MCC ACADEMY NEWS March 2018

UPCOMING:

March 14 - SPRING PICTURE DAY - Students at both campuses will have spring pictures taken. T his is a NO UNIFORM picture day. Students can come to school dressed in their regular clothing for the photos. Please keep in mind students should wear Islamically-appropriate clothing. Girls in grades 5th and up still need to wear a scarf to school and for both boys and girls, no shorts please.   March 15 - JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AT SKOKIE CAMPUS - see PSG update below for more information and to sign up to volunteer March 15, 7pm - HALAL INVESTING SEMINAR - Free parent seminar – Come and learn 1) When and how to set investment goals;  2) What things to consider in financial planning for college education & financial aid eligibility;  3) If there are halal education savings/investment option?  WIN PRIZES through lucky draw. March 16, 3:45-6pm - SMOCKED: ART WORKSHOP COMPETITION - Students will sign up as a team of two to participate in creating a painting on canvas incorporating quirky, fun and exciting embellishments in a timed competition. Teams will compete to win 1st-9th place in a "Best Overall" award that will be judged for being creative, unique and adhering to the theme of "Dream in Color". This will be an an interactive experience with fun challenges throughout the experience that will make this truly a gaming experience! Snacks will be served at the start of the event and everyone will get an Art Workshop Competition t-shirt. Register by March 12...limited space available, for boys and girls in grades 5th-8th, open to the public. (NOTE: REGISTRATION IS FULL) March 22 - JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AT MORTON GROVE CAMPUS - see PSG update below for more information and to sign up to volunteer March 26-30 - SPRING BREAK - NO SCHOOL

PSG Update "Alhamdulillah, February rounded off with a fun event;  Family Restaurant Night at Chuck E. Cheese. On Feb. 22nd Chuck E., himself, visited the Skokie campus during assembly to rally the kids for the event. Even middle schoolers got in on the fun! Artists, get your brushes ready!  Smocked Art Competition is on March 16th at the MG campus from 3:45p-6:00p. Students from grades 5-8 will compete in teams of two for prizes! AlhumdilAllah, registration is full with 60 kids slated to participate! Junior Achievement is scheduled for March 15th Skokie campus & March 22nd Morton Grove campus. Junior Achievement is used to teach students about finances and economy through fun lessons and interactive games. Volunteers are needed.  Upcoming Events in April: Art Workshop at Skokie campus   Dairy Queen Psg Meeting Dates: March 2, 2018 March 16, 2018 For questions, concerns, or further information regarding any of these programs please email:  MCCFTSPSG@gmail.com .

MCC Academy Annual Dinner Delights Guests MashAllah, we are overwhelmed and humbled by the support and generosity of our guests and volunteers at last night's MCC Academy Annual Dinner. The evening was a true delight with entertainment from our talented students, speeches from alumni and a graduating 8th grader, school highlights video, lots of exciting raffle prizes, an enormous dessert buffet that had guests truly awed and last, but not least, a motivating and inspiring keynote address by US Olympic Medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad. Guests were mesmerized by her story and advice for empowering our youth. Our thanks to Hafiz Azam Hashmi for inspiring our community to support MCCA. JazakAllahkhairun to the generous families whose donations to MCCA will help keep us going strong and ever-improving inshAllah. Our sincere thanks to the many businesses who donated raffle items. Lastly, our thanks to the many volunteers whose vision brought this evening to fruition.

Dress Like Seuss Day To celebrate Read Across America Day and to encourage our students to keep reading, our early childhood and elementary school students came to school dressed in their favorite Dr. Seuss or other book character. Even our teachers enjoyed taking part!  100 Days of School Students in Pres-3rd grades celebrated their hundredth day of school this year. Students and teachers dressed like they were 100 years old and they did lots of counting to 100 activities. Everyone has great fun on this special day of the school year!

Jr. Crescents Basketball Team Back in Action The MCC Academy Junior Varsity Crescents were back in action this past Saturday morning as they faced Universal in their second game of the season. The Crescents were looking to add to their win total after beating IFS last week by 25 points, but fell short versus Universal by a score of 19-17. Ammar Ibrahim led the way with 7 points and 3 steals and Omar Shariff chipped in with clutch defensive stops the entire game. The Crescents will look to perfect their game plan and make the necessary adjustments to prepare for two key games on March 3rd versus IFS and CPSA. Coach Kadir said, "We need to tighten things up on the defensive end which will lead to us being able to run our offense better. Right now we are not where we want to be defensively but we will make the adjustments this week during practice and hope for a better outcome this weekend". The Crescents will face IFS at 11a.m and CPSA at 12p.m on Saturday March 3rd at Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park.

Students Bring to Life Muslim Scientists of the Golden Age  One of the most unique experiences our students have at MCC Academy takes place in their 8th grade year when each student works as part of a team to write and act in a play about the great scientists of the Muslim World’s Golden Age. Students learn about the work of these scientists and the impact they had on our modern, scientific world, and then incorporate their knowledge into unique plays that teach about these scientists and touch upon the scientific miracles within the Quran. The entire process is both enlightening and inspiring. This year, on February 8th, our 8th grade students performed their one-act plays at the Morton Grove Library as part of the Coming Together program, inviting Muslims and non-Muslims alike to enjoy the entertainment. Congratulations to all of our students on their terrific performances, and kudos to middle school teachers for their cameo performances in many of the acts. Much thanks to MCCA Middle School Director Mrs. Abeer Saleh, who wrote the curriculum for this annual program, and for her guidance year after year, leaving our students with a wealth of knowledge and pride in our Islamic heritage and lots of happy memories made in writing and acting in this play.    Student plays are evaluated and rated for content and entertainment value. This year’s one-act play winners were announced as follows:  First place: Act 1      "It All Started with a Drink" Second place: Act 2   "That's So Razia" Third place: Act 4     "Could This Day Get Any Worse?" Fourth place: Act 3    "A Trip to Paradise"

Arabic Teachers Host an Arabic Breakfast for Students 3rd grade students came together to experience a traditional Arabic Breakfast as part of their vocabulary lesson in Unit 10. Students have been learning about traditional Arabic Cuisine and what distinguishes an Arabic breakfast from any other. So in order to emphasize what we learned about in our Arabic class, students were invited to taste a traditional Arabic breakfast. the third graders were immersed into the experience with traditional foods such as Olive Oil, Za'ater ( thyme), olives, pita bread, Hummus, fool( fafa beans), cheese , Za'atar pastries ( Manaqeesh), honey , Jam, boiled eggs, milk and juice.

Morton Grove Campus has a New Library Thanks to the foresight and planning of the MCCA School Council, MCCA Librarian Mrs. Donelle Bergeson and with the help of the MCCA Parent Support Group, our middle school campus now has a new library! The former library at Morton Grove campus closed about four years ago to make space for classrooms and with the new Skokie facility having a huge library space, we moved the library to that campus. So, for the past few years, middle school students have been eager to have their own library. MCCA administration decided the best space for the new library would be to share the existing conference room at Morton Grove campus as students can utilize the large table space and the lockable bookcases housing an ever-growing collection of books fit perfectly around the permitter of this space. For the last several months, with the help of many volunteers, the new library has taken shape. Volunteers helped pull and process books, our Parent Support Group donated funds to purchase locking bookcase cabinets, additional books and resources, and other staff and administration stepped in to lend a hand carrying books, making announcements, and coordinating the space and schedules. “We are really just beginning, but that is exactly what we needed at Morton Grove campus - a beginning,” remarked Mrs. Bergeson. Middle school students are really excited to have their own library. They are already utilizing it as much as they can. We look forward to growing the resources and expanding the offerings of the Morton Grove campus library. We are thankful for the extra work Mrs. Bergeson and her team of volunteers put in to seeing this project to fruition. Please keep our new library in your duas.

Middle School Girls Partake in Women's Math Olympics MCC Academy middle school students partook in the Resurrection College Prep High School’s Young Women’s Math Olympics contest on Friday, February 16, 2018. This academic competition was open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls. Students competed individually, working on Algebra and Geometry problems for prizes. They were excited to experience such a unique opportunity! Our students worked very hard, recalling all the material they have learned in math class. Many wanted to give a shout out to Mr. Llanes, our Middle School Mathematics teacher, for teaching them the concept of finding consecutive numbers! Though MCCA did not receive any awards, I was very proud of the effort they put forward. It is not easy taking such a risk, but for every risk they take, they will learn more and get to experience more unique opportunities. Overall, it was fun and exciting to meet girls from other school and to take a tour of the campus. There was such a great turnout that the competition went 40 minutes overtime! We are grateful to Resurrection College Prep High School for inviting us to the competition, and we hope that our students are willing to volunteer for such competitions in the future: the experience is invaluable and the fun is never-ending! Girls who participated: 6th Grade: Laiba Navaid; 7th Grade: Noor Yalibas, Hamine Arifi, and Suraiyya Omar; 8th Grade: Numa Noorin, Maryam Wahid, Malak Umar, Maliakah Shaikh, Ayesha Aziz, Wafa Choubkha, Zainab Khan, Fariha Siyadath, Ayra Mudessir, Huda Salahuddin, Manal Ghori, Sarah Ettribak, and Zainab Ibrahim -- Ms. Maria Basith, MCC Academy Resource Teacher

MCCA Students Participate in Muslim Clothing Expo Muslims and non-Muslims alike have been enjoying the variety of events and activities as part of this year’s Coming Together program “Celebrating Muslim-American CultureS”. We appreciate all of the MCCA students who participated in “The Muslim Mosaic: An International Cultural Clothing Expo” on Saturday, February 24, at the Holiday Inn. The show presented Muslim clothing traditions from all corners of the world. The show featured by Muslim-American families with ethnic roots from cultures in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. After the show, the clothing and accessories were on display for guests to view and interact with for a truly tangible experience. Our thanks as well to Mrs. Faizah Syed for leading this effort, the many parents who participated and displayed their lovely clothing, and to MCCA parent Moje Rafiqi for her beautiful stage decor. Dabbke Club Students are Quick Learners Thanks to teachers Amani Saadeh and Suad Abdeljaber for leading a group of 3rd-5th grade boys in learning the art of Dabbke, a traditional dance practiced in the middle east. Our Dabbke Club students all have joined this club very much as novices to this practice and over the course of only 6 weeks worked very hard to learn some basic moves but also were able to learn a choreographed routine that they presented to students at Skokie assembly and to guests at the MCCA Annual Dinner on March 4, 2018. These kids gave such a fantastic, heart-warming performance they had everyone beaming with delight. The boys will be performing again at the Oakton Community College on Thursday, March 8, 6:30pm for the Oakton Festival of Muslim Cultures at their Skokie campus. Our thanks to Mrs. Saadeh and Ms. Abedeljaber for the wonderful job they have done to teach the boys.

Girls Volleyball Team Having a Great Season This past weekend, the MCC Academy middle school Girls Crescents Volleyball team played a regional game at Barack Obama school in Markham, IL. It was an exciting competition! They were one and one when it came down to the last set. Unfortunately, they lost by 4 but they played strong. The team will be playing at IFS this Saturday, March 10, for the playoffs as the 2nd seed. "I’m so proud of the girls. They play with heart and you can tell they really love the game. Most of the girls on the team never played any organized sports and to be in 2nd seed is amazing mashAllah." said Azam Tai, MCCA Athletic Director.

Mrs. Barkat's Social Studies Class Update The Seventh grade students, both sections A and B, made Lewis, Clark or Sacajawea diaries to help develop skills in empathetic writing in a historical context, as well as to study the Louisiana Purchase in greater detail. They were to choose one of the three explorers and write five illustrated entries describing the journey with a partner. Overall, they did excellent work. Students also went above and beyond, looking up different sources for information, and coming back to present this knowledge to the class. Additionally, the diary entries serve to showcase their wide range of creative abilities from design to illustration. Many of the students blew us away with their ability to write in such detail as well as the quality of their hand drawn illustrations. Excellent job, Seventh Grade. The Sixth grade students are working on Judaism brochures as we have completed our study of the religious foundations and practices of Judaism. Students first took notes on the religion, then we watched a documentary to add experiential perspective. After discussing the documentary and Judaism, students will now work together in pairs to create an introductory brochure to the Jewish religion. This synthesis project will allow them to conglomerate book sources as well as iPad sources about the faith in order to present a clear picture of it. In the course of this project students would learn about the different aspects of the religion as well as do cooperative learning with their partner.  The Eighth grade students as a part of their study of WWI will use playdoh and construction paper to design WWI trenches in small groups. This will allow them to understand the strategic use of trenches as well as their component parts. In addition, students after designing the trenches will present them and their component parts to their peers thus further cementing their knowledge. Finally, a DBQ (Document Based Question) writing session will allow them to pool together all of their knowledge of WWI into a coherent written narrative.

Students Learn about Prophet Muhammed's (pbuh) Favorite Foods Mrs. Jumana Yousef's students are learning about the seerah of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Mrs. Yousef treated her students to a buffet of the Prophet's (pbuh) favorite foods. Students invited other teachers to enjoy this wonderful spread with them. Mrs. Gomaa's Literature Class Update In Mrs Gomaa’s literature class, students began their novel studies and participate in in-depth discussions, debates and text analyses. 6th graders are reading "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry," focusing on the themes of society, class and racism. In 7th grade, students are reading "The Outsiders" while focusing on themes of self identity, issues with peer pressure, social class and bullying. Last but not least, 8th graders are reading "The Giver," focusing on the value and purpose of dreams, how to reach that “perfect world,” and making sacrifices.

Mrs. Bozai's Islamic Studies Students Make mini-Kabahs Mrs. Farah Bozai's Islamic Studies students made their own mini 3D Kabahs after learning the story of how Prophet Ibrahim (AS) rebuilt the Kabah with his son Ismaeel (AS). Ms. Waseeya Barkat's Middle School Science This past month in Science, the 6th graders have been learning all about physical and chemical changes. Along with that, the students had a chance to identify unknown substances as acid or base using the litmus test. The 7th graders just completed their unit on the cardiovascular system and have gained a new appreciation for their healthy hearts, alhumdullilah! The 8th graders just finished their chapter on solutions and the pH scale, realizing why the acids in our stomach are so important and much needed.

Mrs. Alqudsi's Islamic Studies Students Get Artsy First and second graders have been working very hard for the past two years in decorating their prayer room. Instead of painting, they decided to put their own art on the walls.They have pride in showing their love to the house of Allah with work that they made with their own hands. You can see their talent and artistic work all around the walls. Come and visit our prayer hall whenever you are in the building and make duaa for our young artists. Pre-K - Mrs. Metovic and Mrs. Kurtovic The last couple of weeks, Pre K students have had so much fun in their classrooms. We learned new letters and numbers. We started learning patterns and -ap word family. On February 12th, we celebrated the 100th day of school. Students dressed themselves as if they were 100 years old. Also, they made “100th Day Smarter” hats and participated in different 100th day activities. For letter P, we had a Pajama Day where the students dressed themselves in their favorite pajamas. We love welcoming parents to our classroom! Once a week, we love welcoming our parents to be Mystery readers. Our mystery readers come and read many of the students’ favorite books.

Update from School Librarian Mrs. Bergeson

Asalaamu alaikum, another cold month has come and gone, but February was filled with fun, facts, and fantastic things! SKOKIE CAMPUS Black History Month - During the first part of February, we continued to learn about Black History Month with a special presentation from Ms. Plummer about her ancestor who was brought on a slave ship from Africa to the US. Her family story was incredibly engaging and the students asked many questions! InshaAllah they also developed a greater understanding for how this impacted our history and people for generations to follow. Dental Hygiene Stories! In the following week the students had a chance to review the importance of dental hygiene with Ms. Plummer during library.. This included reading a couple of fun stories and watching short videos to help children understand the importance of good dental health! READING OLYMPICS AWARDS!  For first - 5th grades, we had our own Winter Olympics celebration of achievement based on Accelerated Reader (AR) scoring and efforts! Our READING OLYMPICS AWARDS included honorable mentions for 1st grade and up as well as and bronze, silver, and gold medalists for 2nd grade and up for the first two quarters of AR! While the competition was steep, many students are already on track for improvement this quarter! We will have awards given again at the end of the school year for third and fourth quarters, so please encourage and support your child with their AR reading for school! Skokie Public Library Visits! Skokie Public Library has begun the first of several visits scheduled for students in preschool through 5th grades at MCCA Skokie. For February, Emily Meszaros came to read, sing, and move with preschool and pre-k classes! In March, students in KG - 2nd grades will get to see their annual puppet show in our very own MCCA Library! And later in March and in April, they will be back again to engage our older students in geography games and book talks! READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY, Friday MARCH 2nd! This is the day we get to dress like a Dr. Seuss character or another fun storybook character for school!  Additionally, it’s the time when we launch National Reading Month fun and festivities. This time we are going to start a new “Series Challenge” for the spring, but we will also draw names of students to “Spin the Library Wheel” as we have done in past years. We strive to do all we can to get students excited about reading! MORTON GROVE CAMPUS READING OLYMPICS AWARDS! For Hifz and 6th - 8th grade students, we had our own Winter Olympics celebration with READING OLYMPIC AWARDS! These bronze, silver, and gold medalists were selected by the reading teachers and were influenced by students’ Accelerated Reader (AR) efforts, attitude, and enthusiasm for reading! Congratulations to all the medalists and we hope all students will be encouraged to give their best efforts to medal at the end of the school year for third and fourth quarters! SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR SUCCESS!   The last week of February and first couple days of March we held a week-long Scholastic Book Fair at the Morton Grove campus. Alhamdulillah, the fair was a success and a portion of all of the sales will towards scholastic dollars to purchase more books for the Morton Grove MCCA campus library!   MG Campus Library Update: Alhamdulillah, we had a successful launch of the new library at the start of February. Now we are working on the logistics of checking out books! The process will be slow, but with the library established and our collection growing, things will continue to move in the right direction for our students, insha Allah! If you have any questions pertaining to the MCCA libraries at either campus, please do not hesitate to contact me! donelle.bergeson@mccacademy.org . Until then, snuggle up with a good book until spring! All the best, Mrs. Donelle Bergeson, MCCA Librarian

Science Olympiad Members Compete at Invitational On Saturday, February 10, MCCA students participated in the Science Olympiad Invitational competition held at Grayslake Middle School. Our science olympiad club consists of twelve members. These students competed against other students in the surrounding Chicagoland area. Our students competed in the following events: Hovercraft, Disease Detectives, Crime Busters, Wright Stuff, Potions and Poisons, Anatomy and Physiology, and Towers. They had the opportunity to compete for practice in preparation for the regional competition on March 17th at Oakton Community College. No awards were given but this was a great learning experience for great practice. Students Act Out Tough Questions for House Points Middle School students were filled with excitement as they conducted a service project activity with their houses. Each house was assigned a question for this activity about what a non-Muslim would possibly ask (similar to the show "What Would You Do?") and created a skit to act out the response in front of their peers. House points were determined based on creativity and how well the responses were. The five questions assigned to each house were: What is Jihad? What is that thing on your head? Do you believe in Jesus? Why are you Muslim? Why do you fast? The competition results were as follows: 1st    Ayubi                  50pts. 2nd   LuLu                  40pts. 3rd   Intibaah                30pts. Tied for 4th Ansaar and Nujoom  20pts.

WNBA's Bilquis Abdul-Qaaadir Visits MCCA WNBA player Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir spoke to our students at both campuses last month. They had a chance to speak with her personally and hear about her rise to WNBA fame. She is an inspiration to our students, helping them to understand and identify with the struggles Muslims face and to see how to overcome and rise above these difficulties. Ms. Abdul-Qader shared how because of her determination, she was an influential factor in changing the European basketball association who is now allowing players to wear hijab. Students Enjoy and Learn at Science Program 'Steve the Scientist' from "Absolute Science" stopped by Morton Grove campus to perform a science program for our middle school students. He conducted many experiments including elephant toothpaste, dry ice in water, static electricity using a Van de Graaff Generator, and many more. The students were excited and some participated as volunteers to help with the experiments. These were exciting experiments that help keep our students eager to learn and excel in their own scientific discoveries!

1st Grade - Ms. Deba Malik, Ms. Suad Abdeljaber and Ms. Anum Mustafa First grade has been digging deep into curriculum. We finished up a social studies unit of "Our Country." Students have mastered addition and subtraction with and without grouping. In reading, we are mastering our comparing and contrasting skills. Although we no longer have art with Miss Sikander, we have been exploring our artistic talents in the classroom.

2nd Grade - Mrs. Silvat Sheikh, Mrs. Sanah Baig, Ms. Bisma Makda Fraction Full of Fun! The second graders enjoyed learning about fractions in math. We made fraction pizza with paper plates and added toppings with colored paper. Students were able to come up with their own fraction from the toppings they used. Students also wrote fraction stories. They drew their own picture of houses, cars, and people and found fractions according to their specific drawings. They also received colored skittles and had to figure out fractions for them as well.  Students also had a Dino-mite time learning about different types of dinosaurs. They did a research project and shared cool facts with their classmates. We got a chance to make fossils with mini dinosaurs using play doh. They had so much fun painting them as well.

PreK - Mrs. Emina Kurtovic and Mrs. Edisa Metovic A lot of activities have been happening in Prek-A & Prek B. We enjoyed listening to different stories and learning about 2D shapes! We started to sound out 3 letter words. Thus far we learned up to letter Nn number 13. It is too cold for outdoor play but we have been having some indoor learning fun. Playing shape bingo and working to put a floor puzzle together is super fun! To celebrate Martin Luther King Day we learned many different vocabulary words and did a fun experiment with eggs!  Middle School Participates in Interfaith Gathering at Bernard Zell Jewish Day School On Tuesday, February 27, the 7th grade classes made their final trip to Bernard Zell High School where they participated in activities designed to help build respect and understanding among the students. It's been really amazing getting to know our new friends at Bernard Zell!

PE with Ms. Zeenat Umar February has been a very active and exciting month for P.E. at MCC Academy! We had a variety of fitness lessons incorporating strength and endurance workouts in different ways to keep our students engaged and having fun while exercising! Some of these lessons include doing an Alphabet workout - a list of exercises for all the letters of the alphabet and they completed workouts for the letters spelling out their names; partner workouts which helped students really encourage each other and build teamwork skills; and circuit challenges motivating students to do as many repetitions of exercises in a certain amount of time at a number of stations working upper body, core and lower body muscle groups providing a full-body workout! For our third quarter sports unit, we have begun our basketball unit - students will be practicing basic skills before moving onto our anticipated tournament games. At the moment we are working on passing and we will soon be moving on to dribbling, shooting and defensive skills inshaAllah!