2011-2012: Brandon Allen

Brandon is active in the Model United Nations. She was chosen to be the Chief of Staff at the 2011 Arab League Conference and the Undersecretary General at the 2012 Conference. She volunteers in a conservation biology lab at Georgetown University and she teaches young children about nature.

2012-2013: Yekaterina (Katya) Gilbo, Senior

Born in St. Petersburg Russia, Katya moved to Pennsylvania with her family when she was eight years old and began learning English. She then lived in Mississippi and Maryland before moving to Virginia. Katya believes that living in so many places at a young age has made her keenly aware of both cultural differences and the basic similarities among people everywhere. She is curious about the people she meets, interested in their lives, and values diversity in experiences and points of view.

After attending the LearnServe International program, Katya began to think about generational relationships and the value in the stories older people have to tell. When she was a sophomore, this interest led her to establish a group of students called ‘Blast to the Past’. Katya, as president, and other members of the group visit the Vinson Retirement Home in McLean every Sunday for two-hour sessions. They make friends with the residents and record their stories, accomplishments, and reflections on life. These stories are entered into the website, http://www.blasttothepast.org, and provide recognition and appreciation for the lives of the residents at Vinson.

Katya says, “The seniors' stories inspire me to focus on humanity as the core of my life. One resident whispered to me, ‘Life is like a dream. Any beautiful time, places, people -- they all fade away like the fragrances of flowers,’ and from the seniors, I learn that those fragrances teach empathy and understanding, helping us through our own obstacles.”

Katya also volunteered for Compassion Over Killing, a Maryland group dedicated to exposing cruel treatment of animals used for food and clothing. She has continued her involvement with animal rights and vegetarianism, volunteering at the annual Green Festival and the Vegetarian Festival.

Gardner Humphreys, College and Career Center Specialist, summarizes, “Katya’s enthusiasm and optimism are what jump right out at you when you meet her. But it’s her absolute commitment to change and lifting up those around her that make a lasting impression.”

2013-2014: Kareem El-Ghazawi, Senior

When he was a freshman, Kareem El-Ghazawi founded the Islamic Presence Club and served as its president. This group provided Muslim students a chance to share their religion with others and conduct their Friday prayers.

In subsequent years, Kareem continued to bring Muslim and non-Muslim students together as Vice President of the Muslim Student Association, opening it to all students who wanted to learn more about Islam. About 25-30 students attended each meeting, and half of them were non-Muslim. As Kareem describes it, “Our main goal was to show all students that we are not as different from each other as we think we are.” The Muslim students shared traditional stories from Islam and showed how aspects of those stories are very similar to other religions. They focused on explaining the beliefs of Islam in an effort to clear up any misconceptions. They split into teams and played a Jeopardy-like game with questions about different beliefs.

At the invitation of a Christian friend, Kareem joined a local church basketball team and has worked to promote understanding and reduce conflict between cultures in that setting as well. Kareem credits his interest in building bridges to his experiences travelling to Egypt every summer to visit extended family.

2014-2015: Suzanne “Suzie” Butterfield, Senior

A year ago, Suzie Butterfield began discussing a strategy with school officials to help make Marshall High School a safer and more welcoming environment for all students. Concerned about the students who feel bullied and depressed, she and her friends put up kindness posters to bring about awareness of depression and potentially suicidal behavior.

Suzie points out, “Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the 10-24 age range, and depression affects 20% of teens in America. I understand what it feels like to feel alone and lost -- feeling insignificant and useless. I strongly believe depression in our youth is brought on from the bullying they go through on a daily basis.”

She believes students should set a positive example by speaking up when they observe bullying, identifying students who need friendly help, and encouraging others to do the same. From using social media to speaking up in a classroom, Suzie tries to help people realize that it is pointless to hurt one another. Suzie says that “even a small, random act of kindness or simply defending someone can have a positive effect on someone’s life.”

Suzie would like to pursue a career in a helping profession, such as counseling or psychology.

2015-2016: Doreen Ndizeye, Senior

Doreen has been profoundly influenced by her family’s life story. Fleeing Rwanda as refugees from the conflicts there, her family came to the US when she was a baby. She still finds it difficult to imagine how they overcome those hardships. The more Doreen has learned about her family history and her birthplace, the more she wants to make the world a better place. To this end, she has applied her leadership and organizational skills to a broad range of activities and organizations that work for peace and understanding.

Doreen is participating in her fourth year in the Model United Nations Club. She was elected Assistant General Secretary for Program and worked all summer with school sponsors to prepare for the October 2015 conference held at Marshall. This year’s theme was ‘The War on Drugs: International Cooperation to Counter the World Drug Problem’.

School counselors chose Doreen to be the leader of the Senior Mentors, a group dedicated to helping freshmen integrate into the school community and encouraging them to become more involved in school activities. As president of the Medical Science Club, Doreen finds guest speakers to inform club members about the medical field. In addition, the club serves as a forum to discuss controversial medical issues, such as stem cell research and Ebola.

Inspired by her three younger siblings, Doreen founded and now serves as co-president of the Go Make a Difference Club (Go M.A.D) at Marshall. She leads the club members in visits to two local elementary schools to assist in the after-school programs. They act as mentors to the young students and help them adopt healthy lifestyles. This year, Doreen also was chosen as a group leader for Ethics Day, a half-day program on ethics and decision-making for sixth graders in the feeder schools for McLean and Langley high schools.

2016-2017: Aidan Kemp, Senior

Aidan Kemp was interviewed and chosen by the faculty to be a lead senior mentor for their Freshman Transition Program, with the goal of easing the pressure of a competitive high school. Aidan met with freshman students in a weekly class setting to answer their questions about the general social atmosphere and their particular concerns as freshmen. Aidan said, “Our goal in answering these questions was to be non-judgmental and truthful and to encourage openness about issues that may cause stress or friction. In doing so, we hope to preserve the positive atmosphere at Marshall High School.” He also worked with faculty to develop lesson plans and to organize activities to help students relieve stress, cope with bullying, and feel school spirit and unity.

Throughout his high school years, Aidan has been actively engaged in community service with the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in McLean. He traveled with about a dozen members of his church to the inner city of Oakland, California where he worked at a food bank and helped clean out and refurbish a community space at St. James Episcopal Church, which also serves as a multicultural center. Aidan summarized, “The trip was a great experience and I learned a lot about others and myself.”

Aidan has also participated in local service missions that included working at food banks and building and repairing houses in impoverished communities of rural southwest Virginia.

2017-2018: Janan Iranbomy, Senior

Janan Iranbomy was chosen to represent the Marshall High School community on the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission and served on its Executive Board.

At Marshall, Janan is President of the Amnesty International Club, where she facilitates events to promote human rights. She is the co-founder of Humans of Marshall Educate, a website that publishes the stories of many students of different backgrounds.  Janan also initiated the annual ‘Embrace Diversity Campaign’, to celebrate Marshall’s many cultures. This spring, Janan will serve as the Secretary General at the National High School Model Arab League Conference at Georgetown University. Additionally, she is the Public Affairs Liaison of Marshall’s Model United Nations club.

During the summer, she uses her multilingualism to translate for youths at a refugee camp in Germany.

2018-2019: Luka Gabitsinashvili, Senior

Luka Gabitsinashvili advocates for justice, fairness, and inclusivity. Last November he attended the Student Advocacy and Innovation Workshop organized by FCPS Board Member Ryan McElveen. This experience honed his skills in conflict resolution and advocacy. After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Luka and other officers of the Student Government Association organized a peaceful student walkout at Marshall to raise concern for school safety and to honor the victims of violence.

As president of the Key Club for the past two years, Luka has been instrumental in many service projects, including writing cards to hospitalized children, raising money for the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center program for underprivileged children, making ribbons for childhood cancer and breast cancer awareness, collecting hats for Ellie’s Hats (to help children with cancer), and fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Luka also helped organize two International Nights at Marshall to celebrate diversity. He recruited volunteers to create displays to represent over 30 different cultures of the school’s community.

Luka co-teaches a Creative Writing Class at Wolf Trap Elementary, a once-a-week, after-school program. He worked with Amnesty International to write letters opposing human rights abuses in other countries. Luka also served as Public Affairs Liaison for the Model United Nations conference held at Marshall in October, and he volunteers for Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), assisting children with mental disabilities.

Luke says, “My voice, my actions, and my choices are the ultimate tools I use to raise awareness about global issues and to seek positive change, happiness, and peace.”

2019-2020: Zamir Ticknor, Junior

“Zamir Ticknor is committed to making a difference at home and abroad, from his leadership roles in both the Best Buddies program and Model United Nations at Marshall to hosting a French exchange student and participating in a Tufts University program in Annecy, France,” said Matt Hanlon, Zamir’s French teacher and sponsor of Marshall’s Model UN.

Zamir was chosen as the next president of Best Buddies at Marshall, an organization that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. This year the Model UN program at Marshall focused on climate change, a topic of major interest to Zamir. He also serves as outreach director for the Virginia branch of the US Youth Climate Strike movement. Zamir helped organize the climate strike that was held in Richmond on September 20 that was attended by 800 activists. The Richmond Times Dispatch quoted from Zamir’s speech that day: “We don’t want to tell our children or younger individuals that they won’t have a sustainable life in the future.”

Zamir’s awareness and concern for the wider world began with his experience living with his State Department family in Cameroon, Ghana, and East Timor. His mother is from Bangladesh, so he is well aware of the problems affecting underdeveloped countries. This summer, he plans to participate in a three-week internship in Zambia with a volunteer organization, African Impact, helping to

teach English to local students. In addition, he currently works with Paper Airplanes, a non-profit organization dedicated to tutoring English via Skype to refugees from conflict-affected countries.