Each year the Simon Fraser Institute ranks Ontario schools based on their performance on the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) standardized tests for reading, writing and math. Ottawa's Ahlul Bayt Islamic School came in as the second best elementary school in Ottawa and among the top 100 in the province for its Grade 3 and Grade 6 scores from 2012 to 2013. This comes as no surprise to Ahlul Bayt's principal Leila Rahal. “Every year we receive very good results but the Institute only ranks schools that have classes of over 15 students. We don't always have that,” she explained. Mrs. Rahal credits the school's success to strictly following the Canadian curriculum and having the majority of its teachers being graduates of Ontario Teachers' Colleges.

I am a product of youth programs. Since high school, I've been attracted to being involved in anything that would give me an opportunity to network, learn, and grow. It is where I spent many hours during lunch and many more after school. Now I have the privilege of working with a youth program that mirrors the experiences I had in high school.

Since the winter of 2012, I have worked for Youth Futures: a 7-month long bilingual program that provides advanced leadership training, volunteer opportunities, a variety of employment positions, and a post-secondary experience. The goal of the program is to provide skills, information, and support for success in post-secondary education and the work place for high school students from low-income families and communities.

Egyptian singer Hamza Namira, who is considered to be the unofficial Artist of the Egyptian Revolution during which he was a fixture in Tahrir Square, performed in Ottawa on Sunday, October 27th to a packed audience. Namira was in Ottawa as part of his first-ever Canadian tour, which is a fundraiser for Islamic Relief Canada's projects in Egypt. PeaceMidan, a non-profit organization which aims to build on the momentum of the Arab Spring in order to foster civic engagement and social entrepreneurship in Arab countries, organized Namira's visit. “Hamza Namira is the voice of hope, not only in Egypt but in the Middle East region,” explained Mohamed Abouelsaoud, co-founder and vice-president of PeaceMidan.

“I HATED English, which makes the whole poetry thing a surprise even for myself,” shared Ali Awada about his unlikely success as a rising star in Ottawa's Spoken Word scene. Ali, 23, grew up in Detroit, the son of Lebanese parents who decided to move to Canada when he was 10.  Ali broke onto the scene at Capital Slam in December 2012. He placed second in his first ever competition, and then won first place the next week. Ali took the stage name ”˜Ali Islam' and “the rest is history.” He has performed at Muslim community events from high school Eid Dinners to the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) Eid Festival, and recently opened for YouTube sensation FouseyTube in Montreal during his Canadian tour. You will find Ali performing solo or in the hip hop group House of Halaal with Jae “Deen” Asare.

A recent conversation with Dr. Aliaa Dakroury left my neurons firing in all directions, trying to forge the synaptic connections that would allow my brain to process the contributions of this exuberant dynamo of a woman.

It was twilight, when we long to draw the curtains and lull ourselves into an evening peace but two minutes into the conversation my heart was pumping with the same adrenalin that pulsed through her veins as she proclaimed the need for Muslim women in Canada to be visible and audible ambassadors of their faith.

Dr. Dakroury cannot be said to be tentative in her opinions. To her credit, she has passionately held convictions on the myriad roles that Muslim women should play in North America, or anywhere, for that matter.

You may not know her name but you have probably seen her.

In 2011, Rasha Al-Katta's smiling face was visible across the city as part of the United Way's campaign to raise awareness about the organization. Volunteers like Ms. Al-Katta were asked to pose for the posters instead of models.

“I thought it would be fun. I didn't even know that it would be splattered everywhere. I thought it would just be in the newspaper but then people started texting me ”˜Rasha we saw your poster in Rideau or at Place D'Orleans!'. It was pretty exciting,” Ms. Al-Katta shared.

Yaman Marwah and Rama Imadi are the founders of the Syrian Association of Ottawa (SAO) which began as a regular university-based students' cultural association.

Mr. Marwah, SAO's President, is a 4th year student in Law and Economics at Carleton University. Ms. Imadi, SAO's Vice-President, is a 4th year student in Linguistics at the University of Ottawa. Both were galvanized by the March 2011 revolution in Syria to take action to raise awareness about the struggle of Syria's people against the regime.

Haneen Alhassoun recently won second place this month at the Ottawa Youth Poetry Slam. At 16, the Brookfield High School student is both humbled and excited about her win as she has been working towards it for the past two and a half years.

Berak Hussain discovered her passion for counselling back when she was a student at Gloucester High School.

Canada reluctantly bade farewell to a loving daughter with sorrow, admiration, respect and warmth.

In a poignant memorial ceremony on June 11, the country and the Muslim community said good-bye to Lieutenant-Commander Wafa Dabbagh after she succumbed to her long battle with cancer.

Wafa made history when she joined the Canadian armed forces in 1996 wearing the hijab. Officers were baffled by why a practicing Muslim woman wanted to join, and wondered how her recruitment would work out. She won that battle easily -- everyone she met loved her friendliness. They not only accepted her, they embraced her.