Mason Charkatz

The Bullis School

Class of 2026

Met with professionals in the fields of National Security and Intelligence, Law and Advocacy, Public Health, and Business Marketing.

Received exclusive tours of sites relating to National Security, Criminology, and International Affairs.

Created advertising materials to further develop Ms. Gloria Bukata’s Tailoring Shop in Bauchi State, Nigeria which was presented to a panel of judges to receive funding for the materials’ implementation.

Mason is extremely excited to go to the Middle School Jumpstart program. He can't wait to participate with his friends and thrive in this new experience.

At Bullis Mason is the current middle school S.G.A co-present. He will be takeoff honors English, geometry, and biology next year in upper school. He is looking forward to potentially being in the National Junior Honors Society.

In the future, Mason hopes to start his own business one day. He would also like to pursue a career with computers preferably as a computer engineer at NASA.

Jumpstart Highlights

I was introduced to the world of national security and intelligence surveillance by Former White House Director for Counterterrorism Strategy, Ben Taylor. Mr. Taylor currently serves as the Head of Business Development for a startup, Independence Hydrogen, after serving in the White House for three years. Before his term in the White House, Mr. Taylor was the head of the US Army Special Operations Command.

After meeting with Mr. Taylor, we were introduced to a panel of Intelligence experts including Anand Arun, a Deputy Research Director for the Department of Defense; Gina Bennet, a Senior Analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); and Oleg Svet, an Irregular Warfare Analyst for Booz Allen Hamilton.

Outside of meeting with security experts, we toured the International Spy Museum. The International Spy Museum is a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about espionage and intelligence. Throughout the museum, I was able to practice intelligence gathering techniques through an intelligence simulation, while also learning about the history of intelligence tools/practices.

I was introduced to the world of law and advocacy by Administrative Law Judge, and parter of Hunter & Johnson PLLC, Judge Adam Hunter. With his guidance, we explored the process of criminal examination and case analysis, allowing us to understand the basics of witness examination and cross-examination.

In an effort to understand the complexities of the criminal justice system, we took an exclusive tour of the University of Maryland’s Criminology Lab. We met with Professor Tom Mauriello, a Forensic Consultant and CEO of ForensIQ. Professor Mauriello showed us the methods used to dissect a crime scene and identify the evidence needed to draw conclusions in legal matters.

Once we learned the basics of criminal investigations and evidence collection, we took part in a crime scene simulation where we were able to explore evidence and analyze specimens. Using the equipment available in the Criminology Lab, we were able to present our findings as to the cause of the crime committed in the simulation.

Dr. Aisha Garba spoke to us about medicine, international public health, and the variety of careers we would pursue within the fields. Dr. Garba guided us through our learning of infectious diseases as well as the basic medical practices.

After meeting with Dr. Garba, we were given the opportunity to speak with EMS and RedCross leaders to learn about emergency medicine. Through the internship, I was able to aquire skills including bandaging, how to find a heart beat and pulse, and how to use laporascopy machines.

After learning these medical concepts, I was able to practice these methods of wrapping and emergency medicine on live-models in a crisis simulation. I employed instructions from medical professionals on the varying techniques for wrapping, bandaging, and transporting to perform emergency procedures.

Through this program, we had the opportunity to meet with well-established professionals in the field of leadership and business. We learned about the importance of youth leadership and advocacy with Dr. Sarah Stiles, Professor and Provost at Georgetown University. Dr. Stiles prompted us to reflect upon the different types of leadership and how we would fit into those roles.

We were given the unique opportunity to be paired with a developing business in Bauchi State, Nigeria. After meeting with Ms. Gloria Bukata, the owner of the developing GB Clothing Design tailoring shop, we worked in teams to develop a marketing strategy for Ms. Bukata to implement.

Ms. Carla Brooks, a marketing and branding leader and consultant for the Johns Hopkins Communications committee, met with us to discuss advertising and marketing strategies. She then reviewed our ideas and helped us create a sustainable marketing piece for Ms. Bukata which you can see below.