16th Annual ISNA Education Forum Hosts Over 500 Educators

 Last weekend, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) hosted over 500 school administrators and teachers in Chicago for the 16th Annual Education Forum.

The forum provides attendees a platform to engage in discussions, expand their skillsets, and share innovative solutions to common challenges faced.

Parallel sessions throughout the weekend explored this year’s theme of educating global citizens in various aspects of the school from administrators to teachers to the students. Leading experts including Dr. Fawza Mai Tung, Magda Saleh Elkadi, Abir Catovic and Matthew Moes lead attendees during the interactive parallel sessions. Discussion revolved around curriculum building, preparing Islamic school alumni to be global leaders, innovative technology to enhance the educational experience, and creative methods of raising the standard of Islamic education.

The forum also featured several networking programs and a luncheon program presenting the research of Dr. Amanda DeCuir on American Muslim women and their roles in Islamic schools. The seed of Dr. DeCuir’s research was planted at the Education Forum five years. Hearing the results of the research was both fascinating and inspiring for the audience. 

ISNA hosted a celebration banquet Saturday evening to celebrate the tremendous achievements of the Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Karen Keyworth. The banquet also featured keynote speaker Alex Kronemer, Executive Director of United Productions Foundation (UPF) who explained to the audience the importance of and the impact of sharing personal experiences and stories. Entertainment during the banquet was provided by artist Amro Helmy who lead a group of talented young children in a nasheed performance. The group of students is studying with Helmy at the Islamic Foundation School in Villa Park, IL.

A matrimonial banquet for single Muslims was also organized at this conference.  This banquet provided an opportunity to over 90 single Muslims to interact with others in an Islamic way.  ISNA conducts matrimonial banquets at its convention and conferences as well as maintains an online matrimonial website.