Graduates of the Noor-Ul-Iman School put charity into practice and raise $15,000 for aid groups.
By: Melissa Hayes
The eight graduates of Noor-Ul-Iman School at the Islamic Society of Central Jersey have had busy high school careers.
During their time there, the students have founded new student organizations, participated in Mock Trial and Model United Nations competitions, played sports and taken college-level courses.
The Class of 2005, which will graduate on June 25, is only the second class to graduate from Noor-Ul-Iman. Attending such a young school has been advantageous, giving the eight graduates the opportunity to start new organizations and make their mark.
Many of the graduates said they attended public school before starting at Noor-Ul-Iman. The smaller class size at Noor-Ul-Iman has helped them, the students said.
"The attention that the students get from the teachers is very personal," Noha Sabbahi, 17, said.
An average day for the seniors consists of seven or eight academic classes, including one on the Quran. They also take a basic, online Islamic belief course about the life of the prophet Muhammad through the Islamic Internet University.
In addition, all of the students have participated in interfaith activities with local churches and religious schools.
The graduates were even featured on a CBS special, "Faith in Action," for their work with Elijah’s Promise Soup Kitchen in New Brunswick.
Aside from interfaith activities, the graduates have played an active role in the school community.
Noha helps run a sports club at Noor-Ul-Iman for younger students. The younger students pay a $50 participation fee for a nine-week sports camp. The money raised by the tuition helps offset the cost of the senior class trip and graduation.
The seniors have planned a trip to New York City and plan to visit the Islamic Cultural Center, South Street Seaport, ESPN Zone, Central Park and take a cruise on the Beast speedboat in New York Harbor.
Classmates Sumiya Ahmed, 18 and Naila Ahmed, 17, started a club called As-Sadaga, which translated means "giving charity." The girls were able to raise $15,000 to be sent to aid groups in the Darfur region of Sudan where genocide has killed tens of thousands of people.
Naila, one of three Bloustein Scholars, also founded Noor-Ul-Iman Operation Outreach, a charitable organization that raised $10,000 for a local family who have three children with a genetic disorder that causes mental and physical deterioration.
The money helped the family travel to Duke University where preliminary research was done on the children’s disorder.
Angie Kandil, 18, and Muhammed Turan, 17 also Bloustein Scholars have served on the Student Council executive board, helped bring a basketball court to the school and create student identification cards. Angie also founded the school paper.
Muhammed is also on the school’s basketball team, Model U.N., and was named a commended scholar.
Amina Esseghir, 16, was on the basketball team. In addition, she served as prosecuting attorney for three years with Mock Trial, was a member of Model U.N., and introduced Quarters for A Cure a national fundraiser for cancer to the school.
Amina also participates in Young Muslims of Central Jersey, a youth group that visits other mosques and youth groups to create a network of young Muslims in the area.
Students also have been taking introductory college classes through a program with Mercer County Community College.
"At least now we know what to expect," Noha said.
Noha took calculus, biology 101 and 102 and sociology 101, obtaining 14 college credits.
She said the time of day that the classes were offered restricted their options because students still had to go to their high school classes.
Sumiya took pre-calculus, biology 101 and 102 with lab classes and sociology 101, for a total of 14 college credits.
Angie took biology 101 and 102 and sociology 101 and will be going to Rutgers University with 11 credits.
Muhammed took biology 101 for four college credits.
Amina didn’t take any college courses. She didn’t have time. Amina should be entering her senior year of high school next year, but she took a double course-load this year so she could graduate a year early.
"It was a pretty tough load," she said.
Coincidentally, many of the graduates will be going on to the same college next year. Seven of this year’s eight graduates will head to the various Rutgers University campuses this fall.
Although they say it will be nice to go to a school with familiar faces, the students all had their own reasons for choosing their colleges.
Sumiya and Amina both decided on Douglass College, but for different reasons.
Sumiya, who plans to study biology and wants to eventually go into medicine, said she chose Douglass so she would be near her parents. "My parents wanted me to stay close to home," she said.
Amina decided on Douglass College because she was accepted into Douglass Scholars, the four-year college honors program, and Project Super, a summer enrichment program for students interested in math, science, engineering and technology.
"I’m planning on doing a bio major with a minor in political science. Then I’m thinking about going to law school," Amina said.
Angie, Noha and Naila will be attending Rutgers College in the fall.
Angie hopes to study journalism. Noha wants to pursue science, possibly marine biology, and Naila wants to study political science.
All three said they chose the campus because it’s close to home.
Muhammed will attend the Ernest P. Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers. Muhammed said he didn’t always intend on studying pharmacology and applied to the school on a whim.
"It was on the application online. They give you three choices, so I put it down," he said.
The pharmacy program at Rutgers is a doctoral program and consists of undergraduate and graduate courses six years of study rather than a traditional four-year program.
"I choose to forget about the six year part," Muhammed said.
Noreen Mahwood, 17, will study business at Rutgers-Newark.
"I know a lot people who go there," she said. "I just talked to a lot of people and it’s something interesting."
While her classmates are off at Rutgers, Asmma Musleh, 19, has decided on a smaller school.
On May 26, Asmma was still waiting to hear back from William Paterson University, but hopes to go there in the fall.
"I like the campus," she said. "And their classes have less students and there’s not as much competition."
Asmma, who calls herself a math person, wants to study accounting.
While schoolwork is winding down, the students still have one last assignment to complete their graduation speeches.
With so few graduates, each student gets their moment in the limelight.
This year’s valedictorian and salutatorian will be announced during the graduation ceremony.
Muhammed doesn’t know what he’s speaking about yet, but he knows he wants to stand out and be different from his fellow graduates.
"I’m speaking last," he said.