Outstanding Student Program
The Outstanding Student Program was established in the Fairfax Resolves Chapter in 1984 when the chapter decided it would recognize the Outstanding Student in American History at Wakefield High School. Over the years the program grew to recognize the Outstanding Student in American History in seven high schools and the outstanding student for citizenship in school activities in one school, Christchurch. Participating schools are:
| SCHOOL | LOCATION |
| Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School | Arlington, Virginia |
| Christchurch School | Christchurch, Virginia |
| H-B Woodlawn Program | Arlington, Virginia |
| Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology | Alexandria, Virginia |
| Trinity Christian School | Fairfax, Virginia |
| Wakefield High School | Arlington, Virginia |
| Washington and Lee | Arlington, Virginia |
| Yorktown High School | Arlington, Virginia |
Students are selected based on their overall performance. In the case of the outstanding history students, this includes essays, examinations, and daily participation in class. The chapter relies on the professional judgment of the teachers and does not get involved in the selection process.
Outstanding students are recognized by the award of a Bronze Good Citizenship Medal presented at the school’s awards assembly at the end of the school year. There is also a plaque in each school bearing the names of the students who have achieved recognition over the years. Students returning in the fall are eligible to participate in both the Knight Essay and Rumbaugh Historical Orations Contests, and are encouraged use work recognized by this program as the basis for either of these competitions.
The Virginia Society, using the Fairfax Resolves program as a model, established the Outstanding Student Program as a state SAR program in the fall of 1986.
In conjunction with the objectives of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, the Fairfax Resolves Chapter has established a partnership with seven area high schools and their respective American History Departments to honor the Outstanding Student in American History. This method of providing recognition to an outstanding student means a lot on their college resumes.
Sometimes it is hard to choose and there is more than one winner per school, but the objectives of the program are still achieved with multiple student winners per school.
In the coming years we hope to stimulate more essayists and orators as well as continuing with the Outstanding Student in American History program as outlined here. We hope to be adding more schools throughout the counties of Fairfax and Loudoun.
Award Recipients 2014
Fairfax Resolves presented eight Outstanding Student awards at seven schools in 2014.
| SCHOOL | RECIPIENT |
| Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School | John Patterson |
| H-B Woodlawn Program | Rhys Davis |
| Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology | David Harris and Emily Moschella |
| Trinity Christian School | Hayley Snowden |
| Wakefield High School | Georgia Allin |
| Washington and Lee | Alexander Wallace |
| Yorktown High School | Cal H. Ries |
Award Recipients 2013
Fairfax Resolves presented eight Outstanding Student awards at seven schools in 2013.
| SCHOOL | RECIPIENT |
| Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School | Ben Stievater |
| H-B Woodlawn Program | Hannah Hauptmann |
| Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology | Comfort Sampong |
| Trinity Christian School | Claire Wang |
| Wakefield High School | John Palmer and Dan Brown |
| Washington and Lee | May Khalil |
| Yorktown High School | Molly A. Mosher |
Award Recipients 2012
Fairfax Resolves presented eight Outstanding Student awards at six schools in 2012.
| SCHOOL | RECIPIENT |
| Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School | Alexa Dantzler |
| Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology | Jacob Doran and Rachel Merriman-Goldring |
| Trinity Christian School | Abby Fahnestock and Jacob Sutor |
| Wakefield High School | Sam Mantzner |
| Washington and Lee | Charlie Argon |
| Yorktown High School | Alexander Place |
Award Recipients 2011
Fairfax Resolves awarded seven Outstanding Student awards at six schools in 2011.
| SCHOOL | RECIPIENT |
| Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School | Marlena Fernandez |
| H-B Woodlawn Program | Kate Bauman |
| Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology | Jacob Miller |
| Wakefield High School | Charles Simon |
| Washington and Lee | Carl Buergler |
| Washington and Lee | Joseph Windhelm |
| Yorktown High School | Robert S. Morris |