Amare D’Agostino is president of the Asian Pacific Islander American Club and co-founded the Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). He is also a member of the Student Equity Leader Ambassadors of FCPS representing Mt. Vernon High School. According to school counselor Naisharee Frater, Amare is considered by his teachers to be one of those students who paves the way for other students to follow, and he has learned to maintain a balance among school, home and extracurricular activities.
Amare was so instrumental in his advocacy that APAC has grown and is now available to students in 14 area high schools. This was especially important during Covid, with the growth of discrimination and hatred towards Asians. He worked against this hatred by holding cultural events to familiarize students with Asian culture and provided Asian students a platform to discuss their lives.
Amare also believes in the importance of bringing student voices into the center of discussions and has been actively involved in supporting community efforts to bring awareness to marginalized issues. “When the Virginia Governor passed a new regulation that disbanded policies that were in place to support LGBTQ students, I wanted to show solidarity with this marginalized group of students,” Amare said. “I organized a peaceful student walk out. Students showed up and had no difficulty in letting their voices be heard.”
Amare’s efforts to work for peace and social justice started young when he worked with his dad to make food for homeless people in New York City and distributed the food to them in the park. This experience among others helped him learn to treat people equally. As Mount Vernon’s Equity Ambassador, he worked to get the school board to make the standards of learning more equitable and got the board to accept multiple religious holidays that were previously not recognized as leave days.
He considers his most important role is amplifying student voices. As director of News MVTV, he writes and announces the daily broadcast news for Mt. Vernon HS. This has given him a unique position to make sure student voices are heard and to advocate for change. He has used it as a platform to fight LGBTQ discrimination and has successfully advocated for change to everything from restrictive bathroom policies to leave policies, and especially to draw attention to problems and resources concerning student mental health.
“I believe that standing up for people so that they can have a loving, safe environment is key to promoting peace,” said Amare. “Addressing greed, anger and ignorance are at the heart of solving the problems of the world and promoting cultural exchange and international travel are simple ways to address these issues.”