In November 2022, we received a $5,000 donation from the Harvey S. Lowe & Susan Hitchcock-Lowe Foundation to help support and strengthen our K-12 outreach efforts. With the help of this donation, the Center for Leadership and Intercultural Engagement (formally the LEAD Office and the Center for Culture Equity and Empowerment) has been able to expand our K-12 partnerships.
Local Area School Partnerships

Jack Wood Awards Presentation, Grace Leitner, Emma Snyder, Jennifer Szczesniak , Maddie Bridgewater, GraciaMelendez, Andy Brown, Sam Whetzler, Chelsey Perkins, Partnership Terraset Recipients. Photo by: Ron Aira/Creative Services/George Mason University
We have been partnering with Terraset Elementary in Reston Virginia since 2023 to provide a leadership conference. Over 130 Student Ambassadors and Young Scholars (5th and 6th grade) have participated in a variety of different educational workshops that focus on leadership development, team building, communication, values development, and goal setting. The leadership conference has been facilitated by our very own Student Leadership Consultants at Mason. The partnership has benefited university students by providing an opportunity to enhance their leadership skills, and it has benefited the Terraset Ambassadors and Young Scholars by showing them what leadership looks like at a college level. The opportunity also provides a path of inspiration to students who may not have considered college previously. In 2024, our Student Leadership Consultants received the Jack Wood Award for Town-Gown Relations.
9/11 Day of Service was a day of reflection and community service—for all ages
Story written by: Lauren Reuscher (September 20, 2024)
George Mason University students, faculty, staff, and alumni gathered on Wednesday, Sept. 11, for the 12th annual Mason Nation 9/11 Day of Service. Since its inception, the day of service has been an opportunity to reflect on the value of individual contributions toward social change and the ways in which individuals can support their community through service projects. Over 200 George Mason students, faculty, staff, and alumni joined the day’s activities. Service activities occurred across campus, a service fair provided a chance to learn about year-round volunteer opportunities, and a luncheon honored first responders, active members of the military, veterans, and volunteers.
The event was hosted by University Life, and the planning team included campus partners from departments and offices around the university.

Service activities included a clothing, diaper, and wipe drive for Women Giving Back; a book drive to benefit the City of Fairfax Regional Library; assembling blankets and chew toys for the Prince William Animal Shelter; creating cards and flower pots for a local assisted living community, working in the campus Greenhouse and Gardens, and more. In partnership with Van Metre Companies, volunteers put together almost 300 snack bags to support children at Pattie Elementary School in Prince William County.

Fourth and fifth grade students from Pattie Elementary also participated in the event. Members of the school’s P.O.P. Club (Paws of Positivity), a before and after school service club, visited George Mason for the day. Thanks to a grant from the Harvey S. Lowe, Jr. and Susan Hitchcock-Lowe Foundation, the university provided transportation, lunch, and project supplies for the students.

During the opening ceremony and luncheon, students from Pattie Elementary took the stage to share what 9/11 means to them—children who, like many of today’s college students, were not born before September 11, 2001.

We partnered with the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and Liberty's Promise to facilitate a leadership workshop with a small group of high school students from Justice High School
We partnered with the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution and Liberty's Promise to facilitate a leadership workshop with a small group of high school students from Falls Church High School
more info coming soon...