Invest in the Present. Capitalize on the Future.
It is not hard to fathom why Amy knows Alexandria, and why Alexandria knows Amy Jackson. Raised on the West End, an only child by a divorced, single mother who worked full-time and overtime to make ends meet, Amy learned firsthand how to work hard to create success by her mother’s example. While growing up in Alexandria, Amy was very involved in her community, serving in various clubs and participating in frequent civic events – all for worthy causes – to better a life and brighten a day.
Amy attended Patrick Henry Elementary, F.C. Hammond Jr High, and is a proud T.C. Williams Titan. Amy went on to complete her B.A. in Communication Studies at Virginia Tech, where she also continued her Kiwanis membership in Circle K (an expected track from Builder’s Club and Keyettes/Key Club). She then continued her education in night school at George Mason University where she received her M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction (Secondary Education in Social Studies), and then her second M.Ed. in Education Leadership (School Administration, PreK-12), all while working with her students during the day, and coaching and sponsoring clubs in the afternoons before her own classes. Amy’s career with Fairfax County Public Schools spanned 16 years. Although she misses the classroom and the kids, she is happy to be spending more time with her family, and contributing more to her Alexandria community.
Amy, a life-long community activist and educator, is currently and actively involved in many Alexandria commissions, programs, and non-profits that contribute to the safety, well-being, and education of women, children, and families. These include:
Recently, Amy also completed:
Amy firmly believes that being of service to our community is one of our wisest investments in our children’s future.
When it came time for Amy to start her own family, she could not think of another place she’d rather be than Alexandria.
Her crew looks forward to enjoying the Old Town waterfront, pointing out the Masonic Temple as they drive by the landmark, and frequenting the Del Ray and Old Town restaurants.
Amy has been involved in this very special Alexandria community for many years, working tirelessly to make it a better place to live and work. With her vast experience and knowledge of the workings of Alexandria, Amy is looking forward to carrying on the work of “investing in the present to capitalize on our future” – as one of your Alexandria City Council members next year.
The stakes are high. Alexandria is in need of a lot of improvements across the board.
We can do better, and, as a community, together we can succeed.
We must invest in the present to capitalize on our future. With that said, we are lacking in our affordable housing initiatives, our public schools cannot support the increase in student enrollment, and our education funding for Pre-K programs and school infrastructure is in jeopardy. Our children must come to school prepared to learn, and the equalizing factor of Pre-K programs existing for all children in our City is a necessity. The achievement gap does not wait until later grades. It begins in Kindergarten when students have not had the same, consistent opportunities as others at their grade level. We need to do better when providing resources to meet our children’s educational needs.
We must consider that a robust revitalization of Alexandria needs to happen in order for our economy to grow, strengthen, and diminish the burden put on our taxpayers. The West End property of Landmark Mall has sat nearly empty for far too long without any sign of redevelopment. Our residents and business owners are finding other outlets where they can spend their money, usually in neighboring jurisdictions. Alexandria is losing money where we shouldn’t be. The Potomac Yard Metro would also encourage economic growth, and the idea of a Business Improvement District in Old Town should be restructured and revisited without compromising retailers’ autonomy or income.
Alexandria has always prided itself on being a safe and inclusive community – it’s always been about the people and the programs. However, our economy has not been able to sustain the resources needed for continued or initial implementation of our social programs and safety initiatives. We need to increase pay and benefits for our teachers and First Responders, have dialogue concerning the issuance of body cameras, address heroin and opioid addiction, human trafficking concerns, gang prevention initiatives, pedestrian fatalities (VisionZero), and domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
In recent years, many social programs have also seen decreased funding, which has significantly impacted how assistance is implemented in women’s issues, services for seniors, immigrant families, mental health services, all children, including youth at-risk. We, as a community, cannot continue to de-fund our social programs hoping our non-profits can pick up the slack. To do so is to literally short-change our own Alexandrians.
