Assalamu Alaikum , Dear AYA Families, Alhamdulilah we have completed Semester 1! We are excited and look forward to the numer-ous events, programs, and activities planned for Semester 2! We will be holding the Semester 1 Awards Ceremony on Monday, January 15th. Be sure to save the date so you can join us as we recognize our outstanding AYA Eagle students for their hard work! The detailed schedule will be published in the weekly memo. We are proud to welcome four new faculty members to the AYA Family for Semester 2! Sr. Novaira Tahir will be the homeroom teacher for 3A and the 3rd Grade Language Arts and Reading Teacher. She graduated with a Master’s degree from the University of South Florida and has previously taught 3rd grade. She states: “Teaching is an absolute passion of mine, and I am so excited to be joining your child on his or her journey through school.” Br. Mohammad AbuAbdoh will be teaching High School Islamic Studies. He holds a Masters degree from the University of Southern California, has taught Math and statistics, and is cur-rently pursuing his Ph. D at USF. Mr. Janny Martinez has a Masters in Education in teaching English. His experience includes teaching English to Latin American students, and Spanish at USF. He will be teaching Spanish for our IB Program. Sr. Mageda El-Moubarak holds a Masters in Engineering and an international license for teach-ing. She is certified in Quran reading and Tajweed, the Nourani method for reading, riyad al-Salheen, and holds a hifd ijaza in teaching Quran, MashAllah! Please join us in giving them a warm welcome to AYA! Their collective talents and contribu-tions are an amazing complement to our fantastic team!

Farhat Siddiqui, Head of School

Inside this issue:

Note from Admin 1

Principal’s Letter 1

MIST 2

English Spelling Bee 2

Science Fair 2

Treasures 3

Annual Dinner 3

IPTA Corner 4

Counselor’s Corner 4

January

3: School Resumes

12-Report Cards Emailed Home

15: MLK Day– School Open

15-Semester 1 Awards Ceremony

16-18: Parent Observation Week

18– NHS Ceremony

24– 1st-8th Grade In- Class

Spelling Bee

29– Boys Basketball Game

Against UAF

February

14– Spelling Bee Divisionals

19– President’s Day– No School

27– Quran Competition

AYA 2017-2018

January Newsletter

American Youth Academy

Principal’s Letter

Dear Respected Community Members,

Thank you for your continued support and endless contributions to our wonderful school. At AYA, we truly feel blessed to serve you and your children every day. Furthermore, the ideal way to successfully do that is by following Almighty Allah’s Quran and His beloved Prophet’s (PBUH) Sunnah.

Our blessed Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, "The best amongst you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur'an and teach it." Therefore, we ask all of our community to always encourage their children to read and memorize the Holy Quran, so that Allah will continue to bless them in this life and reward them immensely in the Hereafter, insha’Allah. In order for the mercy of the Holy Quran to touch as many lives as possible, we are honored to open the participation in our AYA’s Quran Competition to all students who are interested in joining. The Quran competi-tion is open to ALL students in grades 1st to 12th. The competition surahs have been shared by the Quran teachers and will also be available on our school website. The Quran competition will consist of several rounds. The first round will be held on February 27th. Please encourage your children to participate, and provide them with the necessary support and guidance. May Allah (SWT) give us guidance and grant your children success in this life and Hereafter. If you have any questions or concerns, please email our Principal Br. Feras, at fabuzayda@ayatampa.com.

American Youth Academy Page 2

SPELLING BEE

Every year, AYA hosts its annual spelling bee competition for grades 1 - 8. We would like to encourage all students to participate. Students can benefit tremendously in many ways. During the competition students demonstrate their ability to memorize, recall information, and perform under pressure while demonstrating healthy sportsmanship. At the end of the spelling bee students will have a renewed appreciation for the languages. The in-Class spelling will be held on January 24th. The Spelling Word Lists have

been sent home with your child and can be found on our website at http://www.ayatampa.org/school-life/spelling_bee.cfm. These lists will be used to test each child. Merriam Webster has a website dedicated to understanding the words (http://www.myspellit.com/). The Scripps National Spelling Bee website also offers help-ful tips for studying (http://spellingbee.com/). Kindle has also collaborated with the Scripps National Spelling Bee. If your child owns a Kindle they can interact with the words through reading.

Three students will be selected per classroom, with a total of six students per grade level. A divisional round will be held with the classroom winners from 1st and 2nd grades, 3rd through 5th grades, and 6th through 8th grades. The divisional round will be the final round for the 1st and 2nd grade students. A 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, place winner will be crowned for the 1st and 2nd grade divisional round. For the 3rd–5th grade and 6th-8th grade divisional rounds, the top five participants in each divisional round will move onto the School Spelling Bee. The divisional round will be held February 14th. The top 5 divi-sional round finalists will advance to the School Spelling Bee during the week of March 5th 2017. A school champion and runner up will be crowned in the School Spelling Bee!

We encourage all parents to help their children prepare for the spelling bee. Please email Sr. Sahar at sabdurahman@ayatampa.com if you have any questions.

MIST IS BACK! Coaches and mentors are needed to help prepare 8th-12th grade students for this year’s MIST (Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament) Competition. The categories students will be participating in are: 1) Knowledge Tests & Qur'an Memorization 2) Art: 2D Art, 3D Art, Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Photography 3) Writing and Oratory: Extemporaneous Essay, Original Poetry, Poetry, Prepared Essay, Short Fiction, Spoken word 4) Brackets: Debate, Math Olympics, Mist Quiz Bowl, Improv 5) Group Projects: Business Venture, Nasheed/Rap, Community Service, Science Fair, Short Film, Social Media

Please contact Sr. Samira at selkadi@ayatampa.com if you are interested in being a coach/mentor.

2017 ELEMENTARY SCIENCE FAIR

The science fair is an experiential learning opportunity for students to pose a question, apply the scientific method, and find out the answers to their scientific inquiries. It promotes student curiosity of the sciences and the world around them. Stu-dents investigate beyond their initial question by developing a hypothesis, designing and conducting an experiment with dependent and independent variables, and interpreting results to draw conclusions. Through this process, students gain a first-hand appreciation of the work of scientists and the value of their discoveries. Alhumdulillah, AYA held its annual Ele-mentary School Science Fair on December 19th, and over 20 projects entered the competition. Of the 20 projects, the fol-lowing 7 will be representing AYA in the Hillsborough County Regional Science Fair on February 12th and 13th, InshAllah.

"Feeding Plants" KG - Sr. Samantha & Sr. Lanitra

"What Liquid Keeps an Apple from Turning Brown?" 1st Grade - Sr. Dunia "Which Cereal Remains Crunchy the Longest in Milk?"; 2nd Grade - Sr. Aisha

"Nice Ice"; 3rd Grade- Jude Barakat

"Flower Power"; 3rd Grade - Hana Joseph

"Your DNA is Twisted"; 5th Grade - Adam Shada

"Crazy Crystal Creations"; 5th Grade - Jude Sullaiman

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FLORIDA TREASURES CLASS BOOK: YOUR CHILD AS A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

Students in Kindergarten through 5th grade will be creating class books during the 3rd quarter. This gives the students an opportunity to bring their stories to life, while enhancing creativity, promoting pride in their work, and inspiring young writers because in the end, they become published authors. Parents can even pur-chase copies of their child’s work! The 6 main goals of this project are to:

1– Motivate Students to write: Nothing motivates students more than seeing their work in a REAL book!

2– Inspire Students to Learn– Watch their faces light up as they become published authors.

3-Create a Lasting Memory– Create lifelong memories with a one-of-a-kind book for your collection!

4– Help Students Tell Their Story– Unlock their creativity by writing a book they’ll be proud to share with friends and family.

5– Make Learning Fun– Learning works best with a hands-on project that makes reading and writing fun!

6– Develop Lifelong Skills– Effective writing skills hold the key to your students’ future. When creating a class book, students collaborate and work toward a common goal.

ANNUAL DINNER AYA’s Annual Dinner held on December 1st was a great success! We hosted a full house, showcased the talents of our Kin-dergarten students’ sweet singing, our 4th Graders performed Dabke, and a riveting spoken word by senior, Layal Barakat. In a special presentation, our IB Graduates of 2017, Iman Ahmad, Lucile Malone, Naeila Mohammad were presented their Diplomas!

Beloved Sheik Ahmed Sharaf was very effective. We are most excited to announce that, although our goal was to raise $350,000, our donors pledged $406, 195! Alhamdulilah!

Check us out on the

web!

www.ayatampa.org

5905 E 130th Avenue

Tampa, FL 33617

Phone: 813-987-9282

Fax: 813-987-9262

Counselor’s Corner

By the time students reach high school, the idea of a resume may be unclear to them. Some students may not know where to start, or what to include. Some students may not know what a resume is. Without previous job experience, they probably fear their resume may be a nearly blank sheet. By attending this workshop, you can take the fear and unknown out of the resume process. Understanding Resume Components Start by reviewing the basic resume building blocks, as identified below. When you attend the workshop, you will learn more about each component. The Elements of a Resume Name and Contact Information

Summary Statement/Objective

Education

Work Experience

Activities

Awards

Skills and Special Strengths

In February 2018, Lorraine Canalejo, Career Resource Center Manager will hold a “Resume Workshop” for AYA High School Students!

Be sure to read the Parents’ Weekly Memo for more details!

IPTA CORNER

ITPA partnered with AYA’s Morale Committee to welcome the staff to Semester 2 with a “Mad Hatter” themed tea party & “Man Cave”. MashAllah! Each teacher was given a gift, including hand-made, homeopathic headache balms, and heat packs!

To support and appreciate our teachers they are organizing fund-raising events including the 2nd Annual “Movie in the Meadow.”

On January 15th, students will be given Entertainment Coupon books to sell as a fundraiser, which mean savings for those who buy, and amazing projects for our teach-ers and the school community!

Be sure to get involved!

Together, we can achieve more!