 Salaam alaikum everybody. Thank you all for coming tonight. I'm really excited about tonight because it's something that a number of us have been working towards for a while, which is to be able to share with you how you can best ask for and avail yourselves of the religious accommodations that we are privileged to be able to have in our local area. So I can only really talk specifically about policies that are in place in the Dublin Unified School District because they're who I've worked with, but we're going to share with you the letter that we sent to our superintendent and the paperwork and stuff that we, the information we provided them. So if you wanted to do the same thing, you may not feel comfortable going to your school superintendent quite yet, but if you wanted to speak to your principal or your child's class, you'd have, you could tailor this information to fit what you need. Before we get into all those specifics, I felt like we should really begin with grounding ourselves in why it's important for us to promote and facilitate and opportunities for our kids to assert their Muslim identity and why it's Ramadan is such an integral part of that. So to begin with, I'm going to turn it over to Asada Hussai, so she can make a du'a for us to start with and to help us get our foundations and footings right about our intention with doing this work. I also wanted to thank Sister Iman for spearheading this really important initiative and discussion for all of us. In preparation for this, I wanted to really just first and foremost reflect on a word actually that Iman mentioned, which is identity. We know this is an age of identity politics and that actually is not just in the political realm, it's definitely trickling into the everyday experience of all of us, including our children, in terms of them being expected to have certain identity markers in public places or pretty much anywhere they go nowadays. This is what's expected that they label themselves, that they assert certain aspects of their identity. So for us as Muslims, obviously we want them to identify as Muslims being their most important fundamental primary identity, but if we don't realize the importance of ensuring that they have that they're accommodated or that their identity is going to be welcome, especially in places like their school, which they spend the vast majority of their time, then we can logically deduce from that that they likely will have identity issues. And what's interesting about, especially when you look at the adolescence period, if you're not familiar with Eric Erickson, he goes over, he's a famous psychologist who goes over the different stages of child development, and he talks about adolescence being a dilemma for youth between two different issues, which is identity and role confusion. So already in a time that they're experiencing just natural changes, physiological changes, emotional changes, and this confusion that's happening just naturally as part of their growth development, on top of that they're in a climate where they're being pressured to accept or assert certain parts of themselves, whether they like it or not, and to maintain certain, again, markers of identity in order to be included. And so this, you know, inclusivity or these terms that we hear a lot, what does that mean on a day-to-day basis for the average Muslim youth? And this is really what the conversation is, especially as Ramadan is around the corner, and so many of our youth who are attending public schools will have to grapple with whether or not they can assert their Muslim identity. And Ramadan is so important to that conversation, because it's not a day, it's not just, you know, like many, for example, religious holidays, sometimes, you know, the, and if you look at other traditions, even within our own tradition, when we look at holiday experiences, they're, you know, they come and go, they're pretty quick, right? It's like a day, and maybe it'll be recognized, maybe there's some words and platitudes exchanged, but when you look at an entire month, that is a different, you know, we're looking at something completely different here. And especially when in that month, they have to actually not do certain things that come very naturally to them, as we all do, right? I mean, we're not eating, we're not drinking, these are very social activities. I remember when I was in school, some of my favorite times were recess, lunch, break, PE. So imagine you go to school, obviously to learn, but you also go to have fun to meet your friends, to socialize, to exchange snacks, to be able to do those types of things. But in the, for an entire month, you're pretty much cut off from those things. Now, if the school environment isn't acknowledging you, and everyone else like you, and expecting you to just, in a way, either suppress or tolerate all of those things going on without you and not being able to participate, as a young child who hasn't really formed a strong identity, it's going to be difficult. And this is why we see a lot of kids struggling during the month of Ramadan, is because they don't want to be ostracized or left out, right? They don't want to be left out of experiences. They don't want to be left out of, you know, being with their peer groups. But sometimes, again, that's what ends up happening because the fast can be so difficult, especially I mean, Alhamdulillah, now we're in a moderately easier time. But if you look at later parts in the year where the days are really stretched out or the climate is hotter, it can be very difficult to fast as a student in a schooling environment when you don't have support. And that's really the fundamental issue here. If you look at Muslims in a Muslim School, which I happen to teach at and I've had plenty of experience, a whole other story. Because everybody's fasting, your teachers, the administrators, all of the fellow students, unless they're obviously younger, but pretty much everybody is in the fasting spirit. And so that burden that you may feel just naturally, you know, being deprived of certain things is lifted because you're also being redirected into other things. But that's not the experience of our students who are in these types of environments because everything is still going on as usual, but they're just expected to, as I said, either be left out of those things or withstand the pressure and the difficulty that may come by being immersed in those environments. So Masha'Allah, what Iman and our panel, lovely panel here is embarking on is really trying to help our students become advocates. And this is such an important also part of their identity as Muslims. If you look at the way that Islam began, it all became through initiatives, through advocacy, through, yes, you know, organization, mobilization, coming together, but also speaking up for rights in a time in an environment where those rights were suppressed. So we have to inculcate these values in our children and let them know that when we as Muslims, that all of us have that responsibility to be there for one another. And so here we are now, inshallah, as adults, as parents, as parent advocates, as educators, advocating for them, but they also need to rise to that. And what does that look like in the classroom or, you know, with your fellow peers? It looks like pride. It looks like really being proud of yourself as a Muslim and bearing, you know, your traditions, whether it's prayer, whether it's fasting, whatever it is with honor and not feeling pressured because you're different. And so that is really the message that we want to inculcate in our children, but we can't do that without providing some support from everybody in the environment. And so, mashallah, again, you know, just, I was reading an article and I invite all of you to look at this article because it was really a good one about, I think it was published on PBS. And this was from either last year or the year before. But in Louisiana, this exact scenario played out. And the article, yes, it's on PBS. It's titled How Supporting Students During Ramadan Helps Build Feelings of Belonging. It's a really wonderful article, but it shares this exact same scenario where this community and specifically this family, the mother, if you read her quotes, she expresses that she feels like she's failing her children because she isn't able to help them embrace their identity and be strong about their identity because, you know, they're capitulating to some of those pressures. So she took it upon herself to be that parent advocate to go to the district in Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Education to push for policy changes. And something that I really appreciated about what she said at the end, which I think is the message that I hope we can all gain from this initiative, she says, leaving Ramadan accommodation up to the individuals at the district level will open the door to individual interpretation and discrimination. And I think there's a lot of truth to that. If we look at the fact that Muslims represent almost a quarter of the world population and we're so behind on accommodating Muslims, like we have over, I looked over nearly 100,000 public schools in this country. But how many of us, whether it's our children or our own selves can remember being in a, I went to public schools where Ramadan was even acknowledged, you know, for more than just a day when it was covered as, you know, a little tidbit in the section on Islam. But we had no celebrations. There was very little fanfare to excite the Muslims, right, when I was young. And I'm sure that's the case still for thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Muslims in our public schools. So that tells me that we are so far behind on this topic. And it's more important than ever now, again, because our children are being pressured in so many ways that we show up, that we do what we're doing here, and that we make sure that at the district level, the school level, whatever level we can, that we basically assert our rights as American citizens for religious freedom, for religious rights, and let our students, our children know that we have their back and also guide the people in charge so that when we ask for accommodations, it's not left for their interpretation, because all this time, it has been left up to them, and they haven't taken care of it. So, alhamdulillah, again, I just wanted to thank all of you for being here. It's a really wonderful turnout, and hopefully there's, I'm sure a lot of people watching. I'm excited to hear about some of the progress that's already been made on the ground. So I'm going to turn it back over to Iman, inshallah, and Jazakulah al-Qaeda. Thank you. Jazakullah, I just want to acknowledge that I know you have another engagement later, so whenever you need to get up, please feel free and don't hesitate. But we'll keep you for as long as we can. So I just wanted to take this moment to introduce the other people on the panel. I just wanted to get started and let her be free to go whenever she needs to. But I wanted to introduce the other people on the panel with me. This is Dina Aburrahma. She is one of the educators, is part of the DUSD staff, and she's working with one of our local elementary schools, Murray Elementary, to create a more inviting environment for our younger students in the elementary level who may not be fasting for the whole month, but may be fasting once or twice a week or whatever is comfortable for them. There may be some kids in fifth grade that might be fasting a lot of the days. So she wanted to provide an alternative for them at lunchtime and try to find ways to include them and make them feel that what they're doing is special and important. So I'll let her talk more in more detail about that. This is Sikina Ali. She is one of our student leaders at the MSA in Dublin, at Dublin High. And I have to say that a lot of what we were able to do now has really been inspired by the questions and the advocacy that the students have done at the high school level. These last few years, there's a number of us as parents that were sort of working behind the scenes, but they were braver than we were in many, many cases to ask and be brave and ask those teachers and those people in authority over them for things that should have been easy to come by. Sometimes we're not and sometimes they got a lot of support. So I just wanted to acknowledge that this was really a student advocated student-driven process. And I'm really proud of all of those high school students that are doing that. And I wanted to give Sikina time to speak about that as well. Before we, you know, I turn it over to them to add on to what we've been doing. I just wanted to just go over a little bit of what we actually shared with the superintendent. So the first part, which if any of you are part of the DUSD community, then you will have gotten, we was very generous and I wasn't expecting it. He sent it to every parent, every student, and every faculty member. So they each received this. So, you know, it was just kind of a letter discussing the importance of Ramadan, the reason, you know, that I'm getting used to this mouse. The reasons that, you know, Ramadan is important to Muslims and to Muslim students and how they practice. And we asked them to sort of follow four general guidelines in their approach to Ramadan. One is to raise awareness of Ramadan's significance to Muslim students. Because they don't, if no one else knows why it's important for these students to be doing what they're doing or why it's such an integral part of their identity, then it's hard for even those adults who are of the best of intentions to provide them with that support. So we're asking them to help us raise awareness within the adults and other students in the community to know what's going on, right? And then we asked for accommodations for fasting students, and that's a plethora of different kinds of accommodations, which we'll go into in more detail. The other thing we asked for is for them to be flexible and understanding that this is not an average sort of observance. It is difficult. It's supposed to be difficult. It's supposed to be a time of restraint, right? When we're restraining ourselves, with that comes some difficulties. It's also a time for many young people to learn that balance of how to strike the balance between their religious practices and our observances with their day-to-day responsibilities as students or as young people. And then the last thing we asked is for them to foster an inclusive environment. And that's a lot of what Dina's going to be talking about. And Sikina will be mentioning some of the things that they're doing to just make Ramadan and Eid fun, something that everyone can be a part of and to really understand what it's all about. So those are sort of the general guidelines that we discussed with them. And then we provided them with an information sheet, which I sort of tweaked it a little bit based on our needs here in our community and the questions and sort of concerns that had come up over these last few years. But it's based on ING's Ramadan information sheet. So most of it is from them. I just wanted to acknowledge the great resources and support that they provide. So what I was going to do with my iPad is not working, but if you guys would like to come up afterwards and just sign in or give me your email address so that way I can share this information with you. If anybody wants it, please feel free to come up to me after and I'll get your email. But yeah, so there's a long information sheet that you can utilize with your teachers, with your principals to give them general information about Eid and Ramadan. And then the last thing that we did, which again, I'm going to give a lot of the lion's share of the credit for the specific accommodations to our high schoolers because they were very specific about their requests. And I really appreciated that. So we asked that teachers make an effort to become aware of the students that are fasting in their classroom. So we asked them to try to make sure that they are aware of who those students are. That being said, it is our responsibility as Muslim families to let the school know that your child is observing Ramadan. Whatever that looks like for your child, if your child is a fourth grader and they're only going to be fasting once a week, then you need to let the classroom teacher know that so that they know what to expect. They know, okay, your child might be sleepier that day. They might need to take a few minutes to go wash their face if they're feeling tired. They may want to be able to be in the library at lunchtime. Whatever those requests and flexibilities are that you would like to have for that situation, you need to be asking for that and you need to give them the time to find ways to accommodate that. Another thing I want to point out is lunchtime is lunchtime for everyone. That's your teacher's break time too. So if we're asking for them to do anything additional outside of what is their normal schedule, then just like you would accommodate or you would ask for from anyone, you're going to be patient and kind when you ask for those. This is, yes, we want accommodations, but at the same time they're going out of their way to make that possible for us. So we want to be as kind as possible when we're asking for those things. The next thing that we talked about is waking up very early for Suhoor. There's many students that want to be able to work early in the morning before school starts. So as the students pointed out, many times the teachers at the secondary level, they make assignments do at 11.59. And that's sort of their default setting. That assignment is due on March 3rd at 11.59 at night. Now if you're going to be like sleeping when you come back from school because you want to take a nap and then you're going to have a start, maybe you don't even start your homework till nine o'clock at night. So maybe having that extra time to do some work at night to go to bed, wake up at Suhoor and finish your work in the morning is actually really, really meaningful to you. So instead of getting late assignments, they asked for the teachers to make that accommodation and set the assignments to be due at 8 o'clock in the morning. I mentioned this because it seems like a small thing, but it can make a really big difference in a student's life. And this may look different at your schools and with the people that you're working with. So I would suggest that you tailor it to what you need, but there are things like that that they wouldn't even think about as something that could make our students' lives easier. In addition to that, we asked that students obviously be given an accommodation to refrain from extreme physical activity, like running the mile or paces. Now I know when I was young, when we asked for, to like not have to do PE and Ramadan, they just sent us to the library and we got to write a book report or like hang out for the entire month in the library. That is not the case anymore, right? So I think it was because of so few of us that, you know, many times they would sort of let things slide. But now it's really that they still want the kids to be outdoors and they still want them to participate in class activities, but it may be like helping take out equipment, sitting in the shade, playing, you know, a different game in the gym rather than running the mile or doing paces or sitting outside in the heat for, you know, an hour. So we're not telling them exactly how to handle it, but we are asking them to give an alternative. So where those things come up and, you know, how they make those accommodations, they have the flexibility to do what works for them and what works for that school and that classroom. We also asked them to note that this lack of energy that the students have is not necessarily an indication of their lack of commitment. In fact, for us, it signifies their commitment to doing something that is an adult requirement. They're stepping up to do something that is what is an obligation for them as Muslims. So we, and this like requires a lot of discipline to do, right? So we're asking them to recognize that and when students are tired, give them an opportunity, you know, if there's something that's out of the ordinary, talk to the students about it rather than escalating it into a behavioral issue. The other thing that we mentioned, and I think is really important because I did hear this a few times, is Ramadan is not a time for discussing political acts of terror, right? Terrorism is a political act. Whatever the justification is at the end of the day, it's a political act, not one of faith, right? And it clearly denounce all acts of terrorism and Islam. So if that comes up, that is something you should definitely flag for an administrator or for the superintendent, that this is not something that we, you know, would, that we appreciate and should not be happening at all. And then the last couple are around Eid al-Fitr. So we gave them the dates for Eid and told them that, you know, students will be taking one to two days off, whatever is comfortable for your family, you know, we have that sort of window where Eid can be. So whatever dates are work for your family, you can take those dates off for Eid. And then we also asked that no testing be done on Eid day for the students that are observing Ramadan. That doesn't mean that the teacher is not going to have a test that day. The teachers may have a test, the school may have an activity, but they will offer alternatives to our students, right? They can't change the whole schedule for our students, but they will make accommodations for them. We also ask that they not give them the test the next day immediately after Eid, because that just ruins Eid if you have to study and do homework, right? So we asked for that as well. So I think, you know, we want to be as flexible as we can be by not asking for how they make these accommodations, but asking very clearly for what it is that we need in order for the holiday to be enjoyable and for us to really enjoy and practice our observance of Ramadan. I think that is everything that I had here. I will quickly turn it over to Sikina for her to discuss a few of the additional things that came up at the high school. Yes, sorry, one moment. So, like everyone, my name is Sikina and I am basically the president of the MSA at Dublin High, and I've been working with everyone over here to help create accommodations. So we've been creating accommodations at Dublin High for, I'd say, two or three years now, and specifically at Dublin High, what I've worked around for creating are specific areas for Muslim students to be able to pray. So basically, if a student is participating in Ramadan, they have to email their teacher and let them know at least, I'd say at least a week in advance, and we've told all of our members at MSA that they have to email their teachers, because if their teachers don't know that they're participating in Ramadan, they're not going to make the specific accommodations for them. And what I've worked around at Dublin High is if they tell their teachers they're participating and it's prayer time, they're allowed to leave their classes if there's not a test. They're allowed to leave their classes in order to go pray and just fulfill their Islamic obligations. And to add on, we also are going to be sending out an email during Laylatul Qadir, just informing teachers about how students are going to be up a lot later and probably going to be a lot more tired and just requesting more accommodations during that time and giving more leniency towards students during that time as well. And aside from that, Dublin High is just following all of the requests and accommodations that we outlined in the email and that Sister Iman had read out loud. If you have any questions, I'm here to answer them. Oh, yeah. And also, for Eid, right now we were working on basically creating an event that was going to get Eid off as a holiday, or at least just spreading awareness about getting Eid off as a holiday. It was originally supposed to be in March, but we just had some complications with that. So Inshallah, we're planning on doing it during Eid, or not during Eid, but like a few days after Eid. And basically during that event, we're just going to outline the importance of Eid and why us Muslims are celebrating it and just getting more of a push from Muslim students to allow their voices to be heard. And just sending out, we're going to have students just send out emails to their teachers as well, just for the accommodations. But yeah, if you have any questions, again, just feel free to ask and I'm here to answer. I believe that's all for in terms of the high school. Thank you. So I think, you know, Sikina did a really great job talking about the additional things that are going to be happening at the high school. I would just say the same, reiterate what she said. In order for the students to be given those accommodations, their parents, so at the high school level, the students will send the email. But you could CC your parents on it, that will help to make it, you know, kind of seen as a genuine practice. As you know, children like to push limits. So when, you know, other students found out that these accommodations were being made, particularly, you know, tests, delaying deadlines, not having to run the mile that everyone got on board with, right? So they want, they're like, Oh, my grandfather's Egyptian, I'm Muslim, right? Fantastic, more the more the merrier. But at the same time, it has to be genuine, otherwise, you know, these things become difficult. So that's why we have the students at the high school levels, they are going to send the emails, but you would CC your parents or have your parents sign on to your email in some way so that they know that this is genuine. I think that's the only thing that I would make clear at the middle school and elementary school level, I would still suggest that parents send the email and, you know, their kids can be part of that. Sound like everybody. My name is Dean Aberama. Sorry about my voice. I'm losing it, being a teacher and all, a lot of talking and yelling. So now it's gone. Okay, so I am currently a substitute teacher at Dublin Unified School District. I was subbing all the way from K to 12, but then I decided to focus on elementary school kids, specifically Marie Elementary, because both my children attend very first and fourth grade. So being a sub there, I got very familiar with the teachers, the staff, everybody who's there. And we started talking about Ramadan and Ramadan's coming and how I'll be fasting as an adult. And I won't be sitting with them in the lunch room. And they started asking me about the kids, what are we going to do about the little ones? Are they going to fast? I said, at their age, they're not necessarily required to fast, but there will be a quite a few of them who will want to, like my kindergartner last year, when he was in kindergarten, he used to fast. So I had to tell his teacher ahead of time that, you know, just in case anything were to happen, let him hydrate, let him break his fast, he's still young, you know, but then he also did his own presentation in front of the whole classroom, telling them what Ramadan is about and how he fast. So that was just like a turning point for me while I was like, these kids need a place to go, right? During lunch and recess, they're still so little, like at any point, they'll just want to break their fast. So I decided, let me say, let me do something this year about it. My fourth grader was on it the whole way. So she said, Mom, why don't we try to set up a corner or ask one of the teachers, we can take over a classroom where I can sit and read a book or do something because I don't want to be outside with everybody else, especially when it starts getting warmer, they want to hydrate, they want to, you know, be with their friends in snacks and lunch and whatever. So I told her, let me talk to the administration at the school and see what they say. They said, go ahead. So I started asking around, teachers voluntarily just asked, hey, I can give you my classroom here and there. I had quite a few teachers who asked for it. But in the end, I went to the librarian and she said, yes, you can, you know, the library is big enough for I can hold a good amount of students during a certain amount of time. And you can take a corner or a table or something and focus on just let them sit there or let them read a book or play games. She has a whole bunch of games for them to play. I said, you know what, let me do it more Ramadan based for our Muslim kids. It's not just for Muslims. It's for non-Muslims too, if they're friends want to join and learn a little bit about, you know, what we do in Ramadan. Why not? So I started to do it going through Pinterest, YouTube, all those social media sites trying to find ideas for some things that our kids can do during that time during recess, even Pete also as well. So I had crosswords made, word searches, matching games, coloring pages, all you can think of. I have it all with me too if you guys want to see what I have. And I just think that all of us not as like as an educator, I see it like they should have this corner. But as a parent, I find it more important that my kids have that area, that space to be in during this time. So I recommend that everybody just take that little step forward, you know, just to even just to the teacher to say, hey, can we make a corner in your classroom or something for our kids to sit in and let it well be well known around the entire school. I'm so glad that I'm a part of Dublin Unified because it's very diverse, very accepting, you know, it's a time of acceptance and, you know, getting, you know, we're getting somewhere. So I think everybody who just we just take that little tiny step, we can all make a change. Like if it's just we start with our little classrooms, it will start moving on to districts, onto other districts and whatnot. So I think it's very, very important that we try as parents to do something about it. So yes, and I can show you anything that I have. If you have any, if you want any ideas, I'm here for you to support you in that. Thank you. Before we open it up to all of you, this process is really about us coming together. And I know I know all many of you in the room right now, and I know that you've all done similar things, right? This, this, this screen is showing right here. This was Shaheen's handiwork, right? So, you know, all of us have have done this work together, right? We've done book drives for the library. We've done decorating in our school offices. We've done activity upon activity in our kids classrooms, right? What we want to do now is to take those efforts that have been separate and make it in sync into one so that we can do the same thing across the district for everyone so that it's not just my students, my child's classroom, but all the other classrooms that may not even have a Muslim kid in it, but then they know and they have the opportunity to support our kids and to be there for our kids the way that we would hope that they can be. So I just want to, you know, take this opportunity to open it up to all of you. What happened? But yeah, so I wanted to take this opportunity to open it up to all of you to hear. I'm sure all of you have had amazing experiences and done amazing work. One of the other projects that we're working on and another panelist that was supposed to be here, Shazia Kajani, she couldn't join us. She's actually the advisor for the MSA at Fallon and she's putting together some video bulletins that she's going to share with other middle schools across the district. And, you know, she was talking about how the students have been, again, a really big driving force in making that happen. We're trying to create a list of books that we can give to the libraries across the district and say these are great books for you to have within your collection because as she found out they have a very limited selection of books, particularly at the middle school and high school level, around Islam and Muslims. So they're very open to getting more books and so it's our, you know, it's that's there for us then to avail ourselves of that and to make sure that we're giving them everything that they need. So if you guys have book suggestions or if you would like to get involved in that, please let me know about that as well. Yes, sweetie. Great, good job guys. Okay, I'm gonna ask Sobia. Sobia, can you tell us a little bit about the what you guys have been doing to sort of advocate for diversity across the district? I don't think I need a mic. So at first of all Dublin is very receptive ever since the new superintendent has come on. He's very open and Iman and I met him when he first came on to talk about starting this inclusive program and awareness throughout the district and just remember it's step by step. It's not an overnight thing, it's step by step because it has to do with curriculum. Curriculum is the next step where the district is moving towards and at the middle school level, we're finally at high school level, we're finally going that way. There's electives now that students can take and they're moving and as years move forward, more things will be added. But at the middle school level, the letter that went out, a lot of teachers already are aware because parents throughout the years have brought it to their attention. So teachers are very understanding PE teachers there. They all know hey Ramon Ramadan's coming. I'm going to give my that student actually all middle school they can get do a writing that whole month do writing assignments. They don't need to do anything else. If they want to walk, that's their choice at the library during month of Ramadan is going to be place a place where kids can go hang out at lunch instead of sitting outside. That's already an area where the librarian has fixed and worked out. So that's something for the kids during lunch. But the teachers are already aware and are willing to work with all students. But when it comes to the parents, the parents need to understand that there's some things can be changed, some things cannot be changed, but an email makes a big difference. I always I always ask parents to email the teachers first, let them know, and wait to hear back from them. Then and then make them understand if you want to set up a face to face meeting and the teachers available, then do that. But the teachers are very responsive email them and let them know, hey, my child is going too fast. This is the challenges that they might feel and they're all aware. Just like right now, I know that the eighth grade there was an eighth grade dance going to happen on April 21. But the principal said, you know what? No, that seed. So he told the PFC, you've got to move it because we want all students to be able to come to the dance for the promotion dance for the eighth grade. So they're all aware. They just need help changing or getting to the next step. Because remember, it's new for them, but they're willing to make the changes and try just like for you. If you're going to your child's not coming to school, then call it in and say this is our religious holiday. It gets marked as an excused absence. It doesn't get marked against you. That's whether you on the weather, whatever date you celebrate one or two days, you tell them it is a Muslim holiday. It's an excused absence, but you have to call it in so that it gets put in the system that is an excuse holiday because the attendance person is aware. The dates have been given. They know. So the things are in place, but we need to keep bringing the awareness. We need to keep letting them know, you know what? This might not work. Can we do this? And they're all very accommodating. The same thing at the high school. Yes, there's been issues in the past. But then again, when you talk to the teacher and when you bring up the issues, PE is a big thing, I think, in the high school where some teachers are not as lenient as others, then you bring that awareness to the principal. You start, you know, by going up the ladder, talk to your principal and saying, listen, I've already spoken to the teachers. I've already told them what the issues are that I can't do this and that. If that doesn't work, then you go next year to your assistant principal. Assistant principal isn't listening. Then you go to your principal and then you get your parents involved. And if you guys are going to email your teachers from your DUSD, your parents cannot be copied on there because they won't get the email. So you have to then either, that is that one issue, if they're going to use their DUSD emails, even if they want parents part of it. So you might have to go a different route about if you want to include your parents in the email. But it's a very open district. And I don't think there's going to be much of an issue. They listen and they will try to do their best to accommodate anything possible. Absolutely. What we actually sent, what I can send to you, you know, and what he was sent out to everyone was a PDF. So if you can do like an electronic signature on that page and just edit it, you can always send that, you know, edited PDF to your student's teacher as well. But definitely, I mean, they are very, very accommodating, but they, and I kind of, I respect this and I actually don't want them to make assumptions about who's Muslim and who's not, right? So they're not going to reach out to our students. They're not going to make assumptions about, you know, who's practicing and how much they're practicing. It's upon us to request those things. So in their database, say who's Muslim, who's Christian or not, right? They can't send any email. It's up to us. Because they, by a name you can't, they cannot tell who's Muslim or up to the students to bring the deal. Thank you. It's not like I have a quick question. I can't see anybody because I don't have classes on. So I just saw Nadia. So we live in Pleasanton. I haven't heard anybody. I've done stuff at the elementary school level because it's like a family. Everybody knows you. Now I've got two middle schoolers. So I don't know what's the feedback been from middle school. My oldest son, it was COVID for a big chunk of his fasting experience in middle school. So I want to email that the teachers give them the heads up. But what do you think the feedback has been from Pleasanton? We haven't had a Pleasanton. The funny thing is this letter right here. I sent it out to my friends who are involved in a PTA at San Ramon. And I said, change it around, tweak it to what you need to and send it to your superintendent district office. I would ask, just take the letter. Same thing. It has to start from the higher up, right? So you email that letter to your superintendent, set a meeting with get a group of parents, whoever's involved or not, or get a group of parents, sit down with the superintendent, talk to him and tell him what you're trying to achieve for the community that is part of the Pleasanton School District. So by state law, you have to have religious accommodations. That is part of state law. How they do it or what they do matters upon districts and then school sites. But state law, that's your right. So I would say start with the dialogue with the superintendent. He's your higher up. Who can then push down that letter to everyone in the district, from the principal to all staff. That's where you start. And then you can meet with your own individual teachers and say, listen, we've got this many students who are going to be through this. How can we help them? A conversation goes a long way. And that's what we started, Iman, and I a long time ago, and then Iman took it to the next steps. But that letter has been great because that letter was sent from the superintendent to everyone. And the principals are all aware. So I would say you can start off with that. And I would say do it sooner than later. Yeah, I mean, I would tell you that to go ahead and just email your child's teachers individually, so that they know what's going on with your child while you organize. Right. Don't delay like what's what you can do for your child. And while you start organizing with everyone else, if you do find out that there are parents that are involved that want to take this, I would be happy to meet with them. What I found when we were doing all of this is there's not a single fasting policy on the books or Ramadan policy on the books anywhere in the state of California. So I was like, well, let's try Dublin is a small district. They're very open. There's quite a few of us that are there and participate there in a regular way. So they were very open to us. So what we're hoping is that this will be a year where, you know, it is a little more official, things are happening. If this is successful, successful, we would like to see it happen in other districts as well. So inshallah, you know, it's just the beginning. But if you do, you know, find that you have an opportunity and be happy to accompany you to meet with them. Yes. Yeah, I think you sort of answered my question with your last statement. But so mashallah, this is great effort. Right. I think I'm still hearing like there's a playbook that is missing. Like have you guys considered writing a playbook? Like follow these steps, step one, step two, step three, like and also where you guys can come in because you have, you probably experienced the questions that get asked. What are the appropriate responses to those questions? So something like there's almost like a high to how to guide. That would be more useful. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Definitely inshallah. You know, what, what are my, our eventual intention is, is to do like a policy brief so that we could take it to places where we don't know anyone, whether we don't know the Muslim families that are there, but we can talk to them about statistically, these are the issues. Right. I mean, it's an unfortunate statistic, but Muslim students are bullied at twice the national rate. Right. So this is something that happens. One out of every four of those incidents is from an adult, from an educator and adult in this, in the school system. So this is something that's happening. So we have to address it. Right. But, you know, I don't, I don't like to focus on the negative aspects because the opportunity in front of us is to do something about it. Right. Like this is what all, you know, we all ask, why do these horrible things happen? Right. And the way I always look at it is those are all opportunities for us to rise up to those things and to do something about it. So this is how, you know, I, this is what, what I felt was the best way for us to begin. So what we wanted to do was to try it out here so that we could get that data. Like what does it look like? What does that sense of belonging look like before the policies in place and after the policies in place? As you know, that climate survey just went out this week, right, from the Dublin Unified School District asking for parents to talk about what their kids' sense of belonging is at school. One of their, one of the ways that they're trying to improve that is to do things like this, these diversity and inclusion policies. So there is a window of opportunity right now. There's grant money from the state. There's a huge push across the state to really look at diversity and inclusion policies. So I would encourage you to, you know, try to talk to someone and, you know, at least get that door open so we can take it. It's out to your district and say, how can I be a part of it? They all have to have a parent on it. We try to say, I'm interested. If you're doing any diversity training or if you're doing any diversity kind of committee or whatever, get involved. So what's happening right now on our district, which we started it, we're starting it and I'm on that part. The goal is to also get changes in the curriculum. Curriculum, you know, it's, it's baby steps, but changes what's needed. For high school kids, middle school kids, speak up during your history class, speak up during your English class. How are your students going to know? Is when you speak up, right? When you tell them, when you tell your teachers, present what Ramadan is. Teach, if you don't present, no one's going to know. Even at the middle school, these kids went around getting from the MSU, they went and, you know, asked everyone to say happy Ramadan. Everyone knows what it is now, right? The main thing is social media has brought more awareness. So if you guys don't speak up and you guys don't talk, no one's going to know. Okay, I want to invite Shazia to at least take up the mic and talk a little bit about what she's doing at Fallon Middle School. As you can see, she's like a very popular advisor there right now. Here you go. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It's not like I'm everyone. I'll just give a very brief talk. I wasn't part of the beginning discussion, but basically, you know, as he was saying, the playbook, we kind of have to create the playbook, and it's going to be a unique experience everywhere. But, you know, there's definitely an openness and there's a change in attitude. And so to take advantage of that right now, at Fallon Middle School, I found that like, as the awareness is increasing, A, the kids are feeling great. They're feeling included. The second part is that you're just finding that little, little changes like the librarian came up to me and said, hey, would you mind looking at all the books I have in the library? See what did I have in Ramadan? And he had like two books and said, you know, what should I do? So I brought him some books. He chronicled them. He put them in the system. And he said, could you make a display for Ramadan? We usually have one for Women's History Month, Black History Month. Sure, no problem. The history teacher reached out to me as they're kind of finding out that we exist. And we're kind of, you know, the inroads. And so the history teacher said, you know, can I meet with you? Sure. Walked and talked to her. She's like, what can I do? I'm like, hey, you know, I don't want to pose these kids into like pointed questions. I want to ask them open it because I'm also getting to know the MSU. And I've been asking them questions like, have you had any issues? Have anything going on? You know, a lot of them are very nervous going to school at 9-on-9-11, the way that discussion is. So I shared that with the history teacher. And I said, hey, there's resources out there. There's ING who makes videos, comes in, does classroom discussions. She took the website down. She's been corresponding with them. She said she's going to try to get them to come visit. Like there's lots and lots of lights there. It's just a matter of being visible, being open, teaching our kids to even, you know, how to navigate the process, how to advocate for themselves. That's also a process when they're younger. They're not, they're not sure how to, you know, like when the first MSU meeting, I'm like, okay, what should we do this year? What should be, you know, they want Jamal every day, every Friday they want, you know, ease, whatever they want at all. And then you don't want to squash that enthusiasm, but you also have to teach them how to navigate what, what's, you know, you have to kind of piecemeal it. It's going to be, it's going to be a process and you have to teach them how to do that, how to work with other groups. Like there was, it was Black History Month in February. And I told them, hey, let's do a collaboration between them. There's so many Black Muslims out there. And so we collaborated with the Black students on campus and we did a, and we grew, like our friendships grew, our, you know, our inclusiveness grew. We're seen differently, but it's a process. It's going to take time. You have to be patient. But for sure, as Sobius said, and Amon said, the dialogue has changed. And part of that DEI council that they have in Dublin, they're definitely open to it. They're definitely tuned in. As soon as we released all the dates for Ramadan this year, they've been making, you know, so many changes in terms of like, oh, there was a school dance on that Friday, eighth graders were going to graduate and do some prep work. There was a fifth grade who was going to come to tour for middle school. And they didn't realize, you know, there was testing and, but then, you know, one of the assistant principals reached out and said, hey, I'm actually going to the calendar right now and changing any of the things I can change. But, you know, it's also, you know, once they start doing that, the attitudes right, but it's also giving them tools. I'm like, hey, let me give you the next five years of dates. So I emailed her back with like, because I mean, I said, and give or take one or two days, like give some, you know, a leeway because sometimes there's moonshiding and other other way, other nuances to that. But I did share, you know, all those dates because I believe they, their calendars are planned years in advance and they are trying to pivot, be patient with them for this year. But, but, you know, this is also an opportunity for us to kind of organize ourselves and set the pace for the following year. So it's just kind of part of the system. Once you're part of the system, it's hard to break that. It's just, it's just, you know, but helping them, guiding them through the process. It's, it's not, you know, and just being approachable friendly, you know, every time I write them something like, hey, if you need anything, because there's sensitive matters that come up on campus, they're not sure how to handle those, they should know that they can come to you. But, you know, I think all the work that everyone has done has led to this. It's not a one day, it's not that, oh my God, all of a sudden this happened. It's years and years of work that everybody's done and their little school and their little district that has basically led us to this point. It's a beautiful moment and we should, you know, be super happy and, but, you know, it's also be treated delicately and do it right. You know, we should ask for the things that are really important and we should, you know, educate. There's, there's a lot of lack of knowledge in terms of, you know, you know, what Ramadan is. I mean, a lot of teachers don't know they don't drink water. I mean, it's, it's, it's, you just assume they would, they don't. They have to be told. You know, they don't know what people do on Eid. Exactly. The principles are looking at it because it's not intention, it's just an oversight, which they're willing to rectify right away. But how we go about it really matters because when one parent might send an email, it might trigger something else. So the point is to ask in a nice manner has, I'm going to echo what Iman said, you know, how to ask, how you email first, because otherwise it just changes into something else. And that's what we're trying not to do. And one thing I'd like to say that I'm, I mean, I'm finding there's a learning experience for me as well. I mean, I have two middle school kids, but they're not in the public school system. They've been going to a private school. And so what I've learned is, you know, as you deal with a larger forum and a lot of kids, you know, we're getting opportunities to make a video for, you know, the video bulletin or be part of a class or an advisory. But when we're creating content, there's so much content that exists on the web for Ramadan for Eid forever, but it's dry content. It's a slide show. It's a scholar talking for 30 minutes. These these kids are living in a different world. They're not, they're going to just tune out within one minute from even our own kids will tune out. So we've been trying to create content that is real and it's substantial, but it's also in a way where it's, it appeals to that age group. And so we're trying to put the, you know, like it was funny, I told them, I'll write the script, you guys make the video. And they said, Miss Con, they call me Miss Con. Do you think we could gen Z the script before you? And I was like, because they, you know, because it has to be there. It has to be their voice. It has to be, you know, interesting. And, but you can't obviously curb the material, but you can definitely do presentation in a different way. And there's nothing that exists out there that's like that these kids have, and they're very talented. A lot of these kids are super talented, like the extra son. He made a rap about Muslim boys. And he made it. And I told him, you know, let's, let's, let's put that in our advisory. Let's, you know, like, let's, you know, but it has to, I mean, the content was perfect. It was all about, you know, praying and no alcohol. I mean, all the things that are important to them as kids, but yet, and they're getting the message across, but they're getting across in a way where kids will actually listen. And so that's been really challenging for me or a learning curve for me because I'm not a video editor and I don't know, you know, all these things. So, you know, the kids that do have these talents, there's lots of value for them and value added for them. So on that note, I love your enthusiasm, guys. And I want to just say that, you know, it's not about these kids a few years ago. On that same note, these kids were super enthusiastic when we first got them to not, you know, have to do PE and that they could have a designated place to pray at Cottonwood. There was these kids were like, you know, miss so and so, I need to pray right now. Right. And the teacher's like, okay, okay, I'm just going to go to the bathroom, but okay, hold on. And, you know, it just creates panic. So please remember that, you know, we, we, if you can, if you can pray us or at home, pray us or at home, pray though her at school, do it in a way that is mindful of the other person who's making that time for you. Right. And I would say that that same thing applies to parents like, Mike, it's not going to do homework on E, okay, we, they don't have to do homework on E, but they have to do the homework eventually. Right. Like it's not like you could just be absolved of those responsibilities. So I think for all of us, we just need to remember that they, we want the facility to be able to do what is important to us. And when that same token, we want to show them the best a clock that we can when we're asking for those things. Right. So just because those things did come up and, you know, students get very excited and we're really happy that you guys are excited. So we want to be able to offer this year on year. Yes. I think for PE, especially like I think students, I agree that, you know, running the mile would be difficult, you know, but obviously you can judge it, you know, but, but that doesn't mean that you just go lie down in the library. It means, you know, help them organize their sports equipment. I've been telling PE teachers like, have them do something valuable. This is your school. This is part of, you know, this is a part of you. You spend so many hours there, make it a better place. It doesn't mean that, you know, if you're exempt from that, that you do nothing, it just means, you know, turn that time around in a positive way. So what's going on up here? Before it used to be Merry Christmas during winter, right? It changed now happy holidays. Change came very slow, but it did. So what I'm trying to tell you is that change comes slow. During the winter holidays, you don't see teachers or anyone saying Merry Christmas to any students because it's changed. Just like when I know students brought up what we want to decorate the office. So office can stay away from where there's going to be controversy because if they do it for one group, they have to do it for every group. So there's things that you want to stay away from that might put them in a position where they can't do it for everyone. So just think about the changes that have come across our across our schools over time. Because in before, when we had break, it was Oh, Merry Christmas, but then because they became aware that not everyone celebrate Christmas, this is a holiday break, it changed to happy holidays. These things are changing slowly, but we need to be receptive. Okay, we're going to get there. It won't be there right away, but be I think it's be mindful of all the positive changes that have already come along the way. There's many things. But also remember, if they do, it's hard when you are school district of so many different religious groups of a comet accommodating, everyone takes time. So, you know, I know, I think it was brought up that they want to decorate the office. If they say no, it's okay. It's not, it doesn't mean that, you know, it's they're negative or not against they're against you or not. They're thinking in a way of, okay, if we do it for this group, then we have to say yes to this group and we have to say yes to that group. And there's many holidays with so much diversity. There's many holidays. And then the school district doesn't want to upset everyone. So don't take everything in a negative way either, is what I would say, because I know we get those questions in the administrative office. And yeah, I think particularly at the high school, they're really, I mean, they're, they're at a different level, right? I think elementary schools is a whole different thing, right? Like they may do all these library decorations and the office decorations, and that kind of a thing may happen at elementary school, but it's much harder at a high school level. Because obviously, there's so many people. And even at some of the middle schools, you know, my kids are at cottonwood at a K to eight, so we get kind of a balance of the two. But I would say, while they are in process of putting in instituting some of these things, it will still be up to us to say, would you like me to come in and help decorate the library or put out the books or donate the books or whatever it is, right? So that's still going to be something that I think we will have to do. But what we can do is we can come together and try to, you know, make the load lighter for one another, right? So that it's not something that you have to figure out, okay, which books should I buy, right? Which books are good? Because I mean, that's another issue that comes up. If we donate a book, that's like, let me tell you how to say, la ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasool Allah, that's going to become a problem, right? So we have to be thoughtful about what we are introducing and how we can do that. So, you know, we, us working together is a step in the right direction. Just a suggestion. Is it on? Just a suggestion for elementary level? Like, yes, as you guys said, baby, small steps, right? So not too much, but just a little, you know, start. And I really love what you guys said that parents also should initiate stuff, right? So just like they talk about Diwali, right? They just did some holy stuff. So we can like holy celebration something. So we can also do like just a five minute, not nothing religious, but just for example, in my class, I asked in my son's class, he's in fourth grade, I asked if I could just before Ramadan, like day before Ramadan, I could just give out some sweets. And then for those five minutes, I just come or three minutes just talk why we fast so that the class knows that they're this particular student or students would be, you know, even the kids are aware and the kids feel good about it. Like, for example, the students feel good about it that yeah, yes, you know, my my fellows know, class fellows know that I'm going to be fasting and you know, they might be a little bit, you know, accommodating to them. So yeah, absolutely. I was going to say, one of the things that happened in those last few years where the high schoolers were sending out information is they shared it with the high school and with the principals at the middle school level, but they didn't tell the elementary school level because they thought no one at the elementary school level is fasting, right? So they just were not aware that that might even be the case. So that's again, part of our opportunity to educate them. Just to add to what you were saying, my kids did that last year because they were both fasting a week in advance. I had them have that five minutes where they would speak because it's their classmates, right? So I had them going and speak. And last year I made like a little note card with a little goody bag like they do for birthdays or any other, you know, holiday that they might celebrate. Our family will be starting Ramadan. We would like to celebrate a little bit with you. Here's a, you know, a candy or two. And we sent it out to all the classmates. They enjoyed that. We're doing the same thing again this year. It's just a little box with a few M&M's and it's just as happy Ramadan. Just for the kids to know that our kids are celebrating something right now. Just like they celebrate, we celebrate as well. And that's what I love about Dublin Unified because they're inclusive of everybody. And hopefully, you know, as years go on, that more and more districts do the same because, yes, it's very important for our kids to be included in all these things. So yes, you're right. We need to start it at a young age. Just like my mother was saying, I feel like students should talk to their peers about what they, like why they fast especially because I've had experiences where people had misconceptions about why people fast and that it's painful among them and it's like some force upon them. But when my friends would ask me questions, even about other things like hijab and all that, thankfully I've been to like talks and stuff. And I've in Sunday school in the high school, they've talked a lot about like why people do certain, why we do certain things and the significance of it that really opened up their minds and gave them a better understanding of it. So, you know, to do this for other kids, especially the younger ones, it's a really, it's, it would be really helpful for everyone. Absolutely. I think, as Sylvia mentioned, we're working with the district to do sort of, with the right words, cultural awareness and religious competency training for the staff overall and the whole district so that they can be more aware of, you know, why we do the things that we do, right? That just, you know, as you mentioned, fasting during Ramadan, it's hard, but it's also fun, right? It's also the reason that we do it is because it's sort of a, that is a right of passage to adulthood, right? It means that now you're a grown-up, get to do grown-up, basically to participate with everyone else in the community as a grown-up. I know my mom was telling me, my mom is here that when we were, you know, when when you're growing up in Pakistan, it's like, you get a big present on the day that you have your first fast, right? You get a big present the year that you finish fasting all 30 days, like it's supposed to be something that is celebrated, right? So that's what we want them to understand too, that that's why the kids are doing it because this is actually something that's celebrated as part of their journey into becoming responsible adults. It's not just about not eating and drinking, it's about having that character to not, back bite, to not yell, to like hold your temper, to balance your spiritual well-being with your worldly responsibilities. It's all part of all of that. So I just want to be mindful of the time. I love that the conversation is ongoing and we can keep going. I just wanted to remind everybody that I think it's just in about 10 minutes. So I will wrap up in five minutes or so. Yeah, if you if you can just sum up like how parents can support your efforts. I'm not sure I mind if you're only spearheading this or if other people are involved and how can we support you guys? Sure. So I'll just speak for myself. My interest in this really came from my desire to help with my kids, right? And, you know, to get involved in the school district. I just did that because I cared about what was going on with my kids and with my kids school and with the district overall. So I would say number one thing is, you know, people think about it as like politics is this far away thing, but politics is really about community and it's really about getting involved in serving your community. So that I would say is number one, find out what's going on in the city, in the school district and find ways to get involved. That will help all of us because you will be at the table when the discussion starts and you can say, hey, you know, I heard about this. Is there something that we can do to be a part of this or to make, you know, this effort that city is doing more meaningful for us as Muslims? So I would say that's number one. The other reason that I started doing this is I'm really interested in public policy. I work in public policy as a non-profit, but I've never really applied all of that to something like this. So I always kind of looked at it from the perspective of this is great that I'm going to do this in my kids classroom, but what happens a year that I'm, you know, busy or I'm tired or I'm not there anymore because now there's someone, you know, there's my children have outgrown that. So we wanted to put something in place so that year on year these things continue. So I think for us right now we are trying to build out that playbook that the gentleman was asking for, but I think the more of you that fill that paper out and say, my child is observing Ramadan, right? The more that they get that, the more they will see that it's not just, you know, the eight of us who signed that document. This is, you know, for a lot of people, right? There's power in numbers. And then when you respond to that climate survey, talk about the fact that getting that email from Mr. Funk about Ramadan was meaningful to you, right? It was meaningful to your students. Those are the things that we can do to reinforce for them that this is something that is important for us to do. We will put that book list together, inshallah, we're working on it, but we'll try to send it out to all of you. And if you want to just, we're going to try to set it up as like an Amazon, you know, list and we'll get the books paid for and donated, and then we'll make one giant donation from us as a community to the different schools in the area for whatever they need, right? So that's another way that you guys can get involved and help us with it. If there's a book that you think is a good book that is, you know, maybe about Muslims and about, you know, a Muslim biography about Ibn Hashan Muhammad or something like that, do you think would be a good thing to add to the library? That's another way that, you know, you can get involved or make a donation to the school. Do you have anything else you want to say? Oh, yeah, yeah. Take off the holiday. I want to show up on mandatory testing because if you miss it, you can make it up. Take off on days. Number of speak for them. Please, that's the only way to realize that we have a good population that is celebrating our holidays. Take off and call it in. Yeah. I will just to make sure that everybody heard that online. Yes. Number one, take off the holidays. Avail yourself of the accommodations, right? If they get the letter saying, my child is observing Ramadan, I want to be able to take off Eid. I don't want to have to, you know, take a test the day after Eid. All of those requests that you make, it makes meaning for what we've done, right? Because a policy is a policy. It's just going to sit there if nobody uses it, right? So we really need to show that it's actually meaningful. I think the last thing I will add is, you know, when you see change, be positive, respond back, send an email. I mean, I think they would be love to hear from parents saying, this made me so happy. This brought tears. I mean, whatever we shared on our little group chats or whatever, share it with them. Because when they do make the effort, we have to respond to, I mean, both ways. Something's wrong. We've got to call it out. But when it's right, we also have to appreciate it. Okay. I'm going to wrap it up unless there's anybody else. Okay. Just because I thought it already went off. So, all right, Jezakola, everybody for coming out. A big thank you to our students because they are really leading the way to our high schoolers and our middle schoolers. Thank you guys for being brave and stepping out there. So, Jezakola to all of you.