MAB Weekend School Holds Awards Recognition and Graduation Ceremony

Bolingbrook , IL: The Muslim Association of Bolingbrook (MAB) held its annual Awards Recognition and Graduation Ceremony for the Weekend Sunday School on June 5, at Masjid Al-Jumu'ah, Bolingbrook, IL.

The ceremony, among other things, was an occasion to remember the legacy of great boxer Muhammad Ali , who passed away recently. Students were encouraged with words of wisdom and reminisced upon his legacy of having a character of excellence and known for his strong conviction of promoting peace as a devout follower of Islam.

The ceremony consisted of perfect attendance awards and top 3 class rankings per class. There were a total of 9 students who ended up receiving their graduation diplomas from the program. Perfect attendance awards were given away by the President of the Valley View 365U School District, Steve Quigley . He has been a member of the VVSD Board of Education since 2007, and has served as President since 2009. He is extremely active in the community, volunteering his time as a youth sports coach, and participating in many activities with local non-profit organizations.

The MAB Board President, Anwaarullah Khan, who spoke on the occasion, said, "Dr Taqi Taher, Chairman of the MAB Weekend School, and Mohammed Ziauddin, School Principal, have done a phenomenal job in helping take the MAB Sunday School to the next level." He lauded the contribution of Dr Taher in developing a curriculum, which enables the students not only to learn basic tenets of the Islamic faith, but also to build good character to become exceptional American Citizens. Dr Taher has been volunteering his services in helping to establish weekend schools throughout the Chicagoland area since the 1980's.

Upon the distribution of the awards to the students, Steve Quigley said: "Perfect attendance is fantastic in everything you do in your lives. You must show up at school and at work as everything that you missed cannot be made up. It is a great honor and prestige to have the perfect attendance award. Thank your parents as you are the ones who drove your children here every day. You are the ones who encourage your children to take part in sports or any extra-curricular activities.”

Steve Quigley also paid rich tributes to the initiatives of the MAB Weekend School which not only helps in strengthening the engagement of the community but also demonstrates a model of excellence for students to help foster lifelong friendships and build a solid understanding of what giving back to the community entails. Steve Quigley appreciated the volunteers of the school for helping with their time, effort, and dedication in building morale and motivation among the students to turn out to be excellent students.

Dr Ahmed S. Khan, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the College of Engineering and Information Sciences, DeVry University , Addison, IL, who was the keynote speaker, congratulated the students on achieving an important milestone in the pursuit of knowledge. He impressed on them that education is one of the best gifts parents can offer to their children and said, "Good education enables members of society to distinguish good from bad, and thus provides them with a moral compass.”

Dr Khan observed, “We are living in a knowledge-based society , and it is very important for students to acquire appropriate skills sets and knowledge-base in order to succeed in their professional careers.” Reflecting on the hidden potential of students, Dr Khan said, “Each of you have a unique talent and skills set, your challenge is to discover that unique gift, this gift could be in the form of analytical thinking skills, writing skills, communication skills, problem-solving skills or designing and engineering new things. Once you discover your hidden potential, you can pursue anything as your career goal. You can become a doctor, a lawyer, an educator, a scientist, and an engineer, all you have to do is to show strong determination and willingness to do the hard work.”

During his address, Dr Khan expounded on various forms of human knowledge and wisdom, and compared the magnitudes of the size of the cosmos with the size and limits of human knowledge. He urged students to be respectful to their parents, learn time-management skills, exhibit good behavior and manners, and practice good and soft communication skills. “Do the best you can do in all things you do to achieve excellence in your career goals,” he added.

The MAB Weekend School has more than 250 students and 70 volunteers. The school runs closely in parallel with the academic school calendar year and will resume after the Labor Day holiday weekend. The MAB Weekend School offers grades KG through 11 th. Upon graduation, there is a teacher's mentorship program for students which encourages them to become part of the volunteer teaching staff as they enter college. The school has been operational since the late 1990's, and enrollment has gone up four times the number of students in the past two years. Families are starting to move closer to the Mosque to take advantage of the School and other programs offered under the MAB umbrella.