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Against a backdrop of eight major wars and 28 other armed conflicts worldwide, Fairfax County honored 28 young peacebuilders at the 2026 Student Peace Awards of Fairfax County.

Families, friends and local leaders gathered for the ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at the Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax. Now in its 20th year, the volunteer-run program recognizes students who address conflict, inequality and isolation in their schools and communities.

Margaret Fisher, a member of the Herndon Friends Meeting and an organizer of the awards, said the past year’s violence offers a grim contrast to the students’ local work. She cited a conservative estimate that 240,000 people were killed in 2025, while many others were injured, traumatized, starved or displaced.

Such suffering can create a sense of futility that “lulls one into inaction,” Fisher said. The students, however, demonstrate that peace can be built through deliberate choices and practical work.

Fairfax County School Board member Ryan McElveen said the honorees “chose courage over cynicism, compassion over indifference and service over self-interest.”

“They did not begin their projects seeking recognition,” McElveen said. “They acted because they saw a need.”

U.S. Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-11, also urged attendees not to retreat from efforts to advance peace. He said his optimism comes from the students and from a long history of young Americans pushing the country toward progress.

Walkinshaw pointed to civil rights leader John Lewis, who was a teenager in rural Alabama when he heard a radio program about the Birmingham bus boycott. Learning that young people were organizing for equality and freedom changed Lewis’ life, Walkinshaw said, setting him on a path of lifelong advocacy.

The ceremony showed how broadly students define peacemaking.

Centreville High School senior Sheba Ahmadzai selected the Afghan Student Association to receive her $100 charitable gift. She said the group brings together the school’s Afghan community and provides mentorship and tutoring to refugees and newly arrived students from Afghanistan.

Fairfax High School senior Damika Ravi focused her work on raising awareness about microaggressions and school safety. She said research must reach people who can distribute the findings and use them to create change.

For Mount Vernon High School senior Savanne Clark, peacemaking has reshaped conversations with friends and relatives. She said she has learned to combine different perspectives in search of solutions—or, when agreement is not possible, to build greater understanding.

“And I found that understanding is just as impactful as finding a solution,” Clark said.

Other honorees included Cedar Lane High School junior Caleb Crawford, who helps students experiencing anxiety or difficulty interacting with their peers.

The Verdict newspaper staff at Justice High School was recognized for informing students about issues including sports betting, encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and teen pregnancy.

South Lakes High School junior Alden Walcott writes about her Indian Nation and produced a PBS piece titled “How Indigenous Teens Stay Connected with Their Heritage.”

Twenty-eight schools selected recipients for the 2025-26 awards, including three student groups. Each honoree receives a monetary gift, along with a matching donation to a peace-focused charity of the student’s choice.

The program began in 2006 with the Herndon Friends Meeting and has expanded into a coalition of 15 secular and religious organizations, led by the founding Quaker group and George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. The awards are presented by the Herndon Friends Meeting and Langley Hill Friends Meeting, with grassroots funding and volunteer labor sustaining the effort.

School Board members Robyn Lady of the Dranesville District, Marcia St. John-Cunnings of the Franconia District and Ilryong Moon, an at-large member, also attended.

Closing the reception, McElveen described peace not as a passive condition but as the result of decisions made each day.

“May your work continue to make Fairfax County and the world a much more peaceful place,” he told the students.