Summer 2025 Teachers

Vimbisai

Vimbisai was born and raised in Harare, Zimbabwe, and moved to the U.S. in ninth grade. She recently graduated from Yale with a degree in Computer Science and is passionate about making technology more understandable and accessible to everyone. At U.S. Grant, she’s excited to help students explore what AI is, how it impacts our lives, and how we can shape it for good. Fun fact: Vimbisai loves experimenting with food from around the world and once studied abroad in France to improve her French (and her croissant-eating skills)!

Stella

Stella was born and raised in Flushing, New York. Currently, she’s a rising senior at Yale studying Cognitive Science on the AI track and pursuing a certificate in Education Studies! She’s super excited to teach “AI 101: Understanding Artificial Intelligence” to whizzy 8th-grade students. Her go-to fun fact about herself is that she’s allergic to cockroaches… don’t ask her what that means!

Gaya

Gaya Buchta is a rising junior studying Studio Art and pursuing a certificate in Russian. She will be teaching 8th-grade art classes this summer at U.S. Grant. She lives in East Providence, Rhode Island, but she was born in Sweden. At Yale, she’s involved with the Yale Political Union and organizes exhibitions for Yale Visual Artists. Outside of classes, you can find her learning constructed languages or sewing and crocheting her own clothing.

Sophia

Sophia Eno is a rising Junior from Saratoga, California majoring in Humanities and Cognitive Science. She is thrilled to be working with 9th graders in her humanities course this summer. In addition to her work with U.S. Grant, she is looking forward to practicing electric bass for her rock band, getting through her TBR (to-be-read) list, and training with friends for a half marathon.

Kai

Kai Padilla-Smith graduated this past spring (Saybrook ’25) with a double major in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Math. A little about Kai: He’s from Denver Colorado, he was raised vegetarian and went vegan in high school, and he is currently training for an ironman triathlon! This summer he’ll be teaching a 9th-grade math class centered on competition-style math puzzles, where students will learn to apply probability, counting, and geometry to solve a range of real-world questions. He’ll see you at Dwight Hall!

We can’t wait for you all to meet the teaching team in person this summer!

An Introduction to the Co-Directors—

Steven

Steven Rourick is a rising junior at Yale University from Phoenix, Arizona. He’s an English major pursuing certificates in Education Studies and Spanish. This summer, he is a Co-Director and 6th/7th grade English teacher for U.S. Grant. He will be teaching his class, “Imaginative Voices: The World of Creative Writing.” One fun fact about him is that he loves Marvel movies and can not wait for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars! Feel free to reach out with any questions or if you need any help!

Jenelle

Jenelle Burgess is one of this year’s Directors for U.S. Grant. She is a rising senior at Yale from New York City, studying History and African American Studies. She is a big music lover and a part-time professional musician who plays around New Haven and NYC! She has been teaching middle schoolers for the past three years and working with kids even longer, so she is very excited about her role in the program this year. Feel free to come to her with any questions or concerns!