T.C. Williams High School Senior, Jay Falk, has been awarded the top Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) Exhibitors Scholarship for her commitment to a future in public policy, academics and work as a student representative of the School Board.
Jay received the highest award of $1,250 to support her continuing public policy work while at college. Her award was announced at the 2017 VSBA Annual Convention in Williamsburg, Va. last week.
Scholarships are awarded to three students in the state of Virginia who will be graduating in spring 2018 and served as a student School Board representative during their junior or senior year.
Jay has been a highly involved student representative of the School Board since she took up the position this summer. It is always important for School boards to hear the student voice and make sure we listen to these stakeholders when we are making decisions about education,” said School Board Chair Ramee Gentry.
Jay became involved in the School Board through her work with the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Council at T.C. Williams High School. In her time on the council she worked on creating an online addendum for the Program of Studies and the Student Leadership Summit. Jay became a student representative for the School Board in June this year.
I originally got involved with the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Council because I saw things in our school that needed to be changed, but changes weren’t being made. I joined after realizing that I could communicate with the Superintendent and the School Board about these issues that not only I faced, but other students recognized too. I learned better ways about how to make an impact in T.C.: learning how the board works, figuring out who to talk to in order to make changes and the best avenues to communicate and make an impact,” said Jay.
Jay has applied early decision to the University of Pennsylvania in hopes to study public policy or economics to continue her passion for quantitative reasoning and problem solving. She is also captain of the T.C. Williams Debate Team, was a competitor of the World Championships for Optimist Oratorical, is an Inspire Virginia leader, a fellow of the 2017 Democratic Coordinated Campaign and a member of the T.C. swim team.
The Virginia School Boards Association is a voluntary, nonpartisan organization of Virginia school boards, promotes excellence in public education through advocacy, training, and services. The Association offers conferences, information, training, and counseling designed to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s educational leaders. The VSBA Exhibitors Scholarship, which is in its fifth year, was sponsored by M.B. Kahn Construction Company & TRANE, VMDO & Ameresco, and ABM Education for this year’s scholarship program.