Twenty-first Star Chapter NSDAR Recognizes History Scholars

At its 2022 American History Luncheon on February tenth, the Twenty-first Star Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was pleased to honor students of Maine East, Maine South, and Maine West High Schools as their Outstanding American History Scholars and DAR Good Citizens.

Honorariums were also presented to the Social Science and Social Studies Departments of the participating schools.

Up to 15 juniors at each high school were selected last May for their outstanding work in American History. From this group, each school announced the top student. To receive the American History Scholar Award, these students needed to be selected by their respective departments for high achievement in history and demonstrate qualities of leadership, service, dependability, and patriotism.

Each winner was introduced by American History Chairwoman Suzanne Dahm. The American History Scholars were presented with a certificate of award for Outstanding Work in American History, a special medal, and a 21st Star Flag pin. The students will also receive monetary awards at an honor ceremony to be held in the spring at their schools.

Maine East High School had two Outstanding American History Scholars selected this year. It is an impressive reflection of the quality of their students that the faculty could not narrow their choice down to one student.

Dalal Hassane has the distinction of being selected as the Maine East award recipient for both the Outstanding American History Scholars and DAR Good Citizens award this year. Her academic achievements include National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Schuler Scholar, and Kurdish Professional Census Essay Contest winner. She is also a member of the Gifted Lyceum Program. Dalal loves to write poetry and prose about the need for Kurdish rights. Her love of written expression is utilized by being the Editor-in-Chief of The Pioneer school newspaper. She is president of the Feminist Club and a member of Students Against Racism. Dalal volunteers as a Syrian Community Network tutor. She will be attending Harvard University to study comparative literature along with ethnicity and migration rights.

Maryam Khona is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor Society at Maine East. She received a National Spanish Exam Award for placing in the upper percentile of the competition. Maryam Is the president of the Maine East Assyrian Club and is the administrator for the Instagram page The Assyrian Report. She will be attending Arizona State University in the fall with a Pre-Med/Biology major and a minor in Spanish.

At Maine South, the Peggy Ross American History Scholar is Jake Snyder. Jake is a member of the National Honor Society and the French National Honor Society. He belongs to the Book Club, Key Club, French Club and is active in the Peer Tutoring Club. Jake is involved in contributing to Southwords, Maine South's student run newspaper. He is a member of the Maine South Varsity Tennis Team. His volunteer work includes helping at the Saint Paul of the Cross Food Pantry.

Maine West's winner, Ryan Weiler, is an AP U.S. History student who is highly praised for his intellectual promise, inquisitiveness, and shared observations by Maine West faculty members. His written assignments consistently place at the top of his class and his ability to understand challenging content impresses his teachers. He is a member of Pi Sigma Pi, the Social Science Honors Society and the National English Honors Society. Ryan is a member of the Model United Nations, German Club and Philosophy Club. Tennis is a sport that he greatly enjoys and excels at.