Nayana Celine Xavier, a Junior at Chantilly High School, led a group of seven other Chantilly students in organizing and running a virtual town hall for all CHS students to bring attention to the concerns of underrepresented students.

Due to the pandemic, Nayana realized that there were many students who, like her, were unable to participate in the protest at CHS over the killing of George Floyd. She planned a 40-minute town hall over Zoom, and sent out mass texts to all CHS students to ask them for questions they’d like answered at the town hall. Helping Nayana with this effort were CHS students Isis Holmes, Kiera Davenport, Sebah Khiar, Sharazad Ali, Yesmeen Abdelmeguid, Tinnya Frisby, and Salem Solomon. They fielded questions from other students on race, culture, ethnicity, and gender issues, and how these problems affect the CHS community and the country. They also talked about their own differing backgrounds and how, even though their backgrounds may be different, they had many perspectives that are alike.

Nayana said, “We answered questions asked by CHS students and covered topics such as the history of the ‘n-word’ and cultural appropriation – the act of someone taking something from a culture they don't belong to and using it without understanding or respecting its cultural significance. The town hall created a safe space to address controversial issues. But above all, it served as a platform to empower black students and to amplify their voices.”

A video of the town hall is available, and Assistant Principal Zachary Winfrey encourages all CHS students and staff to watch it. In addition, a clip of it was included in one of the weekly Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) lessons for students.

Mr. Winfrey said, “These students are leading the way in making Chantilly High School a place where EVERY single person knows that he/she/they/them belong and that students should be honored for who they are, and that unkindness towards anyone, especially in response to their race, culture, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation will not be accepted.”

Since the first virtual town hall, the program has expanded across the school to cover issues concerning Asian-Americans, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ students, as well as issues surrounding the attack on the Capitol Building.