The Justice High School Equity Team is the first Equity Team in Fairfax County Public Schools which includes both students and teachers. This team became a model for all of FCPS, and a teacher-student Equity Team now exists at every high school in the system. The Justice group was founded in 2019 by Senior Emily Ngo, of Vietnamese decent, Senior Jocelyn McCullough, a black student, and Corey Haynes, club sponsor and ESOL teacher.
As a child of Vietnamese refugees, Emily experienced racial aggression and believed herself to be less than her white classmates. When she entered Justice High School, Emily met anti-racist leaders in the school, and she realized that there were others who had also internalized racism.
In elementary school, Jocelyn attended a private school in Chicago. As a black surrounded by white students, she was the target of racism. In the fifth grade she decided to start a black student union, despite resistance from the school’s administration. Later, when she moved to Fairfax, she said the diversity was a culture-shock and even among such a diverse peer group, she was still not sure where she fit in. As early as her freshman year she recognized institutional racism when she realized she was the only student of color in her International Baccalaureate classes.
Inspired by their backgrounds, Emily and Jocelyn decided to work together to make social justice work a daily commitment. As Jocelyn says, “Social Justice is a lifestyle.”
Jocelyn felt left out as the only black girl on her volleyball team, and she discussed her feelings with her coach, Corey Haynes. These conversations lead Jocelyn, Emily, and Corey Haynes to create the Equity Team at Justice High School.
The Equity Team’s efforts began when they sponsored an art show featuring work representing micro-aggressions the artists had experienced. While they describe some push-back, the show gained traction as the Black Lives Matters movement began to take hold across the nation.
Soon Jocelyn, Emily, and Corey Haynes realized that equity work encompasses all facets of life. Now the Equity Team not only educates the community about racial problems in America, but directly combats racist forces with the full support of Justice teachers, students, and administrators. They formed committees devoted to educating the community on antiracism, inviting speakers to honor the school’s recent name-change, supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and working with other schools to share ideas of how they can advance equity and antiracism. Currently, they are planning a two-day Equity Symposium where each committee will describe its work.
Emily and Jocelyn point out that racist practices have severely hindered students' abilities to reach their full potential. They believe the Equity Team’s work can help to create more peaceful relationships in the community and lead to a more equitable society for children from all backgrounds.