2019 Justice High School Scholarship Recipients
In 2019, the Foundation was pleased to be able to award scholarships to 71 motivated and deserving students. Here is just a sample of their inspiring stories.
Family plays a large part in Kevin’s life. His mother brought him to the United States from El Salvador when he was two years old, and his parents encouraged and inspired him throughout his childhood and time at Justice High School. In return, he strove to be a role model for his younger siblings. He did this, in part, by taking an increasingly challenging course load in high school and earning the respect of his teachers. One wrote of “his eagerness to learn” and the “diligence of his studies.” Kevin’s plan is to graduate from Northern Virginia Community College with a degree in nursing, find a job, and give back to his family by helping his parents buy a home and helping put his brother through college.
Jennifer comes from a small but tight knit family. She and her brother were born in Arlington, Virginia, to parents who immigrated from Guatemala. Volunteering was a thread that wound its way through Jennifer’s life at Justice. For three years she tutored and served as a teacher’s aide at two local elementary schools. Jennifer also served as a leader in her church’s group, sang in the church choir, and taught a monthly religious class to the younger children. While attending Justice High School she was part of a class tour of the United Nations in NYC. She also attended a two-week camp STEM camp in Namibia for African and U.S. high school girls. These experiences helped Jennifer decide to attend American University, where she plans to major in International Studies. As she tells it, she wants to solve issues in the fields of health care and civil rights—at both the local and global levels.
Malleha’s family immigrated from Pakistan to give their daughters educational opportunities, and she has made the most of them. Her teachers praised her creativity, resiliency, and compassion. She was involved in her community, including peer mentoring a new student from Afghanistan, volunteering at her mosque, and serving as a STEM Ambassador at Glen Forest Elementary. At Justice High School, she was the Vice President of the PTSA, a position normally held by a parent. Malleha was also Secretary of the Senior Class, applying her artistic talents in a variety of activities including a new event, Winterfest. In addition to community and school responsibilities, she worked part-time jobs to help the family finances, again using her talents as a henna and make-up artist for weddings and other celebrations. She envisions using her talents to open up her own salon, and intends to study business at George Mason University as a first step towards that goal.
Shirle is a Justice High School success story. Despite having extensive household and childcare responsibilities, she took advantage of Justice’s academic offerings by completing the IB Diploma requirements and is now attending the University of Virginia. Managing her time was critical, yet she managed to play three years on the varsity softball team and be a member of the National Honor Society and the Math Honor Society. To ensure that she remained connected to her heritage, she participated in a Bolivian dance troupe that performed regularly in the community. Most importantly, Shirle took great pride in being a role model for her younger brothers and cousins, encouraging them to also make the most of their abilities.
Steeven is passionate about helping people and being part of a community. This trait is exemplified in his schoolwork where his teachers said that Steeven treated uncomfortable topics with a sensitivity that was well beyond his years. His focus on people extends to his extracurricular activities, which included the Edu-Futuro Emerging Leaders Program, which trained is participants in public speaking and community service. He and his family also adopted an orphanage in his native Columbia, delivering clothes and supplies every year. The past two years, Steeven has taken care of his aging grandfather. Steeven was a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Honor Society, and is attending Virginia Commonwealth University as the first member of his family to pursue a college degree.
The years Valeria spent at Justice High School were busy ones and influenced her when it came time to decide what to study in college. In high school she earned an academically challenging IB diploma. She played three seasons on the school’s lacrosse team—and served as the team captain. For three years Valeria was a member of the school’s Science Olympiad team. For three years, as a member of the Spanish National Honor Society, she tutored classmates who were struggling in their Spanish class. During two summers she was a teacher’s aide and taught science at a local elementary school. Valeria sang in the school choir and was in the Music Honor Society. And she spent three years working with the Justice theater group, both as an actress and prop mistress. Her love of the arts makes it unsurprising she chose to study business administration and film production at the University of Southern California.
Brittany stood out among her classmates at Justice High School as a natural leader who was always thinking of others. From her idea to create a bulletin board so more students would be aware of what clubs were available through speaking with rising freshman about strategies for success in high school to serving as a Positivity Project Ambassador, Brittany looked for ways to support her fellow students. She was the founder and President of the Sign Language Club, played volleyball, and was a member of the Psychology Club — while working part-time to help support her household. A first-generation college student, Brittany is attending college at Northern Virginia Community College.
A leader with a can-do attitude, Haseeb has the makings of an entrepreneur. He played an instrumental role in developing a MakerSpace at Glasgow Middle School called Curiosity Shoppe. Curiosity Shoppe provides students with hands-on tools so they can create real products from their ideas. From 7th grade through high school, Haseeb “assisted with organizing & instructionally vetting items within the resource center, mending broken resources, and designing leading activities/events for our students”. While at Justice High School, he created AquaEffort, a non-profit organization with the mission of bringing clean drinking water to those in need that made the local news. He led AquaEffort’s successful project to build a well in a village in rural Pakistan and sent bottled water to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Haseeb served and rose to become the Squad Commander in the Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the US Air Force. He was honored with National Capital Wing Cadet Officer of the Year Award. Haseeb will study business at George Mason University and aspires to be a lawyer.