2012-2013: Sanned Said Khalefa, Senior

Sanned has been active in the Key Club at Lake Braddock, a club that engages in community service activities such as fundraising for UNICEF, campus cleanup, and student blood drives. He also worked on the Light-Up-The-Night Walkathon for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society. He said he wanted to help “set it up so that people will want to do it again.”

These are activities worthy of a peacemaker, but they are not why Sanned was selected as the recipient of a Student Peace Award. He was chosen because of his deep kindness to others, his quiet helpfulness when he sees a need, his integrity and courage in situations that require a principled stand. His school counselor says that Sanned “has a keen ability to mediate between people in disagreements. After listening carefully to all sides, he takes matters into his own hands and brings people who are blinded by sadness or anger, to overcome the issues that divide them. His example of leadership and compassion is extremely valuable.”

Sanned expresses his beliefs by saying, “Courage is doing what is right even if you are afraid of what your classmates might think.”

2014-2015: Nicolas Martin, Junior

In middle school Nicolas Martin was a victim of cyberbullying. When he entered Lake Braddock he decided to start an after-school club to address this problem.

Two years ago Nick founded the Compassion in Action club, with the tongue-in-cheek abbreviation C.I.A. Instead of presenting a list of “don’ts”, the thirty-member club focuses on the positive by suggesting how classmates can work to improve the climate at Lake Braddock. For example, they provide heart-shaped note paper which anyone can use to write an uplifting note. This note is then given to someone – perhaps even a complete stranger.

Nick’s intention was not just to found a club, but to begin a movement aimed at spreading positivity, empathy, and compassion as a way to end bullying and to create a better learning environment. The club also stresses self-compassion and adolescent mental health. In an effort to reach out and engage students in this movement, Nick creates catchy t-shirts and patiently organizes shirt requests, collects money, and delivers shirts to faculty and classmates. He also designs posters, and he makes sure the club’s promotional materials are aired on morning announcements for all students to see. Last year he directed and produced a video to describe C.I.A.’s mission.

School Counselor Catherine Trenary sums it up, “Nick Martin is an innovator, creator, and natural leader. He has brought his optimistic nature, passion for compassion, and happiness to Lake Braddock. His patience and commitment is not only admirable but infectious. What inspires me the most, however, is Nick’s humility and genuine passion to end bullying and enhance his school’s climate.”

2015-2016: Renata Urbina De la Flor, Senior

Renata Urbina De la Flor is described by her school counselor, Jacquie Naughton, as a “true champion for peace and community building, shown in many facets of her life and in the charitable works in which she gets involved.”

Renata began volunteering for the Poor Sisters of St. Josephs at age 12. This organization had supported and mentored four-year old Renata and her mother when they arrived from Peru with scant resources and speaking only Spanish. The care and support provided by the Poor Sisters implanted in her a deep appreciation for their work in providing immigrant families a path toward peaceful assimilation into their new community. For Renata, volunteering for them is “my personal way to give back for all that I have received in my life.”

At school, Renata is an officer of the Gender Equality Club, which strives to raise awareness for everyone’s right to live without threat of violence or discrimination. Through presentations and charitable activities, the club educates the student body about the negative and unacceptable impact of sexist and discriminatory treatment of women and those in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersexed (LGBTI) community.

Renata initiated and developed the Model Organization of American States (MOAS) program in her school. In 2014 and 2015 Renata participated in conferences in Washington, DC where she worked with MOAS students from other states and nations. Individually and collaboratively they researched selected topics and drafted proposals and resolutions to be addressed at the conference. In 2015 the conference topic was ‘Racism, discrimination, and intolerance as obstacles to development in the Americas’, for which Renata presented her work on youth migration.

Renata has been admitted to George Mason University, where she plans to major in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. She plans to continue to champion causes and policies that promote dignity and equal rights for all, because “in helping others, I feel useful and happy. When we give, we also grow. Everybody wins!”

2016-2017: Jamie Hunstad, Senior

Jamie Hunstad worked to establish a Special Olympics program at her school. She believes that “School sports are an important part of high school, and athletic opportunities should not be limited.”

Motivated and determined to establish a Special Olympics basketball team, she approached her school administration and contacted the Special Olympics coordinators. Multiple-disabilities teacher, Caitlin Smith, notes that “Jamie has been a pivotal student volunteer in the venture to get the club off the ground.” Lake Braddock’s Special Olympics basketball has been so successful that a track and field team was started as well.

Now serving as assistant coach of both teams, Jamie considers herself lucky to have formed a personal relationship with all of the players and to watch them blossom. In her words, “The Special Olympics brings something invaluable to the students who participate, from the pride of receiving a standing ovation at the spring assembly to the sight of their peers cheering them on. The Special Olympics helps integrate these students into the school community.” She hopes her fellow students will attend the games and track meets and cheer for their Special Olympics teams.

Jamie also was instrumental in bringing Rachel’s Challenge to Lake Braddock during her sophomore year. Rachel’s Challenge develops programs aimed at minimizing bullying and promoting tolerance and inclusion through on-site presentations. Jamie lobbied for bringing a Rachel’s Challenge speaker to Lake Braddock to address the student body. The presenter challenged the student body to come together in awareness and support of one another. Jamie describes how deeply moved the students were by the message, and that its effect on peer attitudes has endured.

2017-2018: Zahra Alisa, Senior

Zahra Alisa served as chairperson for the Fair Housing Committee of the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission and led her team to sponsor a poster and essay contest and created a video to raise awareness of the Fair Housing Act legislation designed to protect people from discriminatory practices that deny them housing.  Zahra now chairs the Student Commission’s Mental Health project that is working to arrange panel discussions throughout the Fairfax County school system that will address mental health issues. She also volunteers with Lake Braddock’s Key Club and Student Advisory Board and at INOVA/Fairfax Hospital.

2019-2020: Emily Smith, Senior

Emily Smith says she is motivated to engage in peace activities because she wants to “do everything in my power to make this world a better place.”

Through her three years with Special Olympics, Emily has worked to help general education students better understand students with severe disabilities. She has both coached and played on coeducational “unified sports teams” involving students with and without disabilities competing together in basketball and track and field. Emily feels these sporting events promote understanding on the part of the general education students and improve the skills and confidence of the students in special education. Her goals are to promote friendships and inclusion.

Emily is open about having dyslexia and wants to spread awareness about this challenge. To this end, she has been interviewed twice by her school’s student reporters. Through Peer Helping classes, she has worked on a number of service projects including facilitating food drives and sending thank you notes.

Outside of school, Emily had the opportunity to speak with students from Stoneman Douglas High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School, which both experienced shootings, to plan for their participation in a gun-violence prevention rally at the NRA headquarters in Fairfax County. Emily has participated in peaceful marches to promote, in her words, “a kinder world.” She was at the Women’s March in 2016 and 2017 and the March for Our Lives in 2018.

Paul Agner, Emily’s class instructor of Teachers for Tomorrow, noted that she “does an outstanding job of sharing her voice in class and is a role model for others.”