VAHS at Just World Festival

By Shaima Ahmad, VA High School Coordinator
Photos Courtesy of Shaima Ahmad

The Just World Festival promotes multicultural understanding and encourages youth to be involved with important social causes and issues. AALEAD students from the Virginia High School Program had the opportunity to attend and be exhibitors at this awesome event. In preparation for the exhibit at the festival, our group spent several program hours engaging in discussion around youth power. Our students were introduced to the idea of effective ways of establishing power and how power can both be used and abused within our societies.

Our exhibitors table included a tri-fold displaying AALEAD goals and visions. The group also prepared an interactive trivia game focusing on questions about social justice, world history, and culture. The youth invited folks to step right up and give the trivia wheel a spin. They thoroughly enjoyed testing the knowledge of peers and teachers alike with questions varying from who was the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner to the number of years Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Prizes ware awarded and best of all everyone left with just a little more knowledge!

The festival comprised of the exhibitors hall, workshops, and a marketplace. When our students were not manning the AALEAD table, they explored the other exhibitor tables- Amnesty International, Pie Eating Contest at the Math Honors Society, and the Peace Corp. Some also attended workshops on topics such as Yoga, Human Trafficking, and Challenges of Immigration, that were being conducted simultaneously. All of this was topped off with some yummy Middle Eastern food, which some of our students tried for the very first time! The event concluded with a performance by  a Mariachi band and dancers. A special thanks to the Just World Club at Annandale High School for letting AALEAD be a part of such an amazing event!