14th Annual education Forum
The Education Forum gathers many talented principals, board members, and teacher practitioners who share their successful strategies to make amazing Islamic schools even better.
Faith, Achievement & Service Islamic schools further their potential using the base of the ISNA-CISNA Education Forum. By Susan Labadi and Sufia Azmat
T
he diversity of the Muslim community was evident as nearly 800 people gathered to celebrate, network, and join an array of professional development opportunities. Educators also took advantage of down-time to peruse products from Muslim-owned businesses at the 14th Annual ISNA-CISNA Education Forum, March 29-31 in Rosemont, Ill. The theme of this years forum was “Islamic Schools: Champions of Faith, Achievement & Service.” More than 200 attendees chose from five pre-conferences held on Friday that introduced Common Core State Standards by ASCD faculty; Core and Communication Standards for Arabic; Al-Nurraniyah Method Certification; AdvancEd-CISNA Accreditation training; and Weekend School management guidance. Attendees came from all over the U.S. and Canada, as well as Australia. Also in attendance was a delegation from Kuwait. Dr. Mutlaq Al-Qarawi, assistant undersecretary for Technical Coordination, Foreign Relations and Hajj lauded the high level of development and quality of U.S. Islamic schools. He stressed the need for promoting education to build a bright future for our children throughout the world. Articulating the community’s capacity and need to further strive
20
for excellence was Mohamed Geraldez, an entrepreneur, investor and executive director of Sherman Jackson’s ALIM Program, keynote speaker at the dinner banquet. Entertainment was provided by Ms. Latifah, a spoken word poet-performer, whose sharp intellect and talent transferred a clear message of empowerment, hope, and industry. Talat Sultan was recognized as the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to Islamic schools and education that affects generations of Muslim students and their communities. His wife and daughter accompanied him. M. Munir Chaudry, founder of Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA.org) offered his resources to schools free of charge. His global halal certification has established roots in education, as publisher of Halal Consumer, provider of the Halal Foodservice Kit, and halal school nutrition assemblies. Nouman Ali Khan, founder of Al-Bayyinah Institute, also inspired an increased understanding of teachers’ methodology in Friday’s lively dinner presentation. He essentially described the “flipped” classroom, whereby students read and practice content first, and use class time and the teacher as resources to clarify and perfect implementation of knowledge. Illustrating this, he modeled
Islamic Horizons May/June 2013