In one year, sophomore James Faust went from attending a conservative Christian private school to planning a school-wide walkout protesting ICE in his first year at public school.
Faust enrolled at Loudoun Valley in August 2025.
“Being a new kid and doing something on the scale of that was pretty difficult,” Faust said. “But I also feel like it’s an issue that’s cared about so much that people don’t really care about who’s doing it, and more what it’s about.”
The Spark
Under President Donald Trump’s second term, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has drawn scrutiny from the American public over its steep increase in arrests and deportations.
For his reelection campaign, Trump promised the largest mass deportation in history. Since his inauguration, ICE has sharply increased the number of immigrants it’s deporting and holding in detention. As of January, ICE had deported about 540,000 people during Trump’s second term.
On Jan. 7, an ICE officer fatally shot American citizen Renee Good, sparking nationwide protests. After observing ICE’s actions towards both immigrants and American citizens, Faust wanted to do something about it.
“I care very deeply about human rights,” Faust said. “I feel like I’m kind of an empath. I care very deeply about others, and I feel like hearing and seeing the things that ICE has been doing in our country really just struck me. And I feel like, especially seeing other people my age, across the country and in Loudoun County, also doing something about it, I felt like that was a great outlet for me to do something about this issue that I had been seeing a lot about.”
Later in the month, countrywide “Free America” protests were planned, which gained traction in Loudoun County Public Schools.
A week and a half before the Free America walkouts, Faust was hanging out with his friend from Loudoun County High School at Target. She mentioned a walkout was planned, and they found students at Woodgrove and County High Schools, as well as at the Academies, had also organized walkouts. Valley would become the fourth.
“The walkouts were organized super fast,” Faust said. “Then we were doing research and stuff,” he said. “I was like ‘Wait, this is something that I could do.’ This would be really awesome to do, and I feel like it’d be super empowering and just a really great opportunity to talk about and bring attention to this issue that I really care about.”
From Private to Public School
Although Faust became inspired to bring the LCPS ICE protests to Valley, he worried if being a new student would have implications on his leadership. Coming from a private Christian high school, life at Valley was very different.
“It definitely was an adjustment coming to a public school,” Faust said. “I mean, my old school was like 200 kids.”
The majority of Valley students went to middle and elementary schools together, making it hard to find a circle to fit into when they have existed for so long.
“But I feel like I’ve really found my place at the school, which I’m really happy about,” Faust said. “I love a lot of my friends this year, so I feel like I’ve found some really great groups. I’m part of the Young Democrats Club. I’m helping with Global Ambassadors. I’m joining SCA next year, which is really exciting.”
Out of all the groups Faust has found at Valley, he feels particularly connected to the Young Democrats Club.
“Getting to be on the board has been really, really great this year,” he said. “Especially also because at my Christian school last year, the concept of being a Democrat was the most insane thing possible.”
The political climate in Purcellville and at Valley is drastically different from what Faust experienced at his private school. Faust noted the culture shock of an essentially 50-50 split in politics in the area.
“I really like the diversity of thought a lot more,” Faust said. “Because last year, it was just like an echo chamber of the same ideas. It is really interesting to hear different opinions from different experiences and different people, and especially being able to voice my own opinions on something without the threat of a super-Republican community.”
Finding His Place
In the Young Democrats Club, Faust has enjoyed his newfound political freedom. He established his niche as part of the social media team.
“I’m the undersecretary of communications and social media, so I have the login to the Young Dems Instagram account,” Faust said.
In his role, Faust works under the communications secretary, junior Will Ruscitella.
Ruscitella says Faust’s ability to coordinate and organize events is helpful.
“James is very intellectual, but he’s also very light hearted and a great person to be around and plan with,” Ruscitella said. “He works with a lot of passion, and I think that that is very admirable, to be working in order to make a change.”
Young Democrats adviser Christopher Humenik says club members know they can rely on Faust and that he gets along well with anyone.
“James is a thoughtful, eager and considerate person,” Humenik said. “My favorite interactions are watching him shift from joking around with a peer to shifting back into ‘serious mode’ to crush some work. That emotional flexibility and consideration is James. He’s an awesome representative of our values and humanity.”
For Faust, a typical Young Democrats meeting is all about encouraging club members to consider current political events and questions and to foster healthy discussions about them.
“We always have a presentation that we go through throughout the meeting,” Faust said. “Typically, it opens up with current events going on. So, for the one a few weeks ago, it was the Texas Senate race. It was Kristi Noem getting fired.”
After a rundown of current events, the board moves into a game with the intention of getting the group thinking. At their last meeting, the board split the rooms in half and asked politically controversial questions like, “Should the Electoral College be abolished?” and “Should the voting age be lowered?”
“Then the people in the club go to two sides of the room, talk amongst themselves, and then talk with the two sides,” Faust said.
When Faust proposed the idea of the walkout to the Young Democrats board, some were into it, but others had reservations. So a semi-sponsorship formed as a result of the disagreement.
“We kind of made it a thing where it’s not associated with Young Dems,” Faust said. “But it kind of is in the sense that three of the four people running the walkout are part of Young Dems.”
First Steps
The first thing the team did was create a social media account, which Faust sees as the most vital part to the success of an event like the walkout.
“That’s the number one way to reach people our age and to get the word out: through Instagram and social media,” Faust said. “Instead of immediately announcing the walkout, we first started building up a following by spreading awareness about the issue.”
Out of 16 LCPS high schools, 17 including the Academies, Faust said 12 participated.
Although Valley was the fourth to join, they were one of the last to announce their participation because of a delay in meeting with school administration.
“Dr. (Susan) Ross was being absolutely amazing, and I’m super appreciative for her help with everything,” he said.
Although administration was helpful to the walkout team, Faust said this was one of the most confusing parts of planning. Going over LCPS guidelines for student demonstrations was a convoluted process.
After getting the green light from administration, the team could officially announce Valley’s participation in the walkout on Instagram. They continued to engage the student body on social media to maximize attendance. Their online activity attracted a few students who wanted to assist the main team in planning.
“Even though it was just us four on the board, really, we had at least 10 other students doing other things simultaneously,” Faust said. “And we were helping to guide them and keep everything organized with the walkout.”
Although Faust welcomed additional help in the organization process, internal fighting arose when planners had different ideas for the direction of the event. Disagreements arose around how “serious” the event should be.
“We were going to have someone make a playlist to play during the walkout, and we were giving out cookies and stuff,” Faust said. “And then someone kind of called us out on it. And they were like: ‘This is a serious thing. And I feel like we’re making this too much fun, in a way.’”
Faust admits that he got carried away in his endeavor to make the event a positive environment.
“I feel like I was too focused on making it like a welcoming event, that I made it too unserious,” he said. “I appreciate those three people for kind of calling me out on that and bringing me back to the ground.”
Although Faust admits he appreciated being called out, he still disagrees with them.
“It’s kind of like we were both two extremes,” he said. “The other side was pretty radical in the sense that we just need to walk out here and make it like a funeral. We should still be fired up about this and be able to use our voice in a way that’s cathartic.”
Connecting Across the County
In addition to the challenges of coordinating internally, Faust coordinated with all the other participating LCPS high schools, which was his favorite part.
“It was the coolest thing because I just love meeting new people, and I love forming connections, and I feel like I’m a great communicator,” he said. “So getting to meet people from across the county because of this, was just such an awesome opportunity.”
Faust said he’s especially grateful to Ross after learning that other schools had issues getting approval from their principals. Student organizers at the schools collaborate to help each other solve issues like these.
Some students didn’t know what to do during the walkout, some needed help writing speeches and others worried about public speaking. The students assisted each other in these problems to ensure the success of the walkouts.
“We worked together to try to create this singular movement across Loudoun County Public Schools.”
Although there were aspects of the planning that Faust loved, like coordinating with other schools, there were struggles. He expected the hardest part of the organization process to be the pushback from other students. But other than a few isolated incidents, it wasn’t a major issue.
Faust said the most difficult part was communicating with the student body about the walkout. Students spread rumors and misconceptions about participation in the event.
“A few people were spreading the idea that you’d get expelled or something if you participated in the walkout,” Faust said. “I was like, ‘No, that’s actually not the case.’ In fact, there’s literally no consequences for attending the walkout.”
Aside from dealing with rumors, Faust found difficulty with ensuring the student body was on the same page about the walkout.
“You need to remind people that what you’re doing is going on,” he said. “Because reality is, people are lazy. People forget, people have other things to worry about. That’s the reality. You need to remind people constantly, whether that’s online or in person, why this matters, why I need to go to this and that this is happening.”
To manage potential misconceptions or forgetfulness of the students, Faust kept posting on social media to remind participants about the walkout.
In the few days leading up to the event, the main team started writing and planning their speeches, the homestretch of the planning. Faust, Bhalla and Ruscitella spoke at the walkout.
“I was so nervous,” Faust said. “As one would be. Very nerve-wracking, but it was a really great opportunity, and I’m really proud of myself looking back now.”
On the Football Field
Finally, after all of the time spent organizing, the day of the event arrived. Faust, Ruscitella and Bhalla met 10 minutes before the students were due to arrive on the football field. At 3 p.m., the speakers were shocked at the number of students pouring out of the school.
“We had one of the larger ones in the county,” Faust said. “We had, what, 300? I feel like it was a little bit less than that. But if the school said 300, we’re gonna run with that.”
After all the students were settled in the bleachers, the team started their speeches.
“I was shaking,” Faust said. “And I could think of nothing except ‘just read the next word on the paper.’ It was very empowering for me to be able to do that and talk about the issue and bring attention to it.”
Faust appreciated the recognition planning the event brought him as a new student.
“I guess all these people know me now,” Faust said. “It was just awesome to have a reputation behind me now, but a good one in that I’m a good person who decides to stand up against human rights violations.”
While delivering his speech, Faust loved seeing the reactions of the students in the bleachers.
“I love getting hyped up and hyping people up,” he said. “So, seeing the crowd so eccentric around this issue that we were trying to bring attention to was very great and satisfying. Because like, I would say a few words, and the crowd would just go crazy.”
Overall, the planning team was incredibly satisfied with the outcome of the walkout.
“We spoke, and people were, I think, very touched by it,” Ruscitella said. “And I think that that was really wonderful to see. People are wanting change and demanding change, and that’s really important right now.”
Faust’s friends were proud of him for his work on the event.
“He doesn’t really care what people think,” Faust’s best friend, sophomore Maddie Waters, said. “And he speaks his mind no matter what.”
Faust said students that want to get into political activism shouldn’t worry about the backlash that may come with it.
“Realize that what you’re fighting for is bigger than just a little bit of temporary discomfort,” he said. “Because some mom getting her kids stripped away from her somewhere in this country, she’s gonna go through a lot more pain than some kid in the hallway saying something mean to you.”
Faust left the stadium after his speech feeling gratified and empowered that he brought awareness to such an important issue.
“It felt good to be able to do this at my new school and be able to make a name for myself in a way that I was proud of.”
