Aya Beydoun and Mariam Makki.

DEARBORN — Two Fordson High School seniors won a state contest in Grand Rapids for displaying their Arab American heritage during a broadcast production assignment; and will now be moving forward to a national contest in Boston. 

Aya Beydoun and Mariam Makki submitted their assignment for the Business of Professionals of America (BPA) through the Michael Berry Career Center, after their art teacher, Mr. Aquino, encouraged them to join the competition. 

The BPA is the leading career and technical student organization for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related career fields.

The two students submitted their project under the “News Broadcast Production Team”, one of several categories in the BPA tournament. They filmed themselves sitting at a news desk and introducing various segments throughout the five-minute clip, which incudes interviews and a backdrop at the Arab American National Museum. 

Beydoun and Makki thought it would be appealing to infuse their culture into their assignment, so they connected with ACCESS to book a date to shoot at the Museum. 

That gamble paid off. Beydoun told The Arab American News that the judges in Grand Rapids enjoyed the angle of the project and awarded them first place. 

“I was a little worried of how they would take it,” Beydoun said, fearing the recent wave of Islamophobia. “But the judges wrote in their comments that it was their favorite part of their presentation. We brought brochures on the Arab American museum and they loved how we incorporated our culture in the video.”

The clip also incudes an interview with local artist Daila Elmokabem, a previous BPA competition winner. 

Another segment also reviews inventions inspired by 80s science fiction movies such as “Back to the Future.”

The two students have acquired more than $1,600 in fundraising efforts through various bake sales, selling t-shirts and donations from local businesses to travel to Boston next week to compete in the national contest. 

Both said the project has made them interested in potentially pursuing careers in broadcast journalism.

“I really like the idea of being on camera like that,” Beydoun said. “I feel it’s so important to have a voice coming from one of us. If I can be successful in that field and bring light to so many things that need to be covered, that would mean the world to me, my family and community.” 

Watch their video here:

//youtu.be/72MkUdYhmHc.