The Fairfax County Department of Family Services Domestic and Sexual Violence Services (DSVS) asks the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to declare February as Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM).  The 2019 TDVAM theme is, “Be. The. One: Break the Cycle,”.  In the form of a Proclamation, DSVS recognized our school and its staff for their commitment to teaching students about teen dating violence, including the way staff has increased the school community’s access to county resources.

For the past seven years, faculty and staff, such as Ms. Marcella Fulmore, Ms. Sarah Clouse, and Ms. Vaughnetta Caldwell, have collaborated with DSVS by inviting us into their classrooms and their student groups to talk about preventing teen dating violence. We felt that these efforts demonstrate a real desire on an organizational and community level to “break the cycle” of violence that, unfortunately, so many of our county’s youth already are experiencing.

On Tuesday, February 5th, 2019, Ms. Marcella Fulmore accepted the Proclamation on behalf of the school and spoke about how we can all break the cycle. Most notably, she highlighted how we all can dramatically change teens’ lives for the better when we help them learn about healthy relationships.