Jaeda has been using her time and talents in a wide range of voluntary activities for many years. She has provided piano music in facilities catering to dementia patients, played in the cello section of youth ensembles, organized trash cleanups and worked to extend awareness of discrimination in the form of antisemitism within the community.
Her specific contribution to her school this year has been her leadership of the LGBTQ+ community, sparked by Governor Youngkin’s attempt to pass a revised version of the Model Policies for the Virginia Department of Education which she believes is an act of hate especially towards transgender students.
As a rights advocate, Jaeda was contacted by a fellow student associated with The Pride Liberation Project, a Virginia student-led LGBTQ+ rights organization, and asked to organize a walkout at Robinson Secondary School in support of LGBTQ+ rights. The statewide walkout in September of 2022 included student participation at more than 90 high schools across Virginia. Jaeda was successful in attracting over 250 students to the event at Robinson. She reports that she coordinated with the principal and members of the administration to ensure that the walkout took place during study hall. During the walkout, student speakers addressed the special needs of this community. The event gained both schoolwide and national media attention.
She also recently became the president of and helped revive a club called the Gender and Sexuality Alliance that was put on hold during covid. This club aims to provide a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students and to promote LGBTQ+ activism. The alliance club also tries to extend its support to any minority group that faces discrimination. The club has recently promoted a “Trans Anthology Project” that supports the LGBTQ+ community by encouraging students to write stories of their struggles to help spread community awareness of the issues they face.
In addition, Jaeda is an artist who has used her talents in support of a number of diverse causes. She participated in a schoolwide service project called “Hues of Humanity” which celebrated diversity at Robinson and culminated in a project exhibition. “My exhibition was about the popular theme of internal mental health struggles found in art throughout history…. I wanted to create a large piece that reflects my own struggles to experience something similar to how expressive artists throughout history felt while creating art.” She has worked on other art projects including one to help destigmatize mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, social anxiety, and OCD. Another piece focuses on the value of bystander intervention when discrimination takes place in a public setting.
Jaeda plans to continue to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and other misunderstood groups affected by discrimination. She hopes that she has contributed to creating a safe place for LGBTQ+ students at her school.
