Although not widely known and often overlooked, the Fairfax County Student Human Rights Commission is the region’s first commission composed solely of high school students in partnership with Fairfax County schools. The Student Human Rights Commission was originally launched fifteen years ago with the mission of: promoting dialogue on diversity among youth; fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of differences; creating exposure to human and civil rights law; and encouraging leadership and active participation in government. Furthermore, the Student Human Rights Commission is composed of two student representatives from each public high school in Fairfax County.
The commission is open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. However, the application process is highly competitive as the role of being a commissioner entails many responsibilities and requires leadership skills in order to be a strong leader. Even so, “I believe it is a great opportunity and a stepping stone into the world of civic engagement and civil rights as a whole,” president of the SHRC, Shanaiya Miller, said.
More so, each school year the Student Human Rights Commission hosts events, plans activities, and facilitates campaigns in support of its mission and to grow outreach. One campaign that the Student Human Rights Commission holds annually to create exposure to human and civil rights law is the Fair Housing Contest. This annual contest also serves to create awareness among high school students of fair housing issues and laws to promote the importance of providing equal housing opportunities for all.
Aside from bringing light to fair housing, this is a great opportunity to allow for creativity of expression. “The contest is important because it brings to light fair housing law and how fair housing impacts everyone, the fact that discrimination, unfortunately, still exists and impacts the opportunities that are made available to all families, no matter what background you’re from”, said Palumbo Stephanie, one of the SHRC advisors.
Furthermore, all students in Fairfax County are eligible to enter this contest and the first-place winner receives a three-hundred dollar prize. “This contest is targeted towards students, so it’s beneficial to join because it exposes you to ideas, information, and cultures that maybe wouldn’t be in your daily life, and it makes you think about your own housing situation, broadening your global perspective on housing”, said Fitzgerald Sandra another one of the SHRC advisors.
Each year there is a new theme for the contest that is chosen in relation to fair housing, and this year, for the 15th annual fair housing art contest, the chosen theme is “Opening doors to diverse community identity”.
However, the contest accepts only art entries that are hand-drawn and does not allow photography or computer-generated artwork. Students can submit their drawing by scanning the qr code on the fair housing poster and emailing it to the Fairfax County student Human Rights Commission at Fairfax County gov, or by mailing it to the office of the Human Rights and Equity Program. The deadline to submit a drawing is March 28.
