The Southwestern Maine Activities Association (SMAA) held their annual Citizenship Banquet at the Italian Heritage Club early in April. Two Deering High School seniors, Khalid Mahamed and Mya Landry, were among students who received Citizenship Awards at the banquet. Learn more about these outstanding students in the following write-up provided by DHS Athletics and Co-Curricular Director Michael Daly:

Mya Landry

Mya Landry is a three-sport student-athlete at Deering. She has excelled as both a student and a varsity athlete at DHS, competing in soccer in the fall, and in indoor and outdoor track and field in the winter and spring. She was team captain of both the soccer and track teams at DHS. For soccer, Mya was awarded the Coaches Player of the Year award for her junior year, and the prestigious Ram Award in her senior year. For track, Mya also won the John Casavola MVP award sophomore year, and as a junior finished second as State Runner Up at the Class A Track & Field State Championship in the high jump, qualifying for the 2024 New England Championships. She also has excelled academically at Deering for four years, and is #3 in her senior class at DHS and carries an A+ GPA.

Outside of sports, Mya is very involved at Deering in all areas and is both a school and senior class leader. She is captain of the state champion DHS Debate Team, and as a debater was state champion in public forum debate in both her junior and senior years. In addition, Mya is part of DHS Student Government and was elected as class president for both her junior and senior years. She also is a member of the National Honor Society, where she was awarded the Harvard Book Award during her junior year. Mya is active in many student clubs and activities at Deering, such as the Trivia Team and CubeSat. Mya is very grateful for all the opportunities Deering and PPS has offered her, and she appreciates all the ways her PPS education has helped her grow as a person, a student-athlete and a leader.

Outside of school, Mya is a referee for Portland youth soccer and works at the Portland Youth Futsal League during the winter. She also works as an official at middle school track meets in the spring.

Mya has committed to attend Yale University next year on a full scholarship from the United States Navy, where she will continue her studies in the field of chemical engineering.

Khalid Mahamed

Khalid Mahamed is a two-sport student-athlete at Deering. He has played on the boys basketball and football teams. As a senior leader, Khalid has been able to showcase his dedication to his teams and shown exemplary leadership skills, team spirit, and sportsmanship and was identified as one of the most impactful teammates/team leaders by both of his head coaches, Coach Wing and Coach Scully, and his Ram teammates. As a student, Khalid has been involved in and led many DHS clubs, such as the Black Student Union, Student Government, Yearbook, National Honor Society, Muslim Student Association and Civil Rights. He also was chosen by peers as the president of the Black Student Union (BSU) in his sophomore year. As a member of Student Government, he and his classmates launched a new Culture Day event, which was an exciting opportunity for students to celebrate culture and ethnicity through a celebration of food, fun and fashion. Khalid also was elected Student Body President in his senior year.

Moreover, Khalid has helped coordinate special events at DHS as a student leader, and organizes and co-presents a monthly guest speaker series with BSU called “Real Black Talk,” where a member of the community speaks with DHS students about challenges they have faced in their lives/careers and offers advice they could give to other youth. Khalid and BSU recently hosted the president of the Maine Celtics, Dajuan Eubanks, for this highly successful speaker series. Khalid is already organizing more guest speakers and a bigger Culture Day event for this spring.

Out of school, Khalid is one of Deering’s most engaged and selfless student citizens and mentors. He has been involved in and a member of the staff at the Portland Boys & Girls Club, serving 375 volunteer hours, and has helped club members connect, play, relax and have fun through sports and activities after school. As a student, Khalid excels in the classroom, carrying a 95 GPA and he is ranked 33rd in his class. He also was recently awarded the prestigious St. Michael’s scholarship for his outstanding leadership and social conscience at DHS. Khalid is taking several college courses at SMCC and plans to study mechanical engineering in college.

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association (SMAA) is composed of seventeen high schools located in Cumberland and York Counties. Current member of the conference are: Biddeford, Bonny Eagle, Cheverus, Deering, Falmouth, Gorham, Kennebunk, Marshwood, Massabesic, Noble, Portland, Sanford, Scarborough, South Portland, Thornton Academy, Westbrook, and Windham. SMAA schools compete in Southern Maine Class A, and conference champions are crowned annually in twenty-eight sports.