Islam Awareness Week

1. VES SETS OUT TO
UNDERSTAND
CONTEMPORARY
ISLAM
Virginia Episcopal
School in Lynchburg,
VA
In collaboration with
American
International School
of Gaza
Global Citizenship
Project

2. PROJECT BACKGROUND
Virginia Episcopal School (VES) in Lynchburg, VA
participated in a virtual exchange program hosted by
Global Nomads Group. As part of the program, our
school collaborated with American International School
of Gaza to develop solutions to the challenges our
communities face.
We decided to address the
problem of misconceptions and
misunderstanding of true Islam
in the wake of recent news
coverage of terror attacks.
To do this, we created a week
of learning on campus for our
adult and student population
within the VES Community.

3. UNDERSTANDING ISLAM
Our project was wholly inspired by
our friends at AISG.
In the wake of recent terror attacks
and in the height of various
political rhetoric consisting of anti-
Islamic sentiment, VES students
decided to try to learn more about
Islam and bring about a better
understanding to the rest of the
VES community:
Our hope was to bring about some
programming that gave our
community a foundational
knowledge of Islam while at the
same time breaking down
misconceptions about the religion.
We realize that most conflict and
fear is a result of not
understanding. We felt that if we
could just bring about an
awareness and open up in
dialogue, it might plant seeds of

4. PROCESS We decided to use the same
format that Global Nomads
employs: Learn, Act, and
Reflect.
We spent the first four days
learning. We did this through
documentary screenings,
inviting speakers, as well as
having a Fun Facts and Trivia
game.
Then, we ask the students to
reflect on their learning
through writing a letter to our
speakers, creating a video for
AISG, or any other creative
project.
Thanks to GNG, we were able
to survey the VES community at

5. PROCESS
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process
Continue to describe the
steps your class took to
create your project….
Qasim Rashid talks to VES parents and adults about

6. PROCESS
Among other documentaries, VES watched Salam N

7. PROCESS
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process
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steps your class took to
create your project….
Lebanese American and college student, Maria Al-Abd discusses what it
was like growing up as a devout Muslim in Lynchburg, Virginia

8. PROCESS
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process
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steps your class took to
create your project….
Pakistani-American, Author, Lawyer, and Spokesman Qasim Rashid
talks to the VES community about Islam.

9. CHALLENGES
Some of the challenges we faced was an opposition to
spending time to learn about Islam when we are a Christian
school.
Once we provided a background for why and explained that
“We cannot solve the world’s problems with the same level of
thinking that created them” everyone seemed to better
understand. We discussed the importance to merely
understanding and opening up in dialogue which will build
bridges rather than walls.

10. FINAL PROJECT
WE HAD LETTERS, TWEETS, VIDEOS, AND
SONGS WRITTEN AS A FINAL REFLECTIONS
FROM STUDENTS
Add a video, flier, photos of your finished project

11. FINAL PROJECT
Add a video, flier, photos of your finished project

12. FINAL PROJECT
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13. FINAL REFLECTIONS
How do you hope to
continue this work in the
future?
We can use this program
as a learning platform to
know how to approach this
kind of awareness
programming in the future.
Seeds were planted that
will enable us to enter into
future programming and
events along the same
lines.
What went well?
 The speakers and the
dialogue that was started
between VES students and
adults was profound.
 The openness and
willingness of the
community to learn.
 The survey results were
better than I thought that
they might be.
 All of our events were very
well attended