research Symposium.

The exciting event shone a spotlight on research conducted by the six students in Upper School science teacher Dr. Maribel Gendreau’s Honors Research Methods class—Abigail Adams ’28, Alana Barnhart ’28, Logan Jones ’28, Lydia Jones ’28, Eleni Sarantakos ’26, and Sophia Vassilakos ’26—along with sophomore Henry Kaplow ’28, who completed an independent study experience with Gendreau this year. Featured projects covered an array of fascinating and timely topics, from combatting environmental microplastic pollution to examining antibiotic resistance with an eye toward medical and agricultural applications.

Displaying high-quality posters and electronic visual aids covering their guiding questions, experimental methods, and key findings, the student researchers fielded challenging but supportive questions from their teachers and peers as they circulated through the Symposium. The event was a much-anticipated “chance for all of us to get together and appreciate each other’s talents,” said Assistant Head of School and Director of Upper School Ben Rous.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the Symposium, according to Rous, was observing attendees’ admiration for the exceptional work of their peers. Standing in front of an audience and sharing one’s original research is a vulnerable experience, he noted, and it contributes immensely to building students’ confidence. “After it, the presenters walk a little taller, chests out a little more,” Rous said.

Beyond the benefits students reap on the day of the event, projects presented at the HRA Research Symposium often serve as a springboard to further achievements. This year alone, Kaplow (with support from the Hampton Roads Academy Independent Research Award) and 2024-2025 Research Methods students Indira Hartke ’27 and Connor Muse ’27 have all qualified for the Virginia Junior Academy of Science (VJAS) Symposium at Hampden-Sydney College, where they will present their papers before a panel of judges on May 2 for a chance to earn competitive scholarships. This honor is a testament to the many opportunities for meaningful independent research that HRA offers its students, allowing them to hone crucial skills in problem-solving, communication, and more for college and beyond.

Practical Applications of STEM Education

The HRA Research Symposium represents an evolution of the Upper School’s former requirement for every student to complete a senior project. This open-ended assignment could take the form of an array of enriching endeavors, from independent scientific research to writing a novel. While there was undeniable value in inviting seniors to explore individual interests through a capstone project, Rous explained, the HRA faculty sought to reimagine this experience to prioritize opportunities for greater depth in a student’s chosen field.

For the STEM-inclined, this meant allowing students, well before twelfth grade, to “get used to doing the work of serious science, which is producing and presenting original research,” the Upper School director said.

Gendreau designed the Honors Research Methods course, culminating in the Symposium, to provide this exposure. The curriculum guides students through experimental design and the creation, execution, and presentation of their own research-based projects, making novel contributions to their fields of interest. The following fall, students are eligible to pursue a BACE (Biotechnology Aptitude and Competency Exam) certification, equipping them with the skills and credentials needed to work professionally in the biotech industry. In this way, Research Methods not only allows students to generate original scientific work, but also, like the REACH (Real-world Experience and Academic Choice) Initiative, provides an opportunity for practical applications of knowledge within the curriculum at HRA. This year, Indira Hartke and senior Lexi Trudeau ’26 seized this opportunity and earned BACE certification.

Student projects at HRA have laid a foundation for several promising careers in scientific research. The Upper School science hallway is lined with award-winning posters presented at the VJAS Symposium and the National Association of Biology Teachers Course-Embedded Student Research (CESR) competition as well as HRA’s own Research Symposium. Navigators who have achieved such distinctions in their Upper School years have regularly continued their research at the university level.

“Difference-Makers” for College-Bound Students

As Rous explained, sharing a project at the HRA Research Symposium is an invaluable experience for students because college preparation is about far more than tackling academically rigorous coursework. “It’s being comfortable in all the different realms that college and beyond include,” he said. “Our graduates should be ready for every eventuality.”

Most directly, preparing for and presenting at the Symposium simulates professional engagement in an academic discipline. “Our students are the experts,” Rous said. “They get to experience what it’s like to author a scientific study and present that material.”

In the process, students not only increase their scientific knowledge and learn research skills, but also gain a sense of whether a career in research is the right fit for them. Rous stressed that it is normal not to know exactly what one’s future path will be by the age of 18, “but I don’t think it’s bad to get to college with a clarified sense of your interests and passions.”

Regardless of the major and career a student chooses, the Symposium helps Upper Schoolers develop—and model for their peers—a host of essential life skills. In addition to communicating ideas at a high level in writing, graphics, and speech, participants practice complex problem-solving as they pursue their projects from hypothesis to conclusion, along with vetting sources, an indispensable ability for all adults in the age of AI.

Through research, students also learn how to seek out and partner with a mentor on a substantial project, one of the hallmarks of a meaningful college experience. HRA’s goal, Rous said, is to introduce spaces for such collaboration during students’ Upper School years, so that  the “difference-makers” that will set them apart from their peers in college are not new discoveries, but rather familiar habits.

Exploring New Directions

As the presenters at this year’s HRA Research Symposium universally attested, working on their respective projects under Gendreau’s mentorship not only enabled them to generate new knowledge about their research topics, but also helped give shape to their future plans. Conducting experiments at the frontier of a variety of subfields, they had the profoundly rewarding experience of producing findings that promise to advance biology, medicine, and environmental science.

Lydia Jones ’28: “Comparing the Antimicrobial Effects of Antibiotics vs. Plant Extracts”

Lydia Jones ’28 explains her research on plant-based alternatives to antibiotics

Inspired by the growing problem of antibiotic pollution in the environment, which is causing bacteria to become increasingly resistant to these vital drugs, sophomore Lydia Jones investigated the antimicrobial properties of plants as an alternative to antibiotics. Through a standard laboratory technique known as the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion test, she compared the effectiveness of eucalyptus, ivy leaf extract, and tea tree oil to that of familiar antibiotics amoxicillin, clarythromycin, and tobramycin against a bacterium commonly found in the respiratory system. Tobramycin proved most effective, but, intriguingly, Jones found eucalyptus to have slightly greater antibacterial effects than amoxicillin.

Through this study, Jones said, she “learned how to write scientifically and how to be confident in presenting [her] research.” Having achieved results with potentially weighty implications for pharmaceutical science, she is more certain than ever that she will continue pursuing research once she reaches college.

Alana Barnhart ’28: “The Consequences of Stimulants and Their Effects on Energy Output”

Alana Barnhart ’28 discusses findings that may make her fellow Upper Schoolers reconsider their relationship with caffeine

As a student at a rigorous college-preparatory school, Alana Barnhart has witnessed first-hand how young people frequently turn to coffee for a lift as they work to balance academics and multiple co-curricular activities. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the relative harms and benefits of stimulants like caffeine, the sophomore decided to undertake an experiment to compare these substances’ effects on users’ long-term energy levels. Barnhart administered a fixed concentration of a range of stimulants to different groups of single-celled organisms of the genus Tetrahymena, commonly used in biomedical research, then visually studied changes in their behavior over time as they passed through an observation area. With the assistance of video analysis software, she determined that caffeine resulted in the greatest decrease in energy, followed by nicotine and sugar.

Though this was a new area of research for Barnhart, her project produced a significant insight: while caffeine and other common stimulants provide a clear boost in the short term, they ultimately have a detrimental impact on users’ energy levels. “The biggest skills I learned through this process have been problem-solving in areas I lack education in and learning how to work completely independently,” she said. These abilities will be indispensable as Barnhart works toward a future career in neuroscience or health sciences, both research-intensive fields.

Henry Kaplow ’28: “Balancing Fitness: Trade-Offs between Viral Defenses and Antibiotic Resistance”

Henry Kaplow ’28 fields questions from his peers during the Symposium

When sophomore Henry Kaplow embarked on an independent study with Gendreau in fall 2025, he knew he was passionate about biology but was not certain how he could make an original contribution within the field. His mentor gave direction to his project when she suggested working with bacteriophages, viruses that infect and replicate inside of bacteria, and taught him the skills he would need to study them. “Without her help, none of it would have been possible,” he said.

Kaplow hypothesized that a bacterium’s survival during a phage attack would result in an evolutionary fitness trade-off, rendering the organism more vulnerable to antibiotics due to damage to efflux pumps through which those drugs are normally expelled. To test this prediction, he exposed several strains of E. coli to the TLS bacteriophage and observed which grew the most, then pipetted each strain into a well plate along with an antibiotic. Studying the bacteria’s proliferation once more, he found that those that had grown the most in the presence of the phage exhibited the least growth when introduced to the antibiotic solution. Strongly suggestive of the evolutionary trade-off the sophomore anticipated, Kaplow’s experiment could lead to further consequential discoveries in research on bacterial sensitivity and resistance to antibiotics, as well as phage-based therapies.

This project, Kaplow said, taught him “how to work in a lab setting and consolidate information in order to share it with a wider audience.” Having impressed his teachers and peers at the HRA Research Symposium and qualified for the upcoming VJAS Symposium, he has undeniably succeeded in both areas. Like his classmates, he has found that his research experience has only increased his enthusiasm for his chosen field, reaffirming his plan to major in biology in college.

Students proudly representing HRA at Virginia Governor’s Schools in summer 2026 (left to right): Ryan Wartell ’27, Lily Doan ’28, Caroline Short ’27, Jaya Amin ’27, and Simón Molina Alarcon ’27 (not present: Merritt Jones ’27)

Hampton Roads Academy extends its congratulations to six talented Upper School students who have been accepted to highly selective residential Virginia Governor’s Schools for summer 2026. This year’s outstanding cohort consists of sophomore Lily Doan ’28 and juniors Jaya Amin ’27, Merritt Jones ’27, Simón Molina Alarcon ’27, Caroline Short ’27, and Ryan Wartell ’27.

The Governor’s School Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Education’s Office of Advanced Learning, in partnership with local school divisions, colleges, and universities, offers rising juniors and seniors the opportunity to work with seasoned educators and take a “deep dive” into a field of academic, artistic, or professional interest. Experiencing life on a college campus for four weeks, students meet peers from all parts of the state as they engage in fun and challenging activities inside and outside the classroom.

“Our students are competing against other highly qualified applicants from across the entire Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Upper School English teacher and Dean of Student Life Laurie Hager. “It is a significant honor to be invited to attend.”

“An Immersive and Impactful Experience”

A faculty member for the Humanities Summer Residential Governor’s School for four years prior to joining HRA, Hager stressed the interdisciplinary nature of these prestigious programs, challenging students to build connections among multiple subject areas. As she explained, Governor’s School instructors consistently design innovative courses prioritizing deep learning opportunities for students.

“It was an immersive and impactful experience for me as an educator, and it informs my teaching and administrative philosophy to this day,” Hager said.

Year after year, HRA Upper Schoolers who have found their time studying at Virginia Governor’s Schools to be equally enriching.

“I was surrounded by peers who were uniquely passionate and ambitious for the subject,” said senior Gage Beach ’26, an alumnus of the summer 2025 Latin program hosted by Randolph-Macon College. The unique curriculum, his teachers’ depth of involvement, and an environment that allowed for the sort of independence he will soon encounter in college, Beach explained, “rejuvenated my spirits and enjoyment of academia.”

For junior Aaron Carlson ’27, who attended the vocal music program at Radford University last summer, the true value of a Governor’s School program lies in a curriculum that offers invaluable lessons for life beyond the classroom. Carlson recalled that he not only gained technical insights into topics like arranging and composing music, but also learned about such matters of professional conduct as networking skills, audition protocol, and performance etiquette.

“Gov School for music taught me that being a better musician meant becoming a better person,” he said, “and that talent and technique only take you halfway.”

An Outstanding Achievement

HRA’s newest group of Governor’s School students began their journey toward such rewarding educational experiences in the very first month of the 2025-2026 school year. In September, Hager introduced prospective ninth-, tenth-, and eleventh-grade applicants to this summer’s residential programs during a Homeroom period where recent Governor’s School alumni, including Carlson and Beach, fielded questions from their peers.

In October, current sophomores and juniors were invited to submit their names and programs of interest to the Academy Affairs Committee, which evaluated the candidates and nominated the most highly qualified students based on their coursework, relevant experiences, and overall maturity.

Nine nominees then began a rigorous application process. Depending on their chosen program, students prepared essays, completed auditions, took challenging tests, or faced some combination of these forms of adjudication in December.

Successful applicants passed both regional and state-level selection rounds during the spring semester and were offered admission to programs in math, science, & technology, engineering, visual arts, agriculture, and the humanities in April. Accepted students are most often rising seniors, but on occasion—as was the case this year—a rising junior will be admitted to a Virginia Governor’s School as well.

HRA’s 2026 Virginia Governor’s School Cohort

Each of this year’s Governor’s School students is an exceptional scholar with an impressive record of achievement in their areas of interest and in their studies as a whole. The range of programs to which these outstanding Upper Schoolers were accepted reflects the Navigator community’s incredible range of unique talents and unmatched standard of excellence.

Engineering (in Partnership with Jefferson Lab): Lily Doan ’28

Tenth grader Lily Doan was one of only six students from throughout the Commonwealth to be admitted to this year’s summer Governor’s School for Engineering, hosted by William & Mary in partnership with Jefferson Lab. “To be selected to participate in the JLab program as a sophomore is a real accomplishment,” said Upper School science teacher Dr. Maribel Gendreau, “and I am super proud of her!”

Doan’s acceptance into this competitive program marks the latest in a string of accomplishments in the sciences during the first half of her Upper School career. In the spring of her freshman year, she joined HRA’s REACH (Real-world Experience and Academic Choice) Initiative, directed by Gendreau, with a focus on applied sciences and technology. After Gendreau introduced her to Girls Who Code, a nonprofit that seeks to close the gender gap in STEM-based careers, Doan quickly enrolled in the organization’s summer Pathways program, where she learned about game design and web development. This past fall, she established a Girls Who Code Club at HRA to help other female students deepen their knowledge of coding. For her own part, she is currently taking Dr. Devi Adhikari’s Python programming class at HRA and plans to continue studying computer science next year.

Visual & Performing Arts: Jaya Amin ’27

Under the mentorship of Visual Art Department Chair Emma Kamerer, junior Jaya Amin qualified for the highly prestigious Visual Arts program at Radford University by assembling an exceptional portfolio of graphite drawings and monochromatic oil paintings. As she explained, her work explores “the actions and emotions we go through without words … through the human body, an intricate structure that allows said complex thoughts and ideas to be created inside of it.”

An AP Drawing student and National Art Honor Society (NAHS) member, Amin has earned an impressive list of honors and creative opportunities as a student at HRA. During summer 2025, she completed an internship with Williamsburg Art Gallery (as well as a shadowing experience with Virginia Plastic Surgery) through the REACH Initiative. This spring, she was one of eight talented HRA Upper School artists featured in the student exhibition Prefaces at the Mary M. Torggler Fine Arts Center at Christopher Newport University. Amin’s work has also been selected for the 2026 NAHS Juried Art Show, held concurrently with the inaugural HRA Art Show on April 17-19, allowing her to forge meaningful connections with established professional artists. 

Humanities: Merritt Jones ’27 and Ryan Wartell ’27

This year, HRA was honored to have two students accepted to the Virginia Governor’s School for the Humanities at Radford University: juniors Merritt Jones and Ryan Wartell. This interdisciplinary program, spanning philosophy, English, history, and international relations, will allow the students to explore a wide-ranging selection of courses complementing their individual interests.

Both Jones and Wartell have built up résumés that are as well-rounded as the educational experience they will enjoy over the summer. On top of a challenging course load at HRA, Wartell is a member of the varsity boys tennis team team and a curatorial staff volunteer at the Mariners’ Museum and Park. He is also deeply involved in both the visual and performing arts, participating in NAHS and the a cappella group Nowhere to Hide and competing with distinction in prose interpretation as a member of HRA’s forensics team.

Jones is likewise engaged in both athletics and the arts as a varsity field hockey player and treasurer of the Academy’s NAHS chapter. She has further distinguished herself in leadership on the Mayor’s Youth Commission of Newport News, for which she served as a delegate at the 2025 National League of Cities annual conference. Firmly committed to community service, she is a member of both the Youth Volunteer Corps and the Operation Smile Club and volunteers with THRIVE Peninsula food pantry.

Math, Science, & Technology: Caroline Short ’27

Participating in the Governor’s School for Math, Science, & Technology at the University of Lynchburg in summer 2026, junior Caroline Short is a highly accomplished STEM student on campus at HRA and beyond. She has pursued a wide range of internship opportunities to build a foundation for her intended professional path as a labor and delivery nurse and gain exposure to careers in the sciences more broadly. Last summer alone, through REACH, she worked with Navigator parent Dr. Brittney Drames at Suffolk Pediatrics and HRA alumna Sarah Matheson Harris ’09 at Matheson Oyster Co., a sustainable oyster farming business in Gloucester.

This school year, Short has built on her summer internship and shadowing experiences by taking both Dr. Gendreau’s anatomy and physiology class and Marcy Ouellette’s AP Environmental Science class. She also serves as secretary of HRA’s Women in STEM and Engineering (WISE) program. During the coming summer, she plans to pursue an independent research project in addition to studying at the Virginia Governor’s School.

Agriculture: Simón Molina Alarcon ’27

For Simón Molina Alarcon, participating in the Agriculture program at Virginia Tech will be something of a full-circle experience. The junior grew up with significant exposure to farming as he assisted family members who worked in agriculture. Now, through the Virginia Governor’s School, he will apply rigorous scientific knowledge to this critical professional field.

Since joining HRA last year, Alarcon has become highly active in the school community as a member of NAHS and the varsity boys tennis team. His service work has been extensive, including volunteering for the library, tutoring peers in Spanish and geometry, and teaching English in the community. As president of the STEM Club, he has demonstrated leadership skills in advancing the sciences at HRA, a background that will serve him well as he pursues his studies in agriculture this summer.

HRA applauds all six of the incredible students representing the Academy at Virginia Governor’s Schools in 2026!

Our ambitious students’ experiences spanned a wide range of fields, from health and environmental sciences, applied technology, and mathematics to the visual arts, musical performance, and global studies. By interning in hospitals, conducting research in university labs, engaging with the fine arts community, and exploring work in government and public policy, HRA’s future leaders gained insight into how their education could be put into practice in the real world.

This year’s summer interns were:

The REACH Initiative: Extending an HRA Education and Charting Future Paths

These students’ pre-professional opportunities were made possible by HRA’s REACH (Real-world Experience and Academic Choice) Initiative. Directed by Upper School science teacher Dr. Maribel Gendreau, this program reflects the Academy’s commitment to ensuring that its classroom curricula are closely linked to practical experiences whenever possible. Through the internships, mentorships, part-time jobs, and real-world leadership roles it coordinates for Upper School students, the REACH Initiative equips Navigators with the skills that are in highest demand in the professional world of the twenty-first century, including creative thinking, collaboration, and effective communication. The development of these skills begins in the classroom, but students hone and apply them through meaningful work experiences beyond HRA’s campus.

Indira Hartke ’27 works in the lab while participating in the Duke University Pre-College Program in Chemical Toxicology

As Gendreau explained, “Internships let students explore their interests and see what it’s really like to work in the field.” Offering opportunities in five areas—applied science and technology, health sciences, global studies, environmental studies and outdoor leadership, and the fine arts—the REACH Initiative allows students to explore their passions and learn what careers align with them.

According to Assistant Head of School and Director of Upper School Ben Rous, the benefit of these experiences is twofold: students not only discover “possibilities for careers that they had never considered,” but also “come back to school with a reinvigorated sense of engagement with their classes.”

Rous added that the REACH Initiative’s internships, mentorships, and professional shadowing opportunities directly set HRA students up for success in college. “Their eagerness and excitement about learning beyond the classroom are traits professors respond to,” he said, “and it is often that our alumni are partnering with their professors—as freshmen, no less—in research projects, the publishing of professional papers, and similar work.”

“This vision to seek and find resources and professional opportunities,” Rous noted, “is a gift that will continue to serve them well for the entirety of their professional lives.”

Hands-On Learning

Embracing this gift, each of the Academy’s 2025 summer interns has displayed undeniable professional initiative and enthusiasm for learning. The experiences through which they pursued their passions are as diverse as they are impressive.

Zachary Patten ’26 on site at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia

Zachary Patten ’26, an aspiring computer programmer, explored some of the most challenging and inspiring applications of his chosen discipline through NASA’s Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholars (VASTS) program, an immersive space research experience in which students are mentored by NASA experts and gain insight into careers in the aerospace industry. During an intensive week-long summer academy at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Patten interacted with experienced astronauts and aerospace engineering consultants and collaborated with other students to plan a crewed mission to Mars. As his team’s mass and power budget analyst, he played a vital role in ensuring that their instrumentation and resource allocation met both scientific and mission transit requirements.

“I learned how to work together in a group better than ever before,” Patten said. “We had to work together every step of the way.”

As he prepares to embark on a course of study in computer science in college, Patten also hopes to return to VASTS as an intern to facilitate enriching learning experiences for future high schoolers.

Ellen Owen ’26, meanwhile, laid an incredible foundation for a career as a working artist by interning with Carolee Vitaletti, a local painter whose boldly colorful Colonial Williamsburg scenes and animal paintings are displayed throughout the area and sell worldwide. Working alongside Vitaletti allowed Owen to ask the artist questions about her career path and observe her interactions with customers while assisting with the day-to-day operations of her studio and sketching a composition for a client.

An original sketch for a client completed by Ellen Owen ’26 while interning with professional artist Carolee Vitaletti

Owen explained that this internship and other REACH opportunities have helped her understand how she can build an education into a career in the arts. “I learned the importance of a unique style, consistency, hard work, and connections with others,” she said. Her pre-professional activities have inspired her to take more art classes and to study illustration or graphic design in college, following her mentor’s example.

Like Owen, Carys Casper ’26 used her summer experiences through the REACH Initiative to learn what types of work that have captured her imagination at HRA look like beyond the walls of a classroom. Having completed a multitude of lab activities in her science courses, she has developed a strong interest in pursuing laboratory research in the life sciences as an occupation.

This summer, she took her first steps in this field through the CNU Summer Scholars Program. Serving as a research assistant for Kathryn Cole, associate professor of chemistry at Christopher Newport University, and undergraduate researcher Lauren Jarrett, Casper helped prepare solutions, grow bacteria, and create crystallization plates for a project to understand the structure of a mutant polysaccharide deacetylase enzyme, with an eye toward developing an antibiotic for anthrax. When her mentors’ work hit a roadblock, she played an important part in researching options to get the study back on track.

Carys Casper ’26 teaches summer campers at VIMS how to examine samples under the microscope

As she obtained a deeper understanding of scientific research by actively contributing to it, Casper also learned a number of important lessons from her mentor that she can apply at the university level, from using multiple protein databases to seeking out research opportunities.

During her busy summer, Casper also explored work in the life sciences by serving for the third time as a counselor for a summer camp offered by the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Virginia and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. Overseeing a program to introduce rising ninth graders to environmental stewardship and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, she gained teaching experience while broadening her own knowledge of marine science.

Above all, Navigators’ summer experiences have imbued them with the drive to pursue similar applied learning and professionalization opportunities in the future. As Casper explained, “being a part of the REACH program keeps you dedicated to your interests and prevents you from falling short of your potential.” HRA is proud to inspire its students to strive for excellence—not only in school, but throughout their lives.