PVS's 'Deen Squad' takes home 21 awards at MIST

High school students from the states of Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri all gathered at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee for the annual "Muslim Inter-Scholastic Tournament" Nashville competition, and Pleasant View School's very own "Deen Squad" won in many categories.

MIST Nashville is one of the 15 regions of North America that holds this competition. The high school students all compete and demonstrate their talented abilities in order to win and reach Nationals which will be held in Detroit, Michigan this year.

MIST is a 3-day-interactive program that includes workshops and competitions that serves the purpose of strengthening leadership and communication skills and developing a better understanding of Islam.

This year's theme was "The Challenge of Beauty: Striving for Perfection in an Imperfect World." The tournament holds a total of 31 completions including Quran recitation, basketball, spoken word, business venture, and more.

This year PVS students successfully ended the weekend with a total of 21 awards.

Wissal Boudaoud placed third in Knowledge Test Two and Sabriyya Shaw placed first in Knowledge Test Four.

Deenat Yusuf placed first in Quran Level Four. Ibihal Malley placed second in Quran Level Four. Hamza Alsaadi placed third in Quran Level One. Khadijah Darboe placed fourth in Quran Level Two. Roiha Iqbal placed third in Quran Level Three. Alhusain Hadidi placed fourth Quran Level Two.

Taqwa Ayesh placed fourth in 3D Art.

Ayah Mohammad placed first in Short Fiction and Roiha Iqbal placed fourth.

Summer Hussain placed second in Poetry and Alhusain Hadid placed fourth.

Malika Kounkourou placed fourth in Spoken Word.

Taw Ayesh placed fourth in Prepared Essay.

Zari Muhammad placed third in Oratory.

"Deen Squad" placed second in Social Media, fourth in Business Venture, first in Community Service, first in Science Fair and second in Soccer.

The first day of the competition began with the short film submissions. Competitors then cheered their teams on with team chants at the basketball courts and soccer fields.

The second day consisted of most of the competitions. Competitors woke up early to pray Fajr and prepare for a very competitive day.

Competitors scattered to competitions and workshops of the day when they reached Vanderbilt University.

Quran Recitation and 2D, 3D Art were the first competitions of the day. The other competitions included Improv, MIST Bowl, Math Olympics, Knowledge Test, Community Service, Business Venture, Debate, Nasheed/Rap, Short film, and Science Fair.

Day three, the most anticipated day of the competition, had poetry, spoken word, and oratory pieces. Finals for MIST Bowl, Math Olympics, and other competitions also took place.

After competitors anxiously attended and gathered for the award ceremony. The chants filled the room with excitement.

Each winner was announced in order of competition. All teams cheered on all competitors and the weekend tournament finally came to an end.