This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1460
Sharif Al Mekki's arrest with family at anti Bush demo and school partnership with Iran and NASA should raise questions
December 22, 2005
Middle School Principal Arrested For Assault, Also Pursuing Ties With
Here's a weird one.
However, the confusing accounts of El-Mekki's arrest and subsequent dismissal of charges against him and his brother Meykil, may not be the real story.
Not by a long shot.
Claiming that he found the achievement levels at the
El-Mekki claims that he wants to, "…do a comparative analysis on how higher science and mathematics are taught at the middle school level in
According to a grant proposal which appears to have been written by El-Mekki he describes himself as "…a visionary instructional leader that ensures the program remains viable and relative and the NASA goals remain in sight, providing fidelity to the team. "
The 'NASA goals' refer to the fact that Al Mekki's school was also selected to be part of a three year Explorer program run by the space agency which helps schools "aquire new resources and technology tools using NASA's unique content, experts, and other resources..."
El-Mekki's choice of Iran, a country which has virtually declared jihad against the United States and which has in recent weeks called for the destruction of the state of Israel as candidate for a school partnership should be raising eyebrows at the very least.
One must wonder what type of reciprocity will be result from El-Mekki's planned international outreach between an American school where 8 of the 10 students are from low income families, and a school in
Though charges were eventually dropped, Sharif El-Mekki has shown his "concern" for world issues and problems by getting arrested - with his brother – for assaulting a police officer at an anti-war, anti-Bush demonstration. Actually, most of El-Mekki's family attended the event which was organized by several controversial groups including one advocating the release of cop killer Abu Jamal Mumia.
Such activity seems an odd affectation for the typical middle school principal and should cast a doubt on both El-Mekki's pedagogical qualifications and his suitability to continue as principal of the
Beila Rabinowitz Militant Islam Monitor (c) 2005
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MIM: News release about the NASA program issued by the Philadelphia Educational Fund:
PDF] News Release----------------------------------
MIM: For background on Sharif Al Mekki's arrest see:
Muslim principal of Philly Middle School has assault charges dropped after arrest with brother at anti Bush demo
http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1458
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Documentation:
MIM Explorer Schools:
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov/portal/site/nes/
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ABOUT NASA EXPLORER SCHOOLS
Schools from across the country are eligible to apply online for an opportunity to partner with NASA in a program designed to bring engaging mathematics, science, and technology learning to educators, students, and families.
Each spring, a three-year partnership is established between NASA and 50 new NASA Explorer School teams, consisting of teachers and education administrators from diverse communities across the country.
NASA invites the selected teams to work with education specialists from NASA Centers in an effort to spark innovative science and mathematics instruction for students in grades 4 through 9. While partnered with NASA, NASA Explorer School teams will acquire new teaching resources and technology tools using NASA's unique content, experts and other resources -- to provide exciting learning experiences science, mathematics and technology for students.
The deadline for submission of the on-line application for NASA Explorer Schools is January 31 of each year.
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MIM: Description of the Explorer program from the Philadelphia business journal.
In this program, a team of teachers and education administrators partner with NASA staff to learn how to apply science related themes and technology to the classroom environment. Shaw?s Explorer team includes Sharif El-Mekki, the school Principal; Velda Morris, Robotic Education Instructor; Janet Hudson, Teacher; Phil Kohler, Aviation Club Coordinator; and Anthony Green, Lead Teacher of Shaw?s Science and Technology Academy. As part of Explorers, Shaw is also eligible to receive up to $17,500 in funding for the purchase of technology tools for the students. This innovative program provides opportunities for schools, administrators, students and their families to partner with NASA to improve student learning, participate in authentic experiences with NASA science and technology; apply NASA science, mathematics, and technology knowledge to real-world issues and problems; and, participate in special events and other opportunities. The goal of the program is to expand student interest in air travel, space flight, and cosmic exploration and increase their participation in science, math, and technology learning.
For more information, please visit www.phila.k12.pa.us.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal www.explorerschools.nasa.gov
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MIM: Grant proposal mentioning Al Mekki's trip to Iran.
http://www.wcu3einstitute.org/Default.aspx?tabid=238
Incubator Seed Grant Proposal - Executive Summary
A. Identify Yourself – Background Information
As the principal and instructional leader of
B. Statement of Need
Our students come from economically distressed neighborhoods with special needs that become the initial impetus for them to be ill equipped, and not ready study and achieve when they begin school. We seek to enhance educational opportunity for our low-income and chronically disadvantaged students. 73.1% of our students score in the bottom quartile in mathematics and science. Our students have limited science, mathematics, robotics and "smart technology" experiences, which have prompted our school to focus on goals and objectives to win our students interest and involvement in mathematics, science and engineering.
In the past, science and technology had not been a part of our core curriculum. Funding for projects that demonstrate effective and innovative uses of science and technology in supporting families, schools and communities have been viewed as "luxury funding paths." Much learning and skill acquisition related to technology is happening outside of school. Very few students, including those who have easy access to technology outside of school, and who spend many hours using it, understand the nature of information technology in a conceptually sophisticated way.
Students have what we call "interface fluency." For example, students may be very good at down loading music, graphics, text, etc. from the Internet, but they understand it at the level of "click here and you get a picture," rather than understanding that the picture has to be processed as digital information. There is a need to strengthen our hands-on approach to understanding learning, problem solving exercises, self esteem builders, and an overall thrust of exciting our students about science and technology. We are missing equitable learning environments for our students and not involving families and community organizations in a support system to help our students pursue education and careers related to science, math, engineering and technology.
C. Description of Project/Program
Project Mission: Shaw MS will use Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematical (STEM) principles aligned with the Edison Curriculum, and PA State Standards to positively affect teaching and learning and to generate excitement and inspiration for staff and students by using NASA resources and School District best practices… As Only Shaw Middle School and Its Partners Can!!!
Project Vision: Inspiring the next generation of citizens to use STEM principles to solve local and global problems.
Our project we are requesting funding for will highlight our students successfully completing 6 role-playing simulations via videoconferencing. These simulations have been designed to engage Shaw's students in complex NASA-related scenarios that require students to take on the role of mission specialists. Each simulation begins with three-four weeks of pre-mission activities designed to provide learning in standards-based math, science, and technology. The terminal event for each simulation is a live videoconference with NASA scientists in which students encounter unexpected problems requiring use of the content and skills learned during the pre-mission phase. Our basic needs for implementation will center on the purchasing of videoconferencing equipment and necessary peripherals.
Our primary and secondary targeted audiences are students/staff, and the community respectively. With these missions, our staff will acquire the necessary professional development fro NASA and the State to teach STEM at a rigorous level. The community will benefit tremendously through our monthly STEM nights, focused to include the community and to engage them in the curriculum and projects.
Three of the proposed E-Missions are:
· Storm-E This simulation engages students in learning about weather. Students act as meteorologists and study wind, humidity, air pressure, and temperature to predict weather patterns such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, and nor'easters.
· Aerospace Students are mission specialists preparing for exploration of Mars. They build an airplane for Mars reconnaissance! Students learn flight principles and then learn the math needed to support the mission.
· Human Flight Students are concerned with the effect of space flight on human physiology. They learn about heart rate, blood pressure, nutrition, bone density, and other factors concerned with long-term flight.
Successful implementation of this project will generate tremendous excitement in STEM principles, increase understanding of the scientific method, and enable students and staff to develop beyond "interface fluency" to use and understand technology at a much higher level. Our students will have used a hands-on approach to solve problems by using STEM.
D. Description of Major Outcome and Output Objectives
Major milestones include recruiting for the Steering Committee, the official NASA "Lift Off", hosting informational sessions and STEM evenings for the community, project implementation, and spring "Landing."
Outputs include securing partners, forming a NES Steering Committee, identifying teacher sponsors, securing funds for implementation, etc. For measurable success, our outcomes must include improved test scores in science, increased attendance, heightened awareness of STEM and career opportunities in STEM, an increase in students applying to high schools that specialize in STEM, and improved pedagogy. We also need to secure technology support, possible interns, graduate students, sustained professional development, college & career week (job shadowing) participants, and recruit an outside agency to serve as program evaluators
Our NASA team is comprised of 5 seven and eighth grade teachers and 150 students. Our Strategic Plan calls for expansion to other grades in subsequent years.
E. Resource Demands
Our necessary resources include a NASA commitment, invested teachers, student participation, technology equipment, technological support, committed partners, and roster alignment, and at least $10,000 in funding. Our strategic partners include NASA, parents, SDP, 3E-Institute, GEAR UP, PSU, Edison, Inc., and parents. The major strategy will include forming a NES Steering Committee to collectively empower partners to assist us in implementing this project. We are also researching to determine who in our local area receives funding from NASA who could also serve as potential partners.
F. Capacity to Succeed
Our strengths include the strategic plan, our partners and the following team members. They bring a wealth of knowledge and their careers attest to their abilities to be goal oriented.
The rationale for the team composition in relation to the school and staff improvement efforts is to provide the expertise necessary to cultivate and expand members' roles in creating a scientific and technological environment, specifically, in the areas of aerospace engineering, robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology.
Mr. El-Mekki is a visionary instructional leader that ensures the program remains viable and relative and the NASA goals remain in sight, providing fidelity to the team. He has traveled to Iran to study and establish a partnership with a middle school to do a comparative analysis on how higher science and mathematics concepts are taught at the middle school level in Iran as opposed to the United States. Mr. El Mekki will identify and combat trends in the school that interfere with our stated objectives and chart the course for what must be done to enable students to achieve full participation in all areas of STEM.
Mr. Green will take the information and expand it across the curriculum as the technology teacher in the science academy. Mr. Green will be able to integrate all areas of the curriculum to meet the goals in the school improvement plan and
Ensuring the success of every student Ms. Hudson was selected because she brings a consistent hands-on approach to our students whom are visual and tactile learners. She is one of district's mandated on-site Science Coordinator. Her hands on methodology encourage teachers to utilize a variety of tools to enhance instruction, helping them to understand that there is not a single factor that guarantees to draw students in.
She currently leads an activity integrating biotechnology, agriculture and environmental science which is currently a major part of our Integrated Pest Management project under the state science standards
Mr. Kohler, Special Education Teacher will serve as a facilitator to foster a greater knowledge of science and space exploration for staff and students. He encourages students to apply process knowledge to make and interpret observations, identify and use the elements of scientific inquiry to solve problems. He leads staff development in providing staff instructional strategies to adapt lessons and accommodations when necessary.
Ms. Morris, Robotics Education Specialist will serve as an invaluable resource person for the team as a supervisor and liaison between the district's administration and the school. She brings to our team research experience in the areas of robotics, engineering and technology. Ms. Morris motivates students to study foundational curricular topics such as electrical circuits; mechanics, optics, geometry, probability, and statistics, robotics offers an entry point to STEM learning appropriate. The improvement efforts and objective to put students in productive control of smart technology, rather than having them feel that they are at the mercy of it, or are locked out of the environments that use it. She aims to help students develop a more sophisticated epistemology related to intelligent interactive technology and a significant degree of fluency in the scientific inquiry and design processes involved in creating and understanding it. .
G. Fit with School Objectives
There is no conflict between the project's mission and that of Shaw MS. The organizational mission of Shaw MS is to prepare our students academically, socially, morally, to compete in the global community through rigorous application and the development of reading, writing, and problem solving based on the implementation of our Core Values and the Edison Curriculum.
Our employers (PA Dept. of Education/Edison/SDP) are assisting us by participating on the NES Steering Comm., identifying potential resources, and they will assist us in grant writing, and aligning the NASA resources with State/local standards.
Budget for Incubator Seed Grant
Videoconferencing equipment $4,500
Gateway Desktop $1,200
LCD Projector $1,900
IN-Kind Services $4,000
Total $11,600
Requested amount from 3E Institute $4,500
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1460