Hedgepeth takes 4th District School Board seat

Wesley Hedgepeth looks to have won the 4th District School Board race, talking 44% of the vote in the 3-way race.

Hedgepeth will be a part of a new look School Board, with 5 new members and 1 starting their first full term. Matthew R. Percival (1st), Katie B. Ricard (2nd), Ali M. Faruk (3rd), Wesley E. Hedgepeth (4th), and E.J. “Emmett Jay” Jafari (8th) will be fresh faces, and Shavonda R. Dixon (9th) is starting her first full term after being appointed as interim representative in February. Stephanie M. Rizzi (5th), Shonda M. Harris-Muhammed (6th) and Cheryl L. Burke (7th) return.

Hedgepeth is a teacher at Collegiate, served on the Board of Directors for Patrick Henry School of Science and Arts, and is the current president of the National Council for the Social Studies.

From the NCSS:

Wesley Hedgepeth teaches AP Comparative Politics, AP U.S. Government, and world history at Collegiate School in Henrico County, just outside Richmond, Virginia. In addition to teaching, Wesley advises students, coordinates his school’s Model United Nations program, and serves on his school’s Civil Dialogue Task Force. Prior to teaching at Collegiate School, Wesley taught at James River High School in Midlothian, Virginia, and Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond.

Wesley became a member of NCSS in 2009 at the recommendation of his social studies methods professor, and since then has presented at multiple NCSS conferences, attended Summer Leadership Institutes, represented VCSS in the NCSS House of Delegates, and served on both the International Visitors Committee and HOD Assignments Committee. From 2014-2017, Wesley also served as President of the Virginia Council for the Social Studies. During his tenure, VCSS twice earned NCSS Gold Star status. Also during this time, he co-chaired the 2016 NCSS Local Arrangements Committee for the Washington, D.C. conference and twice co-chaired the Virginia Conference for Social Studies Educators. Later on, Wesley again served as co-chair of the 2020 NCSS Local Arrangements Committee for the 2020 NCSS Virtual Conference.

Wesley served on the Board of Directors in Richmond at the Patrick Henry School for Science and Arts, Virginia’s first public elementary charter school. From 2018-2020, he served on the Academic Committee, as well as Board Secretary. During his tenure, the Board successfully renewed the school charter with the City of Richmond School Board, initiated a vigorous campaign to grow the board’s diversity, and received multiple large funding grants for school programs. Wesley lives in the City of Richmond with his husband, Derek, as well as their three hound dogs. He loves traveling, reading nonfiction, spending time with his niece and five nephews, as well as working in his garden.