Today we not only had the honor of hearing our senior students recite the poem placed on the Statue of Liberty in a very eloquent and lively manner, as it is a topic of discussion in relation to current events in their government class, but it served as the perfect transition into the recognition we wanted to give to 8th grade student Maheen Hussain.
Maheen took part in a writing contest offered to all 7th and 8th grade middle school students in Maryland sponsored by the Fred B. Benjamin Peace Writing Contest. There were over 50 submissions but wait till you hear the weighty topic she wrote about and WON 2nd place: Black Lives Matter is a new civil rights movement and mantra on the American political scene. What does Black Lives Matter mean to you? How do you think it differs from the concept that “all lives matter”? We are so proud of her for tackling a topic that most of us would struggle to speak or write about! Maheen was given a certificate from the organization along with $250 and we added our own small gifts to her stash. She promised to bring in her winning essay and share it with her schoolmates. We can’t wait to be enlightened by her thoughts on a critical topic.
We then shared with everyone a letter and certificate we received in the office from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for 12th grade student Amir Hajiabbasi who was being commended for the high score he received on the PSAT exam he took last year as a junior, where he scored among the top 50,000 of over 1.6 million students in the nation who took that same test! For sure being named a Commended Student in the National Merit Program will broaden his horizons and we told him to remember MCS when he starts making the big bucks.
You made us proud and we thank you for that wonderful feeling. May we continue to put out into the world writers, scientists, thinkers and problem solvers and may the efforts of the students, their parents and their teachers be forever blessed in the eyes of Allah.
