Student Life

Clubs and Activities

The King Abdullah Academy experience extends beyond the walls of the classroom. Our Falcons participate in Clubs and Activities and are actively involved in setting goals, reflecting on their progress, and collaboratively benefiting others through their experiences.  
 
Clubs and Activities at KAA include:

List of 13 items.

  • Robotics Club

    Is a subsidiary of KAA's STEM Club that consists of MS &HS students. The club meets every Thursday afterschool from 3:15 - 4:30 pm in the Makerspace Lab at King Abdullah Academy. Its primary goal is to design, construct, build and program robots using the VEX V5 platform.
    KAA's afterschool Robotics Team participated in the last regional competition, in 2020, called Tower Takeover at Germana Community College. It was an all-day Robotics competition that began early morning and went into the evening hours, featuring scores of MS & HS school teams from all over northern and central Virginia. 
    KAA's Robotics Team, Falcons 2949 B, spent months each week during afterschool hours designing, building, constructing, and programming their robots for the competition.
     
    During the last competition, KAA Robotics Team successfully made it through the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd rounds.

  • Art Club


    The objective of the KAA Art Club is to provide an extracurricular activity for those students who enjoy and/or excel in the visual arts area. Activities include both individual and group projects that are not covered in the Art curriculum.

  • Community Service Club


    The Community Service Club at King Abdullah Academy serves to implement the important teachings of Islam by giving back to its community. As one of the biggest clubs at KAA, the club thrives on student participation and action. It holds events such as bake sales, blood drives, sports events, etc. It also organizes annual book drives and food/clothing drives.

    The Community Service Club aims to serve the community by raising money for certain causes or providing its service in other ways. In the past, the club has scheduled visitations to children’s hospitals and retirement homes, where students spent time with patients and residents. It has been a very humbling and eye opening experience for the students, and a great way for them to develop their Islamic values. The club also fundraises for important causes such as heart disease research, hurricane relief, and many more.

    The Community Service Club encourages all students to engage with their community and lend their efforts to the club’s projects, aiming to help students become well-rounded citizens and Muslims within their communities.

    To join the club, please email Mrs. Nijmeh Zayed at nzayed@kaa-herndon.com.

  • Cooking Club


    Description: the cooking club is a member engaging club to exchange experiences and advice and to help others when it comes to cooking and baking.

    Mission: to teach others an essential life skill that’s used every day. Members will teach these skills through tips, discussions, etc. 

    Goals: to make the club a place where people can talk freely about cooking and baking; gain more knowledge when it comes to cooking and baking; reflect on the good and bad outcomes of cooking and baking; and to improve through our experiences. 

    Club Themes: each month the club will have a theme and members will cook or bake something that corresponds to it. 


  • Debate Club


    Overview:
    Students will meet once a week on Zoom, aiming to empower themselves with the skills of expressing their beliefs clearly, respectfully and concisely, ​public speaking and effective communication in a formal and diplomatic setting, and staying aware of current events in the world.

    Goals:
    • Teach students how to debate correctly and respectively.
    • Encourage students to strengthen their public speaking.
    • Make students aware of hot topics and worldwide issues.
    • Increase students' self confidence and self esteem.
    • Allow to students to engage and use their public speaking skills during this time where we are secluded

    Specifications:
    • Every other week we will have debates among the students in the club, and in the weeks in between we will be teaching students how to debate in a proper manner.
    • Meetings will occur on Zoom after school at 3:30 until 4:15.
    • This new club will allow members of the Model United Nations club to use their debate skills whilst MUN conferences are on hold due to COVID-19.
    • Students will not need aid from administration or any other staff member with the exception of Mr. Barrett Younghans as our supervisor.


  • Math Club


    Purpose:
    • To inspire students in the field of mathematics, and help them improve on their math skills.

    Activities:
    • Main activity: Waterloo Math Competition
    • Mathematician of the Month awards for each grade level
    • Mini competitions between students (Elementary, Middle, and High separate)
    • Fundraising (ex. selling pies on Pie Day through a bake sale when we return to school)
    • Help students who are interested to find math related internship programs
    • Proposing field trips (in the future) related to math
    • Peer help / Students Helping Students

    Meetings:
    • Weekly: 2:15 - 3:00 PM After School on Thursdays


  • Model United Nations Club

    The King Abdullah Academy Model United Nations (MUN) is a club that mirrors the activities of the actual United Nations. Once again, because of Covid restrictions, students are not participating in local conferences with other schools. In place of local conferences, students learn how to prepare position papers and they learn how to argue with other students to make the best points about international issues.

    There are about 30 members ranging from grades 9-12 for boys and girls. Students in grades 11-12 may also allocate activities and hours from the MUN Club toward the IB Diploma Program Core, Creativity-Action-Service (DP C-A-S).

    Meetings occur during lunchtime on Thursdays. Although still in the planning phase, the MUN Club will likely conduct a virtual MUN Conference in the Spring.

    Mr. Tony Sarver tsarver@kaa-herndon.com is the sponsor for MUN. Mr. John Morrissey jmorrissey@kaa-herndon.com is the co-sponsor.


  • National Honor Society (Prince Bander Bin Sultan Chapter)


    Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Chapter of The National Honor Society (NHS)

    The National Honor Society is a nationwide organization that promotes recognition for students who reflect outstanding accomplishments during their high school career. Our NHS chapter at King Abdullah Academy is The Prince Bandar Bin Sultan is a chapter. In order to be a member of the Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Chapter of the NHS, there are 3 requirements a student must meet:

    • The inductee must be a 2nd semester Junior or a 1st semester senior.
    • The inductee must have a Grade Point Average of 3.5 or higher.
    • The inductee must receive outstanding recommendations from his/her teachers based on character, scholarship, leadership, and service as listed below.

    NHS members pledge to uphold the high purposes of the National Honor Society and volunteer in activities aimed to further the community and mankind.

    Character is the force within each individual that distinguishes that person from others. It defines individuality. Through character people learn self-respect and gain the respect of others. It is force of character that guides people through life and continues to grow steadily. Character is achieved and not received. It is the product of constant action and striving to make the right choice. Developing character also means developing self-control. By demonstrating such qualities as reliability, honesty, and sincerity, we may hope to prove by example that we value character.

    Scholarship means a commitment to learning. A student is willing to spend hours in reading and study, knowing the lasting benefits of a cultivated mind. We should continue to learn even when formal education has ended, for education ends only with life. Knowledge is one great element in life that leads to the highest success, and it can be acquired in only one way- through diligence and effort. Learning furnishes the lamp by which we read the past, and the light that illuminates the future. Candidates have the charge to continually expand their world through the opportunities inherent in scholarship.

    Leadership should exert a wholesome influence on the school. In taking the initiative in class and school activities, the real leader strives to train and aid others to attain the same objective. The price of leadership is sacrifice- the willingness to yield one’s personal interests for the interest of others. A leader has self-confidence and will forward when others hesitate. No matter what power and resources may exist in a country, they are ineffectual without the guidance of a wise leader. Leadership is always needed; thus, to lead is a substantive charge to each our members and to the candidates.

    Service to the community is an essential part of Islam. Service can be described in various ways. In the course of a day many opportunities arise to help others. Willingness to work for the benefit of those in need, without monetary compensation or without recognition is the quality we seek in our membership. We are devoted to the idea of volunteering our time and abilities to the creation of a better tomorrow.

  • Our Minds Matter


    Mission:
    A student led movement to change the school culture around the stigma of mental health.

    Goals:
    • Host advisory once a month. Student led advisory sessions that addresses important mental health issues.
    • Sponsor public speakers that specialize in mental health to host workshop and seminars on mental health.
    • Host several schoolwide events to promote mental health

    Activities:
    • Painting distressing activity – afterschool event
    • 1 day of color donation, wear a colored t-shirt (will specify the color to represent a specific cause) over the uniform
    • Afterschool- workshop event
    • Speakers
    • Host end of school activity circulating around mental health 


  • Project Humanity


    Project Humanity is a global awareness and charity club which aims to provide awareness to the school on topics of global importance and provide aid to people in crisis areas around the world. Project Humanity seeks to use Humanitarian Principles to tackle world challenges. Students gain shared and individual experiences that are focused on positively impacting issues of global significance.

    Topics Include Areas of Global Concern:
    • World Hunger
    • Refugee Crises
    • Peacebuilding
    • Water Scarcity
    • Biodiversity & Deforestation
    • Climate Change
    • The Digital Divide
    • Habitat for Humanity
    • Homeless & Those in Need
    • Healthcare & Access to Healthcare

    Currently there are about 30 members ranging from grades 9-12 Boys & Girls. Meetings occur during school on Fridays. Grades 11-12 may also allocate activities and hours from the Project Humanity Club toward IB Diploma Program Core, Creativity-Action-Service (DP C-A-S).

    Ms. Jalaika Hasan, jkhasan@kaa-herndon.com, is the sponsor for Project Humanity.

  • Safety and First Aid Club


    Mission Statement:
    Our mission is to promote safety and first aid education in a healthy and secure environment. We plan to provide resources on certain aspects of these topics and ensure every student can take away some valuable information. Our club will prepare students to be ready for any emergency situations or inconveniences.                                       
    Overview:
    We are looking to start a club to educate our classmates on the importance of safety training. In our daily lives, we never know the obstacles thrown our way, so we want to ensure preparedness within our classmates. We plan to host all of our meetings online to discuss topics like fire safety, CPR training, and giving back to our red crescent members. Each month will represent a new topic that will educate our classmates on important topics.

    Goals:
    • Educate the students in King Abdullah Academy about safety and first aid
    • To spread awareness
    • Follow the Red Cross Club Constitution 
    • Ensure that all club members feel safe and comfortable during club meetings
    • We will host an event for the topic of the month


  • Social Justice Conversations


    Aim of the club:
    Provide students with a safe space to learn about and discuss issues of social justice. And to have a better overall understanding and insight of specific social justice issues and their effect on society overall.

    Objectives:
    Allow students to consider/ grasp a better understanding of:
    • What social justice is
    • Causes of social justice issues
    • How these issues affect society and individuals
    • Manifestations of social justice issues outside and within our school
    • What role they play as educated individuals, Muslims, global citizens and young people
    • The importance of social justice initiatives, NGO’s and crises organizations in the community 
    • Possible ways to aid in providing solutions to these issues


  • Student Government Association (SGA Girls & Boys) Club


    SGA club officers are elected by their peers through yearly elections for students in grades 6th through 12th. Four officers from every grade level are elected as well as executive officers to represent the whole student body at King Abdullah Academy. SGA officers are representatives and advocates for their peers, and they aim to foster a spirit of cooperation and sense of community among students, faculty, staff, and other community residents. SGA officers coordinate and regulate student activities; maintain a high standard for the school by upholding high standards of personal conduct; and develop good citizens through practical experiences. SGA officers conduct various find raising activities to promote school spirit and plan school spirit week.

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