Dr. Glenn Maleyko

#students1stDbnSchs-Press Release #1-District Strongly Disagrees With Article That Stereotypes Community

Press Release #01/2018-19
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 2018
Contact: David Mustonen, Communications Director
(313) 827-3006 MustonD@dearbornschools.org
https://communications.dearbornschools.org/

District Strongly Disagrees With Article That Stereotypes Community

A recent article published on a national website unfairly and wrongly stereotyped the Yemeni community, specifically young girls and women. This type of journalism only reinforces prejudice beliefs and does not accurately tell the complete story of Yemeni-Americans living in Dearborn.

Several Dearborn Public Schools staff members were interviewed for this story under a false pretense. Dearborn Public Schools did not facilitate the interviews of students or community members. The District was led to believe the story was going to be about how the district meets the academic and social needs of immigrant, newcomer, and refugee students. In an email to a staff member the reporter wrote the following-

“I’m currently working on a story about Dearborn and its community, and how the city — specifically the school system — is helping immigrants, refugees, and citizens alike, succeed.”

As a result of this false pretense for the story, comments made by staff members were taken out of context giving a very different meaning to the original thought.

The Dearborn Public Schools apologies to anyone who may have been offended by these comments and would like to reassure the students, parents, and all members of the Yemeni community that the District values the success and accomplishments of Yemeni-Americans in our community and their many contributions to the success of the Dearborn Public Schools. They are a valued partner in providing all students with a meaningful educational experience.

“I was shocked by the headline and overall tone of the article. I spent almost 30 minutes talking with the reporter on how the district meets the educational needs of students and the success we have been having at all grade levels but none of that information was part of the story”, said 23 year veteran of the Dearborn Public Schools and now Superintendent Dr. Glenn Maleyko.

Contrary to the image the article attempted to portray, the Dearborn Public Schools highly values and respects the contributions of Yemeni-American women in the community. These women have not only been successful as professionals in the public school system, hospitals, courtrooms, and corporations but they also continue to give back to their community by serving as leaders, mentors, and role models. Many are making a national and global impact in the work that they do. Our district and the Yemeni community is proudly represented in California, Washington DC, Dubai, New York, Florida and right here in Dearborn. (Listed at the end of this press release are some specific examples of those female professionals that are contributing to society, our community and our school district.)

Superintendent Maleyko, who spent 12 years working at Salina Intermediate School as a teacher and principal went on to say, “ I truly embraced, loved and cherished my time at Salina because families were so welcoming, respectful, and provided a high level of support for the school and their children”.

Salina Intermediate is located in a Dearborn neighborhood with a high population of Yemeni-Americans.

“It was a very rewarding and enriching experience for me as I developed some outstanding relationships and friendships in the Salina community with many that I consider to be like family. Together with our staff, parents, and community we worked in positive collaboration to provide a high level of education for the students that we served in order to support their success in society,” he went on to say.

The Dearborn Public Schools values and celebrates the rich diversity that exist in our city. The District continually works to bring understanding of cultures, traditions, and customs to all of our students and staff members. The goal of the Dearborn Public Schools is to provide the very best education to all 21,000 students and to always do that work with the clear vision of Student First.

Successful women in the Yemeni community
(These names are being included with their permission; we understand there are many more outstanding women in the community)

• Amal Abdulla – Assistant Principal, Dearborn Public Schools
• Esmahan Abdulla- Information Technology Executive
• Hana Abdulla- Solutions Architect and Entrepreneur
• Mariam Abdulla- English Language Development Specialist, Dearborn Public Schools
• Nora Abdulla- Electrical Engineer
• Sahar Abdullah- Registered Nurse, B.S. in Nursing and CDIS for DMC Medical Center
• Intissar Abdulla Ahmed- Third Grade ELS Teacher.
• Amria Ahmed- Attorney
• Eman Ahmed- Title I Resource Teacher, Dearborn Public Schools
• Mursala Ahmed- Pharmacist
• Bushra Alawie- Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Rose Aldubaily – Director of English Language Learners and Compensatory Education, Dearborn Public Schools
• Saba Altairi- Registered Nurse
• Samah Altairi- Clinical Psychologist
• Balqis Elhaddi- Strategic Advisor to the Chief Operating Officer at University of Michigan Medical Group Ann Arbor
• Royda Elmathil- Physician Assistant
• Ramzyeh Kaid- Doctor of Medicine (MD)
• Maali Luqman- Associate Dean, Wayne County Community College
• Widad Luqman- Saline Area Schools Educator/ Project Lead the Way Teacher and a former Dearborn Schools Employee
• Arrwa Mogalli – Instructional Coach, Dearborn Public Schools
• Mariam Mohamed – Principal Supervisor of Business Analytics at DTE Energy
• Anisa Sahoubah – ACCESS Youth and Education Director
• Kifayah Shami- Family Nurse Practitioner

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