Another wonderful ISNA Ed Conference in Chicago, IL was held this weekend March 30- April 1. Highlights, as always, included seeing Islamic education pioneers like Dr. Freda Shamma, Dr. Tasneema Ghazi, Sheikh Abdallah Idris Ali, Sr. Zahra Williams, Sr. Shahida Alikhan (this year’s lifetime achievement award recipient)… and so many more!
As always, getting to meet new folks in Islamic education was inspiring! There were so many engaging and interesting presentations for everyone to learn from. Everywhere you looked, passionate and dedicated educators were brimming with new ideas and hope for the future of Islamic schools.
Traffic at the ISLA info booth was steady throughout the weekend. The table had snazzy gifts and goodies for visitors, a sign-up for the IECN, and a print copy with the ISLA News which included job ads from many member schools.
ISLA board members were busy with presentations throughout the weekend, too.
Dr. Seema Imam had three presentations, including one on “Maker Space” and two with co-presenter Principal Musarrat Jabeen on the “Finland Phenomenon.”
Dr. Patricia Salahuddin was on the planning committee for the conference and was a presenter at a Pre-Conference Workshop for new principals. She helped her session attendees destress and focus on “Self Care for Educators” through interactive breathing techniques, stretches, and reminders from the Quran and Sunnah.
Dr. Shaza Khan also presented at the New Principals’ bootcamp on the topic of “Culturally Relevant Leadership.” She stressed the need for Islamic schools to be leaders in social justice, taking a stand against racism in our communities and engaging students on topics that invariably affect them, including touchy topics like homosexuality.
