As a required summer reading project, students at the school read Mawi Asgedom’s book, “Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy’s Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard.”
Mawi encouraged students at Lakeview to always strive to do their best, to set goals, “even if you think you can’t make them, because you’ll have fun along the way.”
He told them, “all of you are here, you have opportunities, how are you going to take advantage of them, how are you going to make the world a better place.”
Mawi encouraged parents and educators to challenge their youth, “to ask them, ‘Are you improving, are you growing, are you making a difference in your community, how can we support you, how can we help you?'”
Mawi has written four books that are used in thousands of classrooms across North America and has spoken to more than 500,000 students and educators.
A nationally recognized youth educator, Mawi is the founder of Mental Karate, a training organization that challenges youth to create their own inspiring journeys.
As a child, he fled civil war in Ethiopia and survived a Sudanese refugee camp for three years. After being resettled in the U.S., Mawi overcame welfare, language barriers and personal tragedy to graduate from Harvard University.
Since 1999, Mawi has dedicated himself to uplifting America’s teenagers.
He is the host of a teen series on public broadcasting in Chicago.
