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 12 items.

  • DECA Club

    Mission Statement: 
    DECA strives to prepare high school students for careers in finance, marketing, management, and hospitality through competitions, group activities, and independent performance. 
     
     
    Advisor: Dr. Shawn Ratcliff 

    Meetings: Wednesdays from 12:45- 1:15 

    Proposed Activities: 
    • Classroom challenges to encourage students to interact with their classmates through international contests on varying topics such as ethics, business, production, and more. 
    • Competitive events to receive awards and learn from other DECA students outside of KAA. Students can participate individually or with a group or partner in their choice of over a dozen events. 
    • Educational conferences are held locally and regionally to provide students with unique business opportunities.  
    Requirements: 
    After the KAA chapter has been approved and processed by DECA, students who wish to become members must pay a fee to participate in the activities listed above. Resources will also be provided by DECA to assist the students and the advisors and competitions will be chosen and prepared for in club hours.


  • Islamic Club

    The club focuses on learning, practicing, and reviewing Islamic morals and values through fun interactive activities. It helps strengthen the bond of KAA’s Muslim community. A club like ours is essential for portraying an accurate image of our religion to Muslim minorities.
    This club will allow students to gain more knowledge about their beautiful religion and engage in many activities like:  
    1. Designing a slide with a hadith, duaa, or a verse from the Quran and displaying it on the screens in the halls.
    2. Designing posters with hadiths, duaa, or a verse from the Quran, then print them and put them in every LC. 
    3. Promote good manners and behavior along with preventing bullying. 
    4. Discuss different Islamic matters, for example, how to encourage students to pray. 
    5. Raise money in every LC to buy Ramadan decorations and decorate the LC‘s and the school 
    6.  Volunteer in school by helping students with praying, saying duaa’s before tests, and help students who are in need, etc.
    Part of our mission statement of the school is it “Excel academically while maintaining the values of Islam.” 
    Volunteer in mosques to deliver iftar, teach children different stories in Islamic history, etc. 

    This is what we are looking forward to doing in this club so far. Once we have members in the club, we will discuss more ways to portray our Islamic values in school. It is important to spread Islamic values as we are in an Islamic school. Most importantly, creating this club will keep students’ Iman’s flourishing and will filter out bad habits and bad representation in/from our school and our Muslim community.

    This club will also help with preventing bullying and other types of manners not likable in Islam. We are looking forward to helping our minorities with learning about their Islamic values and beliefs.

  • 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. 


  • 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. In preparation for conferences at local high schools, 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 participate in 3-4 MUN Conferences this year.

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


  • 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 


  • KAA UNICEF Club

    KAA UNICEF Club 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. KAA UNICEF Club 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 KAA UNICEF Club toward IB Diploma Program Core, Creativity-Action-Service (DP C-A-S).

    Ms. Jalaika Hasan, jkhasan@kaa-herndon.com, is the sponsor for KAA UNICEF Club.

  • 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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