Meet the 2026 High School Summer Program Teaching Fellows
From June 29 until July 14, 2026, four Harvard College students will join the CHS High School Summer Program (HSSP) as teaching fellows (TFs). HSSP is organized by CHS Greece in cooperation with Harvard's Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, and with the support of Harvard's Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, and Harvard's Department of the Classics. The TFs, along with the HSSP faculty members, plan, coordinate, and teach the college-level seminars.
The teaching internship is structured in two phases: a spring preparation period in Cambridge, MA, followed by an intensive summer seminar in Nafplio, Greece. Each summer, program faculty, administrators, and selected Teaching Fellows (TFs) engage in daily morning sessions alongside 24 senior high school students from Greece, held at the Center's facilities. The TFs are chosen through a competitive selection process from among the University's applicants to the Teaching Internship Program.
Shira Galai
Shira is a rising junior at Harvard College studying Philosophy and Mathematics, with academic interests that span from organic chemistry to international relations.
This year, she led a Holocaust studies program to Lithuania, Poland, and Hungary, participated in the First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP), served as a Peer Advising Fellow, and worked at the Harvard Ed Portal. Shira is passionate about working with, learning from, and supporting those around her.
Outside the classroom, she enjoys soccer, cookies, watching movies, and sunny hammocks.
Simona Letizia
Simona is a rising junior at Harvard College studying Economics and Social Studies. Although she is American, she has lived abroad for most of her life in Italy, Germany, the United States, Japan, Singapore, and Ghana.
Simona teaches high school students worldwide through Harvard's Model United Nations (Model UN) and Model Congress conferences, mentoring students in Boston, Japan, Australia, and Kosovo. On campus, she is active at the Institute of Politics and enjoys leading hiking trips with the Harvard Outing Club (HOC) and the First-Year Outdoor Program (FOP).
In her free time, Simona loves playing sports, cooking, thrifting, hanging out with friends, and discovering the best coffee shops. She is excited to meet everyone in Nafplio.
Ana Marcela Ramirez Cabal
Ana Marcela is a rising junior at Harvard College pursuing a double concentration in Social Studies and Neuroscience. Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, she feels that her city, known as the "Branch of Heaven" and the "World Capital of Salsa," gave her the ability to respond to any situation with energy and enthusiasm.
Her passions range from literature and photography to dance and debate, while her academic interests are equally as diverse, with bioethics and political thought standing out. On campus, she is involved with organizations such as the International Relations Council and the Foreign Policy Initiative, in addition to research work.
In her free time, she loves singing karaoke, taking long scenic walks, arts and crafts, and chasing stories, strangers, and experiences.
Lauren Wood
Lauren is a rising senior at Harvard College from Louisville, Kentucky, studying Social Studies with a secondary in Computer Science.
She serves as Vice President and Head Writer of The Harvard Lampoon, a humor magazine, and as Senior Fiction Editor of The Harvard Advocate, a literary magazine. Lauren loves writing across a variety of forms: essays, fiction, and screenplays.
Outside of her academic and editorial work, she loves reading, going on long walks, watching stand-up comedy, and cooking. She is looking forward to meeting everyone this summer.
