In recognition of National Arab American Heritage Month in April, this week’s Middle School Assembly featured a presentation by Dr. Ferdouse Sartawi P ’32, ’34, ’36, who is of Palestinian descent and grew up in Dubai. “The importance of today’s event is to share our culture with the school community,” she said. Students learned that there are 22 Arab countries in the Middle East, excluding Iran and Israel, whose primary language is Arabic and predominant religion is Islam, practiced by Muslims. Dr. Sartawi also noted common words such as “algorithm,” “algebra,” and “sugar” that are derived from Arabic, and she highlighted Arab scholars from the 8th to 14th centuries who made major contributions in the areas of mathematics, medicine, optics, and cartography. The assembly concluded with a spirited trivia contest among the MS grades on the facts presented (congrats on the win, Grade 8!). We’re grateful to Dr. Sartawi and other parent volunteers for assisting with this event!