Mr. Wright's Law of Love
No one falls asleep in Jeffrey Wright's high school physics class. Exploding pumpkins, hovercrafts and an experiment involving a bed of nails, a cinder block and a sledgehammer, are some of the crazy stunts that keep the students enthralled. But it is a simple lecture - one without props or fireballs - that makes the greatest impression on his students each year. The talk is about Mr. Wright's exp... posted on Mar 09 2013, 7,541 reads

An Astounding Act of High School Sportsmanship
A special needs student from a Texas high school, Mitchell Marcus, scored a basket in the final game of the season after a player from the opposing team gave up the ball. Mitchell is the team manager for the Coronado Thunderbirds and an avid basketball fan. So with 90 seconds left in the last game of the season, Coach Peter Morales put Marcus into the game. "Mitchell's a great shot," his mother A... posted on Mar 03 2013, 20,690 reads

A Pep Talk From Kid President To You
The effervescent "Kid President" (AKA Robbie Novak) serves-up a half-time pep talk guaranteed to light your fire. He chides us for being boring and encourages us to "take the path that leads to awesome." We have work to do, he says, "and we can cry about it or we can dance about it... It is everybody's duty to give the world a reason to dance."... posted on Feb 26 2013, 4,533 reads

A Family Living (And Thriving) Without Money
"A Berlin family of three has been living on practically nothing but love and the goodwill of others for more than two years and counting --not as a victims of the rough economy, but as activists who are on a money strike to protest what they call our "excess-consumption society.""... posted on Feb 23 2013, 18,008 reads

The Mahatma and the Poet
"Between 1915 and 1941, Mahatma Gandhi -- who was assassinated 65 years ago -- exchanged a series of letters with Indian poet, philosopher, and celebrated creative spirit Rabindranth Tagore, debating such subjects as truth, freedom, democracy, courage, education, and the future of humanity as India struggled for its independence...These letters are unique in that they were private in nature but p... posted on Feb 07 2013, 14,674 reads

Sarah Lahey's Hunt for Happiness
Sara Lahey's hunt for happiness began at age 5, sitting alone in a closet, determined to prevent any other child from experiencing the pain that she was feeling at that moment. By age 14, Lahey realized that when things were toughest for her, it was by helping other people that she felt the best -- those were the few, precious moments when she truly felt happy. Listen to Lahey's TEDx talk to find ... posted on Feb 05 2013, 6,185 reads

Journeys for Good
"A little more than three years ago, Steve and Joanie Wynn were looking to get out of a rut. Their video production company, Bayside Entertainment, was in a slump along with the rest of the economy. So when Joanie Wynn stumbled upon Roadmonkey Adventure Philanthropy, a fledgling business started by a former New York Times war correspondent, she thought, here's a chance to do something different --... posted on Feb 03 2013, 5,578 reads

Following Taya: No Ordinary Life
"Taya Doro Mitchell is unusual. At 74, she left East Oakland and moved to a small agricultural community on the Rio Grande in New Mexico. Not knowing anyone there didn't seem to worry her. It wasn't that she was tired of decorating the fresh bullet holes in her windows from the nighttime activities in East Oakland. She had lived there a long time and wasn't afraid -- even coming home late at night... posted on Jan 27 2013, 5,663 reads

Far From The Tree
How do you find meaning in difficulty? This video trailer for the book, "Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity," by Andrew Solomon, shows some poignant vignettes of interviews with parents and children who were born "different." Solomon learns that although individual differences can be isolating, the fact of difference is universal. His other great discovery is joy - m... posted on Jan 21 2013, 4,635 reads

My Daughter's Noble Sacrifice
"My wife called,"How long will you be with that newspaper? Will you come here and make your darling daughter eat her food?" I tossed the paper away and rushed to the scene. My only daughter Sindu looked frightened. Tears were welling up in her eyes. In front of her was a bowl filled to its brim with curd rice. Sindu is a nice child, quite intelligent for her age. She has just turned eight. She pa... posted on Jan 15 2013, 11,438 reads