“Treat all people-even the most unsightly beetles-as though they were angels sent from heaven.”
― Mawi Asgedom
Mawi Asgedom will be the keynote speaker for our opening session at the 2012 Florida Literacy Conference. As a child, Mawi fled civil war in Ethiopia and survived a Sudanese refugee camp for three years. After being resettled in the United States, he overcame poverty, language barriers and personal tragedy to graduate from Harvard University, where he gave the Commencement address to an audience of 30,000. Mawi will describe his own mother’s struggle to learn English and rejuvenate attendees with his humorous and inspiring stories of the immigrant experience and the pivotal role of community organizations.
After the opening general session, Mawi will host a free session for school counselors called “Guidance Counselors as Heroes.” Mawi will share proven methods for helping students of all backgrounds excel. He will also introduce the new leadership skills elective course Mawi Learning is launching with Florida Virtual School on June 1, 2012. And of course, Mawi will share the story of how his own guidance counselor inspired him to attend Harvard and even helped him move in when his parents could not. Prepare to be inspired. Register Here.
If you want to start bringing Mawi into your classroom, watch his 12 minute video on an English Language Learner’s Guide to Success.
For more information about Mawi, view his Oprah interview in the first three minutes of this video.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/18487420]
