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Askar, Jeanine

Ms. Askar received her BA from Northeastern Illinois University. Her area of concentration is Jr. High and High School Social Studies; her course studies range from Psychology to World Studies. By incorporating an Islamic curriculum, Ms. Askar's main initiative is to help her students develop critical and analytical thinking skills when looking at socio-economic and political issues both at home and abroad.

Ali, Ghada

Head of Math Department

Beituni, Berjamin

Berjamin Beituni is currently working towards a Bachelors Degree. Ms. Beituni has over 20 years experience as an administrative assistant. Before coming to Aqsa, Ms. Beituni was employed at a major finance corporation, and later was an administrative assistant to a Chicago realtor. Ms. Beituni is Aqsa's Front Office Manager and has been with Aqsa since 2004.

Damen, Zahia

Zahia Damen began her education at Jordan University where she began studying Shareiah, and then continued her education at Governors State University. From there, she earned her bachelor's degree in elementary and junior high education. Ms. Damen has been recognized numerous times by Who's Who Among American Teachers. She has been with Aqsa School for the past eighteen years and teaches Arabic, Religion, and Islamic Studies at both the junior high and high school level. In addition, she is the assistant principal of Aqsa School's Saturday School "Al-Israa."

El-Amin, Laila

School(s) attended: Khartou University, Chicago State University

Degree(s) and/or Certification(s): Ms

Years at Aqsa: 25

What you teach or do at Aqsa: Arabic, Qura’n and Islamic Studies

Past experience:

Any Clubs/Sports you lead at school: In the Past: Student Council and the Religion Club Now: National Honor society

Where you currently reside (city): Orland Park

A little bit about your special interests, hobbies, and/or homelife: I love to read, specially about Islam,Qura’n. I also like to travel and see different places and people

Gall, Angela

School(s) attended: University of Illinois at Chicago

Degree(s) and/or Certification(s): Bachelors of Art in Teaching of English

Years at Aqsa: 11

What you teach or do at Aqsa: English Teacher

Past experience: 1 year teaching at a Catholic Private School Huntington Learning Center

Any Clubs/Sports you lead at school: Crescent Productions—School Play Journalism/Yearbook (technically a class)

Where you currently reside (city): Naperville, Illinois

A little bit about your special interests, hobbies, and/or homelife: I have two children, Alexander(6 years old) and Alaina (2 years old) and a beagle-basset dog named Bessy. It’s quite the challenge balancing my home life and school life, but it is all worth it when an entire class receives an A on one of my objective tests for a book they all read and even enjoyed! It may be too obvious to mention that my hobbies include reading, since I am an English teacher, but it is true. During the summer, when time is my friend, I challenge myself to read 30 books. Also every year, around Christmas time, I draw a picture and make a shirt out of it for me and my family.

Ismail, Tammie

Tammie Ismail is our Principal. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She taught history full time at Aqsa School for 3 years before transitioning into an administrative role as Dean of Students. For the past four years, Ms. Ismail has served as our Associate Principal. She has been recognized for her teaching with nominations for the Golden Apple excellence in teaching, as well as being listed as a Who's Who Among High School Teachers. She has been very active with Inter-faith/community service and outreach events. In her spare time, Ms. Ismail enjoys spending time with her 3 lovely daughters and family.

Jaber, Rana

Rana Jaber , an Aqsa School alumni, received her BS & MBA, with honors, from Saint Xavier University, Chicago. Upon graduating, Ms. Jaber worked with IHTC of Palos Heights as a staff accountant for one year. Later, Ms. Jaber worked with LaSalle's ABN/Amro in the commercial lending department. Upon departure from LaSalle, Ms. Jaber joined Aqsa School as the full time Business Manager. This is Ms. Jaber's 7th year with Aqsa School.

Kamil, Gadeer

Science Instructor

Mohamed, Huda

Huda Mohamed received her Bachelor's degree ion Biology and a minor in Psychology from Saint Xavier University. She is currently pursuing her Master's degree in elementary education from Dominican University. Ms. Mohamed has been teaching since 1996. This is her first year at Aqsa School and is currently the pre-school teacher.

Mohd, Iman

Iman Mohd is the Aqsa School front office secretary. In addition, Ms. Moh'd is a teacher at Isra'a Weekend School. She graduated from MVCC with an Associates Degree. Ms. Moh'd was recognized in MVCC's GPA honors program. She is currently pursuing her BS in Education at Governors State University. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family.

Mona Moussa

Mona Moussa earned her B.A. in English Literature and English as a foreign language from Cairo University in Egypt. Ms. Mona also has a transitional bilingual certificate for teaching Arabic from the Illinois State Board of Education. She has also taken 18 credit hours in Early childhood education. Ms. Mona has twenty -four years experience in teaching. She has been with Aqsa School for seven years, where she teaches Arabic, Quran, and Islamic studies for elementa.

Qato, Hala

School(s) attended:

Degree(s) and/or Certification(s): Mrs. Qato earned her associates degree in education from Ramallah Teaching College, Palestine, and a BA in Sociology from the University of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She is also certified as a Teacher of Arabic as a Foreign Language in the US. She has been teaching for over 30 years: eight years in Ramallah, Palestine and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the last nineteen years at Aqsa School. Mrs. Qato teaches elementary, junior high, and high school Arabic, Religion, and Islamic Studies. She has received multiple awards for her teaching, including the Academic Excellence Award from the Ministry of Education of Palestine and the Holy Land Foundation Award. She is a member of the Kappa Delta Pi educational honor society. Last summer, she received a grant from California State University-San Bernardino to complete a workshop in Arabic as a Second Language, where she also lectured. Mrs. Qato is currently finishing her Masters Degree in Education Curriculum and Instruction at St. Xavier University. Since 1997, she has been founding principal of Al-Israa Saturday School.

Years at Aqsa: 19 years.

What you teach or do: I teach Arabic, Islamic studies and Religion for elementary, junior high and high school grades.

Past experience: (mentioned above)

Any Clubs/Sports you lead at school: Debka club.

Where you currently reside (city): (no need to put on website)

A little bit about your special interests, hobbies, and/or home life: Reading Arabic literature, especially poetry. I enjoy cooking, listening to folklore songs, watching Aljazeera and spending time with my kids. I also enjoy learning the newest technology.

Shweikh, Samira

Samira Shweikh received her certificate of administration and secretarial training from Kuwait College. In addition, Ms. Shweikeh has taken several administrative classes at MVCC. She has been with Aqsa School since 1997 and serves as full time administrative staff member.

Steele, Saida

Saida Steele is a summa cum laude graduate from Lewis University with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. Mrs. Steele also has middle school endorsements in social studies, science, and language arts. She is a certified teacher in the State of Illinois. Mrs. Steele was recently recognized in the 2005-2006 Who's Who Among America's Educators. She has also been awarded numerous academic awards scholarships and is a current member of the International Reading Association and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. She is also an educational advisor for the National Young Scholar Program which recognizes outstanding students in fourth and fifth grade. In the past, she has been a volunteer at the Islamic Center of Naperville Saturday School. This is her third year at Aqsa and now serves as the full time librarian at the newly renovated library. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in Reading from Concordia University.

Yousif, Omaima

Omaima Yousif received her BA in Business Information System as well as certification as a Web System Analyst from Fanshawe College in London, Ontario. Ms. Yousif has been with Aqsa School since the year 2000 and serves as the Computer Teacher for grades K-12.

Ibrahim, Iman

3rd grade

Matariyeh, Raja

Arabic/Religion

Yassin, Sana

History

Alwawi, Haifa

Full time Preschool Aide

Alnoubani, Lamyaa

Custodian

Dissi, Mervet

5th grade

Ezeldin, Amira

4th grade

Hamdan, Lara

HS Science

Joudeh, Nadia

JH/HS English

Mersch, Eve

Dean of students

Rasheed, Tamkinat

1st grade

Suleiman, Amany

PT Arabic/Religion

Mohammed, Hana

Kitchen staff

Isbitan, Jamilla

Kitchen staff

Abdallah, Asamah

HS Math

Ahmad, Sabrin

2nd grade teacher

Pirkl, Nicole

HS Science and 6th Grade Math

Curto, Kathleen

JH/HS English

Shillo, Jinan

JH Math and History

Shukairy, Sana

HS Writing

Salameh, Janine

JH/HS Physical Education

Zegar, Dina

HS Math

Hasan, Haleama

 

Ibrahim, Ikhlas