- Muslim Interscholastic Tournament
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The Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament (MIST) consists of annual Regional Tournaments for high school students in the United States and Canada that take place in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, DC, Philadelphia, New York City, Houston, Southern California, and Toronto.[1] The winners from each Regional Tournament qualify to complete at the annual National Tournament.
Contents
History
MIST was the brainchild of Shazia Siddiqi, a freshman at the University of Houston who had a vision in 2001 at age 18 to start a tournament combining many aspects of the academic arena, including art, writing, and speech, that would bring high school students together from around the nation to develop leadership, promote communication, and inspire creativity while gaining an understanding of Islam and Muslims. This tournament would empower high school students by giving them a venue to develop self-confidence and professionalism through practicing presentation, public speaking, and problem solving skills, meet and network with diverse peers who share the same talents, interests, and struggles, express their thoughts and ideas through various creative mediums, learn strategies to deal with stereotypes and prejudices, and develop group camaraderie.
In February 2002, Siddiqi and her core team of volunteers who consisted of officers and members of the Muslim Students' Association at the University of Houston and alumni of the Muslim Students' Association at the University of Texas, Austin, implemented the first MIST with 118 students from Houston, Austin, and Dallas. Due to its success, other activists from around the United States expressed interested in bringing MIST to their cities. In 2003, MIST Regionals were held in both Houston and the Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC region. MIST next expanded to Atlanta and Boston in 2004, New York in 2006, and Detroit and Toronto in 2008. In 2010, a new region was founded in Irvine, California. MIST's first National Tournament was held in Houston in 2006 and consisted of students who were ranked among the top five winners from each Regional Tournament. National tournaments have also been held in Washington DC and Atlanta. MIST currently has over two thousand high school participants across North America.[1]
Tournament
The tournament lasts two-three days, ending with the Awards Ceremony on the final night. MIST currently features 31 different competitions. The competitions consist of six different categories.[2]
Category I: Arts 2D Art 3D Art Digital Art Fashion Design Photography Web Design
Category II: Knowledge and Quran Knowledge Test 1 Knowledge Test 2 Knowledge Test 3 Knowledge Test 4 Brothers Tajweed Sisters Tajweed Brothers Memorization Sisters Memorization Tafseer Test
Category III: Writing and Oratory Poetry Prepared Essay Extemporaneous Essay Prepared Oratory Extemporaneous Speaking Short Fiction Children’s Book
Category IV: Bracket Competitions Debate Math Olympics Islamic Scholastic Bowl
Category V: Group Projects Short Film Nasheed/Rap Improv Business Plan Community Service Newsletter Research Project Science Fair Scrapbook
Basketball: Brothers Basketball Sisters Basketball
In addition to competitions, the tournament features an educational program full of workshops and activities. Both the competitions and workshops concentrate on the year’s theme, which is selected for timeliness and importance. For example, in 2008, the theme was titled “Diversity: Piecing Together a Vibrant Community.”
Themes
- 2008 - “Diversity: Piecing Together a Vibrant Community.”
- 2009 - "Hometown Heroes"
- 2010 - Modesty
- 2011 - Loyalty - The Key to Faith and Citizenship
See also
References
External Links
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