Islamic Schools and Muslim Homeschool Showcase

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Accomplishments of Islamic schools and Muslim Homeschools in the NEMEN area.

2003-2004 school year

YOUNG MUSLIMS AND JEWS SHARE THEIR COMMON SPIRITUAL HISTORY
Matt Gunderson, Boston Globe, 6/24/04
www.boston.com

In Arabic, they spell it salaam. In Hebrew, they spell it shalom. But both
words mean the same thing: peace.

With crayons in hand last week, Syifa Rahmanianputri and Naomi Eisenberg
were scribbling the words on a piece of colored paper, learning that their
cultures are not as different as events in the Middle East might lead them
to believe.

Both second-graders, Rahmanianputri is a Muslim from the Islamic Al-Hamra
Academy in Shrewsbury, while Eisenberg comes from Rashi School, a Jewish
day school in Newton.

Over a half-hour period, both students, side by side, crafted a small
''dictionary" at Hamra, comparing the etymological similarities between
their ancestral languages.

Part of a program designed to bridge racial divides between Muslims and
Jews, second-graders from the schools have met each year for the last three
years, swapping common traits between their ethnic groups through a pen pal
system. At the end of the year, they finally meet their pen pals in person.

For the first two years, Hamra students have gone to Rashi. On June 15, for
the first time, Rashi students went to Hamra.

The program was started by Rashi second-grade teacher Sara Ledewitz in
response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Ledewitz said she got
the idea for the program a few weeks after the attacks as she watched some
of her students reconstructing the Twin Towers with their play blocks.

At first, she wanted to establish a pen pal exchange with students in
Palestine but decided on contacting an Islamic school in the area.

''I wanted to promote peace, but I wanted to create something real and
tangible for [the children]," she said. ''And I thought: What better way to
do that than to have them meet their neighbors?..."

Al-Hamra Academy
Massachusetts State Science Fair.
Nine students participated, 8 prizes won.
2 first prizes
1 second prize
2 third prizes
3 Honorable Mention

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updated 6/2004