So working as a New York City public school teacher in a pretty tough part of Brooklyn, Stephen Haft was moved to make a difference in a system that seemed really stacked to make that almost impossible.
And what started as an act of love and devotion to his students led to some really profound revelation, but also quite literally led to the demise of his mental health, his relationships, and nearly his life.
Forced to step away after what he describes as a breakdown, Steven had to completely refigure how to keep serving these kids who he loved so much, but in a very different way.
It took a number of years to find its new form, but slowly and painstakingly still waters in a storm.
A one room free school serving mostly spanish speaking kids of immigrants in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was born.
Their one rule, everybody listens to everybody.
What started as a project to re engage kids, reconnect them to their voices, and cultivate a passion for learning and writing.
It ended up growing into something that is now so much bigger, so much deeper, and so much more profound.
He shares this beautiful story and an incredible five year project that he has all the kids working on in his new book, Kid Quixote.
And in today's conversation, we dive deep into this really rich and powerful journey.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.
My dad used to say that every person is a special case.
Don't look at people as part of a category of person.
Each person is a special case.
Each person has a story.
And if you start to think in generalities about types of people, then you're being very unfair to the individuals, and you're missing your opportunity to know someone, to really know someone.
So there's politics in that, too, that every single life matters, every single story matters.
And anything that derails us from that goal of understanding is politically dangerous.
It's something that allows people to ultimately be dismissed, or in the worst case scenario, like is happening now in our country, to be scapegoated, to be blamed for whatever anger or disappointment people might be feeling in their lives.