Winners of 2025 Ms. Sue Memorial Writing Competition Announced

The winners of the Second Ms. Sue Memorial Writing Competition were announced on Thursday, October 30. AHSS is proud of each of the 232 total students from fifth grade to twelfth grade who competed in the competition in either Arabic writing, English writing, or both. 

“This writing competition was started last year in the late Ms. Sue’s memory, and thankfully we have continued it as well this year,” said Ustaz Tarek Dahdah, AHSS Director at the awards ceremony.

The Ms. Sue Memorial Writing Competition honors our school’s co-founder and director, the late Ms. Sue Dahdah. Ms. Sue founded AHSS with Ustaz Farid Dahdah in 1980. Up until she passed away in the Fall of 2023, Ms. Sue was director of AHSS and an English teacher at the school. Ms. Sue was a passionate reader and writer, and the writing contest honors her memory as someone who helped thousands of students learn and become stronger writers over the years. 

“Most good writers are usually readers. They take ideas and learn from other sources, from history, from all kinds of different authors. The more we read the better we will be able to write. Congratulations to all of you,” Ustaz Tarek said at the awards ceremony. 

The contest was split into four age groups. 5th/6th graders, 7th/8th, 9th/10th, 11th/12th in both Arabic and English competitions. There were 332 total entries. 123 of the entries were in Arabic and 209 of them were in English. 

Each entry was judged by three different teachers at AHSS and given a score. The scores were then averaged together to determine the winners. The judges did not know which student wrote each entry. Thank you to the Arabic Competition judges: Ms. Omaya, Ms. Hend, Ms. Ala’a, Ms. Lara, Ms. Dua’a and Ms. Heba. Thank you to the English Competition judges: Ms. Lama, Ms. Sally, Ms. Amy, Ms. Maram, Ms. Meryem, Ms. Julia, Mr. Refad, and Mr. Jeff. 

Thank you to Ustaz Tarek, Ustaz Nicola, and Ms. Alia for overseeing the competition. A special thank you as well to Mr. James who was instrumental in organizing the contest. A special thank you as well goes to Ms. Agia, who spent hours helping prepare the judging packets for the teachers and preparing the certificates for the winners. 

Congratulations to the winners of the 2025 Ms. Sue Memorial Writing Competition:

Arabic 5th and 6th Grades:

1. Yazan ElMughrabi, 6A
2. Salma Ababneh, 5B
3. Basel AlHanbali, 5A
4. AlMuntaser AlKhatib, 6B

English 5th and 6th Grades:

1. Sai Prasanna, 5B
2. Hagop Farajian, 5A
3. Leyan Al-Osta, 6B
4. Sophie Al-Saoudi, 5B

Arabic 7th and 8th Grades:

1. Reema Farraieh, 8B
2. Saba AlAdily, 8B
3. Layan AlKhatib, 7B
4. Layan Ismail, 7B

English 7th and 8th Grades:

1. Maria Al Kurdi, 8B
2. Haya Al Kurdi, 8B
3. Abdulaziz Musallam, 7B
4. Kareem AlHaj, 8B

Arabic 9th and 10th Grades:

1. Tamim Mohammad, 10A
2. Ameer Othman, 9B
3. Talal AlAdwan, 10A
4. Alia Al Heyasat, 9A

English 9th and 10th Grades:

1. Rakan AlAlami, 9A
2. Leen Al-Obaidi, 9A
3. Taym Hamad, 9A
4. Rehana Hewage, 10A

Arabic 11th and 12th Grades:

1. Hashem Al Jawarneh, 12B
2. Joud Maiteh, 11C
3. Saif AlNawafleh, 12A
4. Faris Balleh, 12A

English 11th and 12 Grades:

1. Farah Al Bitar, 12A
2. Faisal Ismail, 11C
3. Sadeel Salameh, 11A
4. Lamis AlSabbagh, 11B