THE FALCON FORUM
ISSUE #3 - MAY 2019
IN THIS ISSUE
MIST
Spring Book Fair
Spirit Week
Movie Night
Senior Farewell
Clubs
Field Trips
Fajr & Pancakes
Coin Drive
Teachers Spotlight
Receptionist
Special Recognition/Awards
Behind the Scenes
Riddles/Jokes
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MIST
By: Aishah Aidoo
The Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament (MIST) is a nationwide annual event, where numerous high school students of different backgrounds come together to develop leadership, promote communication, and inspire creativity all while embracing the teachings and morals of Islam. MIST currently takes place in 15 regions across North America not only for Muslims, but for all high school students regardless of their religion or background. The competitions ranging from Poetry to Quran to Basketball serve as an outlet for all High School students to explore their talents while developing confidence, expressing thoughts and feelings, and creating a sense of unity and teamwork for High School students. Participants also learn to implement the insightful MIST themes not only in their competitions, but also into their individual characters.
The UAF Falcons began their journey at MIST in 2013 with less than a dozen students. However, the Falcons have immensely expanded their team to now, 89 High School competitors. The UAF Falcons have come very far in their MIST journey. They were once defeated in most categories, but now place in most categories being offered at MIST. Some of the categories that they placed in this year include: Short Film- 1st Place; Social Media- 1st Place; Quiz Bowl- 1st Place; Level 3 Knowledge Test- 1st Place; Short Fiction- 1st Place; Photography- 2nd & 3rd Place; Girls Basketball- 2nd Place; Girls & Guys Nasheed- 2nd Place; Debate- 2nd Place; Math Bowl- 2nd Place; Spoken Word- 2nd Place; Islamic 3-D Art- 3rd Place, and much more. It is safe to say that the 2-hour long road trip to Gainesville, the restless night, the long days, and the arduous work that the competitors put into their competitions months prior to MIST, was all rewarding at the end.
MIST does revolve around competition; however it teaches unity through team spirit activities such as the chant off, and making lifelong friendships with other predominantly Muslim High School students from all over Florida. MIST has become a safe space for a lot of Muslim students and has allowed them to manifest talents they might have not known they had. Sana Alshaar, a current Senior whose attended MIST the past 3 years states, “MIST is way more than just a competition you compete at once a year; it is something that has impacted my life greatly. I started going in 10th grade and ever since then I have made so many friends as well as memories. I highly recommend that each person at least try it out for one year and see how Muslims from all over the state come together to compete in competitions they excel at.” Alhamdullilah, to top it all off UAF also ended off the weekend by winning 1st Place Overall School for the 6th year in a row!!
Check out the 1st place Blog made by our UAF Social Media MIST Competitors here: https://uafmist.weebly.com/
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Spring Dino-Mite Book Fair
A great selection of books
Special guests at our Spring Book Fair: Dog Man and Dino!
Sr. Maria (our Librarian) and Sr. Bonnie (Substitute Teacher)
By: Sabrina Atiq
Yet again, the book fair was a major success this year with an increase of 96% in sales, compared to Spring 2017! Our second book fair for the school year was dinosaur-themed and featured numerous new arrivals and a wide range of selections that appealed to children and teens alike. Sr. Maria's and Sr. Bonnie's eye-catching decorations and dinosaur themed activities had the students bubbling with excitement during the week. Interviews with teachers and students alike have revealed the thrilling atmosphere the Book Fair has created, as the entire school is brewing with the hustle and bustle of contests, raffles, guessing games, and reading activities. 6B’s Brother Shaheed Bakr, a new teacher at UAF, stated that he encourages his students and children to read daily, and was quite impressed by the excitement of reading his students show throughout the week of the Book Fair. He states, “With events like the Book Fair, UAF creates an environment that children of all ages may flourish in, and showcase their unique abilities”. He often encourages his students passionately, desiring for them an educational privilege that he was not able to have so early on.
Nabeeha Khan in 6B won the Dinosaur Eggs contest with a guess of 243. The correct number was 246.
Adam Khdeir in 1A won the Raffle drawing.
Ziad Najib in 4A won the Dinosaur Bones contest with a guess of 132. The correct number was 133.
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Spirit Week
By: Serene Masri
There is more to school than just academics and it is undeniable that some of the most important aspects of school are the friendships we foster, clubs we take part in, and sports teams we play for. It is these activities that make children and teens alike love school because it allows them to socialize with their friends and fellow classmates, express their creativity, and show incredible talents they may have outside of academics. It is these clubs and sports teams that assist in the flourishment and spread of school spirit: the most integral aspect of school. School spirit is the fuel that keeps the students running, it keeps them passionate about school and excited to participate in academics and clubs. To keep school spirit high and to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of UAF’s dedicated students, Student Council planned and executed UAF’s annual Spirit Week. An exhilarating week full of friendly competitions and celebration. The activities for Spirit Week this year were Twin Day, Jersey Day, Wacky Tacky Day, Class Color Day, and Traditional Day.
For Twin Day find a friend or ten to dress up with. You can keep it simple by wearing the same outfit as your friends or you can get creative and do a group costume theme. In the past I have seen a deck of cards, an army of emojis, a group of French Toast, PAC Man and his friends, and multiple others. This year we saw hippies, prisoners, cowboys, senior citizens, and countless other amazing group costumes that showed off just how creative UAF students and teachers are.
On Jersey Day represent your favorite sports team by wearing their jerseys or if you want to go all out you can come to school dressed head to toe in your favorite team’s merch. On Jersey Day, the always anticipated Teachers vs. Students basketball game took place. Student’s were roaring during the game, hyping up the teachers and students to give them a great game. The teachers to the shock of no one and excitement of everyone won the Teachers vs. Students basketball game.
On Wacky Tacky day show how fashionably unique you can be by dressing in an outrageously chaotic fashion. If you want to wear polka dots with stripes or dress as if you were color blind then this is the day for you. Show everybody just how wacky tacky you can be.
On Class Color Day each class is assigned a color to represent their grade and show class unity. This day is less about the theme and more about the pep rally. The enthusiasm among the younger years are tangible, nobody screams in elation as loud as they do, at that point they are excitement personified and nothing can bring them down. This years pep rally was filled with a host of fun activities: an Egg roulette, an Admin Q&A, rap battles, TP battles, sibling versus sibling competitions, and so on. Student Council did an amazing job on getting the students hyped up this Pep Rally with all of these fun interactive games and competitions. This year Student Council did something new with the Pep Rally by including a MIST section. MIST stands for Muslim Interscholastic Tournament and for the sixth year in a row UAF has won overall school. To celebrate the accomplishments of UAF students, the time and dedication they put into their respective competitions, Student Council dedicated half of the pep rally to the students who participated in MIST. They had boy’s nasheed and improv preform, had all of the winners bring up their medals and trophies, and had our ginormous MIST team go up and perform UAF’s chant. This Pep Rally was a major success and definitely got all of the students pumping with school spirit.
On the final day of Spirit Week represent your ethnicity by dressing in your culture’s traditional clothing. This allows the students to take pride in their origins and appreciate the beauty of their fellow classmate’s cultures. Everybody should not only have a sense of pride in where they have come from, but also make it a priority to connect with and learn about other cultures. The greater one's knowledge is about the world and people around them the less likely they are to fall to ignorance and bigotry and the more beneficial and powerful the relationships they create will be.
Student Council did an incredible job this year with Spirit Week. They truly found a way to personify school spirit and spread it to each student. You could not help but get excited during this week. So many wonderful memories were created among friends and classmates, that I have no doubt will be cherished for years to come. Spirit Week allowed students to forget about the stress that school can create and instead appreciate all of the amazing friendships they have built at this school and all of the clubs, activities, and classes they enjoy throughout the school year. Spirit Week helped the students remember why they love coming to school, even with how rigorous the academic curriculum can be.
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Movie Night
On Friday April 12th, the UAF Yearbook Crew and PTO collaborated to conduct a family-friendly movie event for UAF families. Alhamdullilah, the event was a success for the many UAF families that decided to attend as well as for both the PTO and the Yearbook Crew. The Yearbook Crew and PTO saw this as an opportunity for families and kids of all ages to have an exhilarating time. They provided 4 animated movies that were all played at the same time which included: Big Hero 6, Lion King, Kung Fu Panda, and Up. The evening consisted of families watching these movies in the movie-theater transformed hallways and classrooms. With a special thanks to PTO, they were also able to provide yard games such as, bouncy houses, cornhole, ring toss, mini golf, and more. Not only was this evening inclusive to students, parents were given an opportunity to partake in the delicious Biryani Cook-Off Competition which they were prized and acknowledged for based on the best tasting biryani. There was also off the grill burgers, hotdogs, and fries from the BBQ courtesy of Br. Mohammed and his maintenance team. What really had the kids going back and forth was the appetizing snacks, cotton candy, and freshly popped popcorn that were provided at the concession stand. The families, especially the children had enjoyed the movies and the event ended with a raffle that had everyone at the tip of their seats. With appealing prizes that included: Publix Gift Cards, a Busch Garden Ticket, an AMC Movie Ticket, and a Tampa Bay Buccaneers Lavigne David Autographed Custom Football, it was pretty understandable why everyone was so eager to win something from the raffle. Even for those who didn’t win a raffle prize, Alhamdullilah, it was still a rewarding, fun night. As a result, the Yearbook Crew and PTO raised $3,900 which 80% of the proceeds went towards funding the yearbook and the remaining 20% went to PTO.
To order your yearbook which is only $30, go to: https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/SelectJob using our school code: 12239819
Red Carpet Entryway to the Theater Rooms
One of the Theater Doors
Inside one of the Theater Rooms
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Senior Farewell
Seniors making their grand entrance
Senior Class of 2019
Senior parents turnout
By: Rand Shahrour
On Friday May 10th, the entirety of UAF excitedly gathered on the main court by the car lanes to bid farewell to the graduating class of 2019. The soon-to-be college freshmen marched, paraded, and drove their cars and golf carts through the school as crowds and crowds of teachers and students from every grade cheered and waved them on. Seniors described the event as one of the most memorable events in their UAF years. “I really felt a lot of love from all the staff and students and everyone got a little emotional. My favorite part about it was getting to see all the cute signs that the classes made” says Maleeha, one of UAF’s own seniors. She then adds, ”We really wanted to have fun with all the students when we planned our farewell, so we bought silly string and water guns that we could spray into the crowd. It was a really nice way to say goodbye, and I'm glad that the whole school was a part of one of my last memories at UAF.”
As exhilarating as the event was, the emotions were through the roof as moms, siblings, and lifelong friends watched the graduates make their final mark on the school. They celebrated and honked as they confidently faced the big transition they are about to make. “It is going to be interesting to have such a big change in our life. A good half of our class has been together since the first grade, it feels weird that we will not be seeing the same people every morning.” states Faatima Quadeer, another one of UAF’s Seniors. “Overall, our years at UAF have been so memorable with the crazy things we do as a class, we are all obviously connected.” she reflects. The seniors reflected their love and appreciation of the teachers who had so admirably touched their lives. The day went on with both students and staff getting playfully drenched with water. Hearts were warmed when each Senior’s name was called out and individually cheered for. “We have gotten so far... This memory is going to remind us of how much we love this school. We are so thankful to be able to be a part of an Islamic school where we are able to have a great time.” says, Maryam Mota.
This was a very special memory for both the Seniors and the school as a whole. And as the Seniors bid farewell, they are sure to know that they will be missed and will always be welcomed back to their second home.
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Clubs
By: Atqiya Fairooz
Clubs are known outlets that allow students’ creativity to flourish and spread while also allowing them to become more involved in the improvement of the community and develop leadership skills. With the year coming to an end, UAF’s dedicated clubs have continued to pursue more projects and have left a strong legacy for future clubs and members to look up to. Some of these clubs are the Humanitarian Outreach Club, the National Honors Society, Booster Club, the Environmental Committee and the Girls Halaqah.
National Honor Society
National Honors Society (NHS) has always been a club that was exemplified by its members embodying scholarship, service, leadership, and character. Although, NHS is mainly known for tutoring the younger children at UAF, in order to enhance their academic skills, NHS has had bake sales as well. The popular cold stone bake sale that was coordinated by NHS was a huge success as children were eager to buy ice cream. Moreover, NHS also hosted a party for the children that were tutored during the school year to celebrate the end of a successful academic school year, and as a way for the tutors to say their final goodbyes.
HOC
Humanitarian Outreach Club (HOC) is well known for coordinating events and projects to better the community and its members. HOC strives for the betterment of the community and improving humanity. This year, HOC hosted a Mental Health Awareness assembly to help students identify their problems and provide solutions to them. With exams coming up, the assembly couldn’t have been at a better time, since it was applicable for students who were stressing out in preparation for their exams.
Booster Club
Booster Club is another incredible club that UAF has to offer. Booster Club members are hardworking and are given the arduous task of ensuring sport games and other sport related events run properly without interruption. Booster Club is accredited for providing opportunities for UAF sport teams in being recognized outside of UAF, since they are the ones who make assist in the coordination of the games and ensure that everything is running smoothly. Booster Club was able to host a successful sports ceremony in order to acknowledge the players who played an integral part in the team’s success and the coaches who dedicated countless hours for these players. Players and coaches alike were all celebrated for their well-attained achievements by everyone at UAF.
Environmental Committee
Go Green Bake Sale
Image Source: Vignettes Antiques
Homeroom 11A won the "Go Green Campaign" and had the honor of planting a Japanese plum tree on Earth Day.
By: Monira Bush
Our Weeping World
By: Dania Tarabishy (7B)
She gives and gives with a generous heart
She thrives, she lives, she breathes
She pours out green life,
But yet inspite
Receives no reciprocity.
Her oceans are dotted with coral reefs,
Sea turtles, beluga whales;
She spits out fish for us to eat
Although she’s looking rather pale.
Her lands are dotted with mountains
Towering, reaching sky high
Down to shrubbery
Animals blubbery
Back up to birds that touch the sky.
And if you’ve ever tried her fruits
Plucked plump and ripe off trees
The taste could only be the taste
of generosity.
But now she shudders, wails, and weeps
Tears so hot they globally warm
This earth we live in
And the tears are given
In forms of tornadoes, thunderstorms.
Unless we care
Unless we dare
To change our way of life
To give back to the earth
Give her what she deserves
With all her will and strife.
For the ocean is dying
The earth is crying
Pouring rain from her miraculous clouds
Jungles of concrete are sprouting out
Plastic bottles gather in crowds.
The sea is churning
Coral reefs are fading
And we’re surrounded by mountains of trash
That could’ve been recycled
If we weren’t so selfish
If we weren’t so horribly brash.
But a star of hope still gleams in the sun
But it is starting to flicker out
Unless we put our dream to life
Our earth is gone no doubt.
So this Earth Day
Try to form and make
An idea for a solution
This Earth Day
Pave the path, lead the way to
A world without pollution.
(Image Source: stineberger.dk)
What You Can Do!
By: Maira Syed (6B)
When you see litter in the streets
And the air smells of pollution
When you feel like it’s all piling up
Remember there is a solution.
There’s something each of us can do
To keep the rivers clean
To keep fresh the air we breathe
And keep the forest green.
Help clean a beach
Or recycle bottles and cans
Learn about the problems we face
And help others to understand.
It doesn’t have to be a lot
If we each just do our share
So take time out on Earth Day
To show the earth you care.
(Image Source: ecocenter.org)
Girls Halaqa
Image Source: Deviant Art
By: Monira Bush
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Field Trips
By: Dena Berhan
A wonderful education that teaches their children everything they need to know about life while also being enjoyable, is what every parent wants. Sometimes it is difficult for children to just sit in a classroom and learn, but field trips allow students to take what they have learned and see how it can be applied in the real world. Field trips are not only a valuable learning experience for students, but are also an important way to get children excited and more involved in their personal education. Field trips teach students valuable lessons while also allowing them to grow and form their own ideas and opinions.
11th Grade - Straz Center
The 11th grade English classes went to the Straz Center to learn about improv and take part in an improv class themselves. They thoroughly enjoyed it and were extremely happy about being able to relate their improv experience to the plays they are learning about in class and the art of improv’s relationship to the performing arts. After this they headed down to Armature Works for some delicious food and to relax after a day full of acting.
11th & 12th Grade - Ringling Museum
The 11th and 12th grade AP Art History class went to the Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota. “The Ringling is home to one of the preeminent art and cultural collections in the United States.” The students were able to see the beautiful art and architecture the Ringling Art Museum has on display. This field trip allowed the Art History students to make the connection between the characteristics and history of the art they learn about at school to how it is presented and executed in real life.
8th Grade - Grand Prix
The 8th grade class went on their end of the year graduation field trip to the Grand Prix where they experienced a pleasurable day filled with go karting and arcade games. The hard work they put into their last year of middle school paid off and UAF rewarded them a last hurrah before they get to high school, where the real fun begins.
2nd Grade - iFly
The 2nd grade class went to iFLY which is an indoor skydiving place. I have talked to some students about their experience and was met with an outburst of excited babbling and positive reviews. The students had an incredible time and faced this adventure head on. This allowed some students to step out of their comfort zones and from the ecstatic faces I saw; I can definitely say UAF is a school of courageous daredevils.
7th Grade - Bok Tower Gardens
(Image Source: floridafoodandfarm.com)
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Fajr Prayer and Pancakes
By: Ayah Tarabishy
The boys and girls Fajr Prayer and Pancakes took place on the Fridays of April 26th and May 3rd. These gatherings were some of the many opportunities for pupils at the Universal Academy of Florida to congregate for the sake of Allah (SWT) while also enjoying time with friends. The event began with praying Salat-ul-Fajr at ISTABA masjid as an introduction to the spiritual gathering. Students then gathered in a large circle in the prayer area and participated in a few minutes of thikr for the remembrance of Allah (SWT). “It felt very intimate and peaceful.” described 10th grader, Asma Abdallah. The circle created a sense of bonding among the students and allowed them to come closer to Allah (SWT) as a group. They then listened to a beautiful halaqah encouraging the youth to prepare for Ramadan and greet the blessed month with the best version of themselves. “Ramadan is a big deal!” emphasized Sr. Ezdehar, as she was the instructor for the girls. As for the boys, the wonderful lecture was given by Br. Mamdouh Elsayed. Afterwards, to top off the blessed morning, students headed to UAF campus for a delicious breakfast of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. This experience was one of the many at UAF that students will always remember and be thankful for. I guess the early rise was worth it after all!
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“All For Books” Coin Drive Competition
Two weeks prior to the Spring Book Fair, Sr. Maria (our Librarian) held a Dino-Coin Drive competition for Elementary and Middle School. Alhamdulillah, $1,649.58 was raised for the "All for Books" charity event, where Scholastics donates 1 book to charity for every dollar we raise and where we get a percentage for more books for our UAF Library. The top two homerooms that collected the highest amounts in Middle School and Elementary earned pizza parties and $50 worth of Scholastic books for their Classroom Libraries as a prize. Congratulations to Sr. Yusra’s 2B, Sr. Rema’s 5A, Br. Shaheed’s 6B, and Sr. Sadia’s 8B. A BIG thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this contest/event a success!
Snaps of the lucky winners are shown below:
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Teacher Spotlight!
Sr. Aya Daashoush
Aya Daashoush is one of UAF's new and dedicated teachers. Sr. Aya is currently teaching 9th grade English Honors, AP Language and Composition, and World Literature Honors. This is not her first teaching job, and her plentiful teaching experience comes from internships she has done at Middle schools as part of her degree along with teaching at Assalam Weekend School. She taught at Assalam for three years where she taught Quran, Arabic, and Islamic Studies. It was an extremely fun experience for Sr. Aya who accounted how enjoyable she found it to the fact that she loved being able to connect with her faith more and teach the younger generation the beauty of our religion.
When asked why she wanted to become a teacher Sr. Aya responded with a beautiful story about how she wanted to support and motivate students similar in a way to how one of her past teachers did for her. This was Sr. Aya’s story, “I was in elementary school in Egypt , I had an Arabic teacher named Mr. Mohamed. He didn't only teach us Arabic, but also taught us a lot about our deen in a beautiful manner. He motivated me and supported me throughout my decision to wear the Hijab telling him even before I told my parents. My parents were against it, but I kept persisting and finally wore it at age 9. In a time where it seem like no one was on my side, he was always there for me. That’s when I realized that a teacher can make a huge difference in a student's life and impact their character development over time. At that moment, I realized that I wanted to be a teacher too. I wanted to be like him and make a difference in someone's life even if it's a small difference.”
Her story shows just how large of an impact teachers have on their student’s lives and just how inspiring teachers can be. While Sr. Aya has always wanted to be a teacher, teaching at UAF was never in her plans. However, Allah had other plans for her and after being in Tampa for these past 12 years without ever going to UAF, she found herself sitting down for an interview, which she is incredible grateful for. She feels blessed to be at UAF with such an amazing staff and admin, and is extremely pleased with her decision to come to UAF.
Sr. Aya has described her experience at UAF so far as being very rewarding and pleasurable. She never got to be around Muslims a lot because she attended a public school, so, everything at UAF is new to her, but she loves the feeling of unity being at an Islamic school provides her with. She especially enjoys the recitation of Surat Al-Kahf every Friday and the Azkar every morning during Ramadan. She really loves the Islamic environment the school creates with the Ramadan bulletin boards and hadiths on the wall which remind everybody of their faith making it stronger. She has found not only the teachers and staff to be extremely supportive and always willing to reach out and provide a helping hand if needed, but has also found her students to be really great and incredibly understanding, something she appreciates enormously.
A little fun fact about Sr. Aya is that she loves learning other languages to help her stay focused. She says that in order to stay focused while she is doing her work, she has to learn words or sentences in another language. Because of this interesting quirk of hers Sr. Aya can understand Urdu, Spanish, Turkish, and some Korean, Japanese, German, and Russian, and that you can often find her talking to herself in the halls, most likely memorizing words or phrases in any of these languages.
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The Receptionist
By: Rand Shahrour
Meet Sr. Urooj, UAF’s very own receptionist who welcomes visitors and students at the front desk in the front office. Whether you are a visitor, have a question, are not feeling well, or simply tardy, Sr. Urooj has got your back and always with a smile. Starting as a TA, she worked diligently with first and fifth graders, and was soon offered her current job. So far, she has found her work to be very rewarding, as it has taught her to prioritize what’s important. It has also taught her to be patient, particularly during stressful and restless times. Furthermore, Sr. Urooj feels that there is never a dull moment at UAF, as her days are always full and eventful. She reflects, “A lot goes on here...it gets really hectic! But I would say it is truly worth it, because I honestly have a great team.” The most active part of her busy daily routine is the morning time, when students line up in the office for tardy slips which are quickly printed by Sr. Urooj. When asked about her favorite aspects of her job, Sr. Urooj especially points to working with children. When attending events such as the pep rally and Senior Farewell, you’ll find Sr. Urooj excitedly snapping pictures left and right. She particularly enjoyed the Senior Farewell the most and described it as one of her favorite memories from this school year. As for the hardest situation she has been in since she started her job, Sr. Urooj relates that it was the day she made her first 911 call, seeking help for a student who came in with an appendix problem. “And that was in the first two weeks!” She exclaimed. Alhamdulilah, UAF is truly blessed to have someone as dedicated and kind as Sr. Urooj, and is excited to have her join the Falcon family!
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Special Recognition/Awards
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Behind the Scenes
Starring: The Office Staff, the School Registrar and Business Office
The Front Office
The UAF front office is heavily depended upon by the school, for this is where the staff functions behind the scenes, doing everything they can to keep the school running efficiently and effectively. It is made up of Sr. Syeda, Sr. Rania, and Sr. Theresa. Every day, they painstakingly take care of a multitude of things for various students, teachers, and parents to make sure that all day-to-day activities run smoothly. These women help make sure that everything is running correctly, and they take care of parent and student concerns all year long. They should be appreciated for all that they do and because of that we interviewed them about the daily things they do for the school, to truly see the amount of work and effort they put into their jobs. They gave the following responses:
Sr. Rania
Sr. Syeda - Supervisor
“I am the main office’s supervisor and I’m in charge of helping the admin. We really serve as the ‘backbone’ office of the school. We help with parent calls, student concerns, and sick or injured students. I send the weekly reminder every Sunday
and send a similar reminder in the faculty bulletin, for the staff. We help with file documentation and we organize all kinds of events. We even prepare certificates for any awards that are going to be given. I guess you can say we’re the school’s ‘headquarters’. Lately, I’ve been working with the PTO to organize the teacher appreciation week.”
Sr. Theresa
The school registrar
Sr. Nafeesa is the official registrar of UAF. Like a one-man-army, she takes a myriad of tasks to help manage UAF processes. Her role is one of vital importance to the school’s functionality, especially with new and leaving students. Sr. Nafeesa: “I’m the UAF registrar. I take care of all kinds of student records. I send the academic and health records of withdrawn students to the new school they’re leaving to. I generate all the report cards and send them to the parents by mail. I communicate with parents, colleges, counselors from other schools, in the case of a transferring student both to or from our school. I edit daily attendance, sick, tardy, or signing out records whenever I’m notified of any updates. I post SAT and ACT scores in student portfolios. I post FLVS grades and transcripts. I generally handle all registration documentation of students coming into the school, graduating, or leaving to another school".
As you can see, in order to be a good registrar, not only does one need to have technical skills and knowledge, but also human skills of communication, understanding, compassion and listening which are equally important to Sr. Nafeesa's work. She shows a genuine interest in serving students, faculty, staff and parents through outstanding customer service and record-keeping always with a friendly smile and a willingness to help.
The Business Office
The UAF Business Office overseas HR, Accounts payable & receivable, student tuition / scholarships, permits, facility maintenance and transportation. The staff is made up of Br. Wadah, The Director, Sr. Paula, The Bookkeeper, and Sr. Maziena, The Human Resources Administrative.
Br.Wadah - Director
Sr. Maziena - Human Resources Admin
Sr. Paula - Bookkeeper
Our office staff works very hard to keep the school afloat and to see to it that everything runs smoothly for everyone. Insha’Allah they receive a huge reward and we should see to it that their hard work doesn't go unnoticed by being appreciative of what they do for us!
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Riddles/Jokes/Brain Teasers
Source: Google Images
By: Ayah Tarabishy
A bus driver was heading down a street in Colorado. He went right past a stop sign without stopping, turned left where there was a “no left turn” sign, and went the wrong way on a one-way street. Then he went on the left side of the road past a cop car. Yet, he didn’t break any traffic laws. Why not?
Somehow you end up in a room which has three doors. Behind the first door, there is deadly poisonous gas. Behind the second door, there are trained assassins with knives. Behind the third door, there are lions which have not eaten in years. Which door would you choose to open?
Monday, six friends went camping. Tuesday, John, Jack, and James cooked some mushrooms. Wednesday came and they ate the mushrooms. Thursday found them dead. Exactly one friend survived, how come?
Her father went to prison, her mother mortgaged all her properties and her brother sold his house, but she couldn’t be happier. Why?
Answers:
- He was walking.
- You should open the door with the lions. If they have not eaten in years, they will be dead already.
- The six friends are called John, Jack, James, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. John, Jack, James, and Tuesday cooked the mushrooms. Wednesday joined them and they ate the mushrooms. Thursday was the one to find them dead, so he is the survivor.
- Because they were playing Monopoly.
Answers to Riddles in Previous Issue:
What belongs to you but is used more by others? Ans: your name
What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in one thousand years? Ans: the letter “m”
If you are running in a race and you pass the person in second place, what place are you in? Ans: 2nd place
Guess Who!!!
The answers to the senior baby pictures from the previous Issue of The Falcon Forum.
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The Newsletter Crew
To view prior editions of our Newsletter for the 2018-2019 school year, just click on the links below:
February 2019 - https://www.smore.com/h795w
December 2018 - https://www.smore.com/cf3ku
Photo Credit: Sr. Rania
From left to right:
Staff Writer - Omar Shahwan
Staff Writer - Rand Shahrour
Staff Writer - Dena Berhan
Junior Editor - Serene Masri
Staff Writer - Monira Bush
Secretary - Atqiya Fairooz
Lead Editor - Aishah Aidoo
Coordinator/Advisor - Sr. Maria Perez-Belkherroubi
Front Row:
Staff Writer - Sabrina Atiq
Photographer - Ayah Tarabishy