National Service Symposium, April 24, 2026

On April 24th, three Lewis High School students were featured speakers at the National Museum and Center for Service’s 2026 Service Symposium 250 & Beyond: Our American Story.

Jackie Acuna-Velasco, Giselle Fox, and Aleyah Olarinde ‍spoke about their growth and impact as leaders of the Lewis Leadership Program Museum of Service. You can watch their speeches at this link: https://youtu.be/BIohz9mY_PA

(Note: this is a 9-minute clip featuring just the students. The full event video is here in higher definition, with Lewis students appearing at 1 hour 40 minutes, approximately.)

‍ ‍Students shared the stage with former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, former Congressman Brian Baird, CEOs of organizations like the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Rotary International, and Independent Sector, a Smithsonian leader, the Executive Director of the National Council for the Social Studies, the State Superintendent for the District of Columbia, and many more.

Aleyah, Giselle, and Jackie shared powerful insights about the role of service in youth leadership development and in their own personal leadership journeys. They also showcased our Museum of Service during lunch and networking breaks, bringing national attention to the Lewis High School Food Pantry, Multilingual Mentors program, La Liguita, and many other service projects featured in our museum. So many people came up to speak with them afterward, sharing business cards and opportunities. ‍ Many participants shared that the student speakers were the highlight of the day.

The students’ full speech is below:

Jackie

Hi everyone, my name is Jackie Acuna-Velasco, and I'm a senior at John R Lewis High School and active member of the Lewis Leadership Program.

When we started in this program as sophomores, we created vision boards, and a big goal for me was to improve my public speaking and find a sense of belonging. Being here now, speaking in front of you all, I can honestly say I've grown so much. Not only have I found my own voice, but I've also learned how to help others feel seen and included. Serving my community has helped me grow as a leader and a person. 

This year, I had the opportunity to help bring the Museum of Service to Lynbrook Elementary, where we worked with over 200 students. We set up the museum, designed interactive stations, and talked to students about what service means to them. I remember a lot of the students sharing small things they do at home like helping their siblings, doing chores without being asked, or standing up for someone. 

Some of them even asked if those moments really made them leaders. And that was the powerful part: helping them realize that leadership isn’t always something big or obvious. It’s in those small, everyday actions. Those little moments are what kids start to reflect on, and they begin to see that they’ve been leaders all along.

This was not the first time I supported students at Lynbrook Elementary School. It started back in my sophomore year, when Giselle and I chose to do our first service project at Lynbrook. We taught students about empowerment and helped them think about what makes them feel strong and confident. 

We first went to Lynbrook not for a grade and not because we had to, but because we wanted to. A photo from that project is now in our service museum. Coming back to Lynbrook this year and seeing how much our project has grown, and how it continues to impact so many students, has been really meaningful.

Giselle

Hi my name is Giselle Foxx. I’m a senior at John R. Lewis High School, and a part of the Lewis Leadership Program. Through my time in the Leadership Program, I have learned that service is about giving back. Giving back to the community, giving back to the environment, and giving back to those in need. 

This program has helped me grow in ways I haven’t been challenged in before. I have led multiple service projects. I have gained an immense amount of hands-on experience, enhanced my leadership skills, and practiced public speaking. I have learned so much about Fairfax County and problems in our community. Without this program, Jackie and I wouldn’t have been able to make the impact of service that we have towards our community. 

In tenth grade, I helped build 100 garden beds for a local farm to help address food insecurity. At the time, I didn’t realize how impactful to our community this was, but as I grew older I realized the importance of what we did, and the people we supported through that action. 

Now, some of the service projects I led are in our museum of service. When we brought the museum to Lynbrook, I showed the children photos of our community farm and talked about my experience. When I see my own service projects represented in our museum of service, I feel proud, because I know I have made a difference in my community. 

Bringing our museum of service to Lynbrook felt like a full circle moment. Setting up the service museum for Lynbrook students and showing them the work we have done as high schoolers in our community feels inspiring. I remember being these ages and feeling like high school was so far away, and that’s when I’ll be able to make a change. When in reality, that’s not the case. If you put your mind to something at any age, you can do it!

I hope that everyone who visits our museum of service takes away how important it is to give back to your community. No matter how big or small your contribution is, a little help is always a big help. I hope Fairfax County continues to empower students to create awareness and solve problems, and I hope our museum will continue our legacy of service after we graduate.

Aleyah Olarinde

My name is Aleyah Olarinde, and I am a junior at John Lewis High School. I am the proud founder of the first ever Lewis High School Food Pantry, one of the projects featured in the Lewis Leadership Program Museum of Service.

The Food Pantry is a supplementary food resource open to all students and families within the Lewis High School community. Food insecurity is a major problem that affects communities worldwide, including our community at Lewis, where over 45% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. 

That statistic was alarming for me. I knew I had to do something, to help the students that I shared a classroom with everyday, and who were struggling silently. And so I founded the Lewis Food Pantry. We have raised $7500 in fiscal donations along with over 200 food-based donations just in the past few months . I want to help end the stigma surrounding food insecurity and need. I hope the food pantry becomes a place where students can come and support each other while making a large impact on our community.

Being part of the museum of service has  been an amazing experience. I’ve gotten to share my story and my love for helping others with so many people, including all of you here today. It has opened up so many doors and opportunities for me and the pantry that I could have never imagined.  But more importantly, it has provided a platform for students, like myself, to use their voices and make our community a better place. 

The museum has empowered me to take leaps of faith when it comes to trying new things and making big changes. Seeing my efforts make real impacts has been an indescribable experience. My passion for service is ever-growing, and that is thanks to the Lewis Leadership Program, and more specifically this museum. 

I hope the museum of service continues to motivate students to branch out to make change. 

I hope that it continues to encourage difficult conversations because those conversations are what make a real difference in the world. Thank you.