At The New School we are working on a project called Making the World a Better Place.  It is school wide and year long. Making the World a Better Place began with reading books about people or groups who have contributed to the well being of people and/or the environment.  As we do this we begin to build a chart which classifies the information into who, when, where, vision and actions. Throughout the course of the year we will invite Mystery Guests. After initial guessing, the guest confirms or informs the school about what they have come to share followed by and open-ended question period at the end.  Mystery Guests provide context for our Social Studies, Science and Art.

Our first mystery guest of the year was Al-Amin Muhammad on Monday, September 24. The children came close to guessing why Al-Amin was at our school, but none of us could predict how powerful his visit would be. Al-Amin shared with us how he was homeless for 10 years and that ONE person changed his life by reaching out to him.  This inspired Al-Amin to start We Rise Above the Streets and Sandwich Saturdays (#ifweeattheyeat). His organization provides sandwiches for the homeless every Saturday in rain or shine. Al-Amin shared how an inspirational message tucked into the sandwich bag can change a person’s life. Al-Amin’s group also collects and distributes clean socks and shoes, coats and personal items as the need arises. Right now he is collecting clothes for the upcoming winter. “When people ask why I do this work I look at the smiles on the faces of my friends. We have built a relationship and we have met our mark when we can make things a little easier on them. The beautiful smiles are what keeps us out here serving and showing love to our friends.” Before Al-Amin left he asked all the children to go home and hug their parents and thank them for providing a roof over their head and food to eat. We have a lot to be grateful for.