Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter and a novelist. She was born to a Palestinian father and American mother. In our English classes, we read many of her poems and essays. One of the essays that we really had an interesting discussion about was called "Letter To Any Would-Be Terrorists."

On February 13, 2009 Ms. Nye came to Science Leadership Academy and had lunch with twenty students. At lunch she shared her experiences and heard from students about their experience at SLA. After the lunch, Ms. Nye did a reading for the entire 10th grade class. The very first thing she told us, was that the only holiday she enjoyed was Valentine's Day because it creates opportunities for all kinds of intimacy (not just romantic). She told us about how her family was very different. She explained to us that her father would have her and her siblings go through newspapers and find errors as a child. A poem that stood out in the reading was about her son. The poem made us all realize that even a four year-old can recite poetry. What was different about Ms. Nye, was that she was open with us in a unique way. It was a pleasure to meet her.

Thanks to Al Bustan Seeds of Culture for making this experience possible, the Home and School Association for providing funding for lunch and Aya’s Café for providing such tasty Middle Eastern food.

Photos by Ayanna Glover for Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture