For their two decade commemoration, Marshall Academy hosted a twentieth anniversary celebration over the course of a week. The Marshall Academy is a department that offers a variety of specialized and technical courses to any juniors or seniors in Fairfax County Public Schools.
The week kicked off with a Chinese New Year celebration, and featured other events including student showcases, class flip days, a day of service, a ‘what the academy means to me’ essay day and food truck fiestas.
Shelli Farquharson, a career experience specialist, aided in the execution of the week through working with academy ambassadors and level two entrepreneurship students. Farquharson said that they chose the month of February for the celebration because it is national career and technical education month.
“We thought it would be a great time to talk about the great things [Marshall Academy is] doing and also promote CTE because there are so many great classes for students where they can get involved and do project based learning as well as learn through real world co-curricular activities and field trips,” Farquharson said.
During the student showcase, there were visitors such as the first academy administrator, the first academy administrative assistant and former academy teachers. On the flip days, individuals in academy courses were able to pick a different class to learn about everything the academy has to offer.
“My favorite part [of the Marshall Academy Twentieth Anniversary Celebration] was allowing Academy students to check out other Academy classes to see if there is a class they might want to take next year,” senior and second year entrepreneurship student Harrison Norwood said. “I liked the event overall because it really showed what Marshall Academy stands for; trying new things, meeting new people and finding new interests.”
On the essay day, anyone in an academy class spent time writing an essay about what the Marshall Academy means to them personally.
Farquharson and Norwood were involved in the organization of the food truck fiesta. They helped choose and hire food trucks who came after school for two separate days.
“We decided to have food trucks at the end of the day in order to attract people to [Marshall Academy] and show them what it has to offer,” Norwood said.
Over the course of the food truck fiestas, Big Cheese and Chef on Wheels food trucks served any students and faculty members that stayed after school.
The overall goal of the week was to promote the Marshall Academy and celebrate all of the progress it has made in the past 20 years.