Class of One
Before her first day at school in New Orleans, Ruby Bridges' mother told her: "Now I want you to behave yourself today, Ruby, and don't be afraid." Ruby and her mother went to the school, where so many people were outside shouting and throwing things. She seemed to be remembering her mother's words as she entered the school without showing any fear at all. Despite the fact that it was 1960, there ... posted on Jul 17, 2555 reads

Mozart Soothes Aching Elephant
Suma, a 45-year-old elephant and long-time resident of the Zagreb Zoo, was bereaved and inconsolable after her pachyderm partner of tens of years died of cancer. Until, of course, she heard Mozart. At the sight of five musicians preparing themselves to start a concert, Suma became very nervous and aggressive, peppering the intruders with little stones that she blew out of her trunk. "But as soo... posted on Jul 27, 2467 reads

Couples Create Charity Registries
Jen Crane and Tom Frohlich are banking on the generosity of friends and family to collect as much money as possible when they get married - but not for selfish reasons. They are encouraging guests to make donations in their honor to their favorite charity. With 2 million annual weddings in the US, and an average price tag of $26,000, more and more couples are looking a bit deeper. "We're trying... posted on Jul 30, 1397 reads

41 Letters To Younger Selves
If you could send a letter back through time to your younger self what would that letter say? In this inspiring new publication "What I Know Now" forty-one famous women from diverse fields write letters to the women they once were, filled with the advice and insights they wish they had then. Honest, wise and compassionate these letters reveal rare glimpses of the personal struggles and triumphs of... posted on Aug 8, 4760 reads

Imagine: A Run Across America
Imagine: the 100 million disabled people in developing countries, who today must crawl on the ground, suddenly owning a wheelchair. That's the goal of Free Wheelchair Mission, which will benefit from the efforts of William Hibbard, a long time marathon runner, as he undertakes a cross-country trek to raise money to deliver 25,000 wheelchairs worldwide. Titled, "Imagine: A Run Across America", Hib... posted on Aug 12, 1449 reads

Smashing a Law of Physics?
Free energy anyone? Ireland-based Steorn, a technology firm, issued a challenge to the world's scientific community last week to give its verdict on technology it says smashes one of the basic laws of physics by producing "free energy." Sounds too good to be true, and so Steorn has placed an ad in The Economist seeking 12 top physicists to examine the technology -- based on the interaction of magn... posted on Aug 21, 2124 reads

Reading the Animal Mind
Dr. Temple Grandin is convinced that she experiences the world much as an animal does because of her autism. Grandin has a legendary ability to read the animal mind and understand animal behaviour when no one else can. Best-known for convincing McDonalds to work with more humane slaughterhouses, this animal scientist/writer/professor and arguably the most famous and accomplished autistic person i... posted on Aug 25, 2384 reads

Theater For The Disabled
Belfast, Maine, is home to a Jesuit brother named Rick Curry, whose breads are making headlines and whose National Theater Workshop of the Handicapped is making history. Born without a right forearm, Bro. Curry's parents taught him to never use his handicap as an excuse. The concept for the National Theater Workshop for the Handicapped came after he was turned down for a role in a mouthwash commer... posted on Sep 9, 1953 reads

Giving Up a Dream to Save a School
Twelve-year old Jon Farrar spent two years building up his "Yankee Account" from money put aside from birthday/Christmas gifts and earned doing chores around the house. His ultimate dream was to see his favorite baseball team play this summer in Yankee Stadium. He was $1000 closer to that dream when he first heard that his middle school was short of funds and in danger of being closed. Jon made th... posted on Sep 15, 2119 reads

Frustration Transformed Into Inspiration
The quote above contains lines from the 'The Invitation' -- one of today's best-known pieces of inspirational poetry. Oriah Mountain Dreamer wrote it after coming home from a party, frustrated with the superficial social interaction. The next day she emailed the piece she had written to some friends, having no idea that the poem would take on a life of its own. It traveled all around the world, an... posted on Sep 23, 3262 reads

Cancelled Wedding Benefits Charity
When painful circumstances forced 29-year-old Kyle Paxman to call off her wedding, she found a way of turning the heartache into an opportunity to be of service. She and her mother canceled the band, photographer and florist, but learned they would not be reimbursed for the reception and block of rooms they had reserved. So they turned her reception into a benefit for the Vermont Children’s Aid ... posted on Sep 24, 3043 reads

The Blind Photographer
It wasn't until after Pete Eckert went blind that he really started to see things. When the 48 year old former carpenter went blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa six years ago, he did the first thing he wasn't supposed to be able to do. He became a photographer. Eckert was 28 when he was deemed legally blind; he spent the next decade earning several degrees, including one each in sculpture and ceramic... posted on Oct 7, 2832 reads

Altruism: a Neural Kick from Within
What motivates people to act anonymously kind? Researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland, wanted to find exactly that -- the neural basis for unselfish acts. So they decided to peek into the brains of 19 volunteers who were choosing whether to give money to charity, or keep it for themselves. They found that the part of the brain that was acti... posted on Oct 18, 2566 reads

GlobalGiving Olympics
While preparing for the 1980 Olympics, two-time Olympic Pentathlon champion Marilyn King sustained a spinal injury that left her bed-ridden. King was determined not to end her career on her back -- and to finish in the top three at the Olympic trials. Unable to put in the grueling hours of required practice, King spent time watching films of successful pentathletes, visualizing and feeling herself... posted on Oct 28, 1277 reads

The Health Benefits of Faith
In a study comparing the associations between faith and health, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center physician has shown the improvements in life expectancy of those who attend religious services on a weekly basis to be comparable to those who participate in regular physical exercise! Dr. Daniel Hall compared the impact of regular exercise, statin therapy and religious attendance, and showed ... posted on Oct 30, 2420 reads

Hospital Learns From Car Racing
Hospitals don't usually model their processes after car racing, but in an unlikely collaboration, Britain's largest children's hospital has revamped its patient hand-off techniques with lessons learned from the choreographed pit stops of Formula One racing. In 2003, Dr. Allan Goldman and surgeon Martin Elliot were watching a race unfold when they noticed striking similarities between patient hand-... posted on Nov 23, 2919 reads

Portraits For the Homeless
For those struggling to afford a place to live, posing for family portraits can seem like a luxury. But this fall at a homeless shelter in California, people did exactly that. On the other side of the camera were local photography students -- who had been learning not only about lighting and shutter speeds but also about ethics, service and the power of images to catalyze social change. Before eve... posted on Nov 29, 1637 reads

Booker Prize Winner's Vision
Booker Prize winning novelist Ben Okri is often hailed as one of Africa's greatest writers. His first-hand experiences of civil war in Nigeria inspired much of his writing which encompasses with ease the mundane and the metaphysical, the individual and the collective. Okri's interest in education has led him to publicly and poetically stress the importance of self-discovery and intuition in the le... posted on Dec 19, 1913 reads

Soccer as a Tool for AIDS Prevention
Created over the summer of 2006, Lusaka Sunrise is a 7 minute short film that examines how soccer/ "football" is fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. Through the work of several organizations, the powerful and commonly accessible platform of soccer is facilitating the spread of knowledge and providing African youth with the skills, understanding, and community support to live HIV-free. Lusaka Sunrise take... posted on Dec 1, 1769 reads

Scientifically Shown Benefits of Touch
When neuroscientist Jim Coan scanned the brains of married women in pain, he spotted changes that may help to shed light on an age-old mystery. As soon as the women touched the hands of their husbands, there was an instant drop in activity in the areas of the brains involved in fear, danger, and threat. Touch, a key component of traditional healing, is being increasingly studied in mainstream medi... posted on Dec 5, 2109 reads

Inventing Auto-Erasing Paper
Recycling is a necessary initiative, but Anthropologist Brinda Dalal at Xerox’s Research center looked one step further in considering the monthly average of 1,200 pages printed by an average office worker. Dalal investigated usage patterns of photocopying and found that 44.5 percent are for daily use -- assignments, drafts or e-mail, and that 21 percent of black-and-white copier documents were ... posted on Dec 8, 1554 reads

Fearless Teen Inspires Pro Footballers
Bobby Martin bench presses 200 pounds, and runs a 40-yard dash in 5.8 seconds -- good accomplishments rendered mind-boggling considering that he has no legs. This remarkable nineteen-year old was born with a condition called Caudal Regression Syndrome, but didn't let that stop him from trying out for and making it onto his high school football team. His quickness, fearlessness and proximity to the... posted on Dec 11, 1790 reads

A Company's Unusual Gift Of Art
With a vision to connect more people to the power and beauty of art, the Pacific Steel and Recycling company in Montana has given the public an unusual gift for the holidays and beyond. Thanks to them, all visitors to the local Museum of Art will receive free admission now through November 2007. The museum believes that this gesture of generosity will go a long way in nurturing an understanding an... posted on Dec 16, 1528 reads

93-year-old Becomes an Actress
Mae Laborde is not your average 97-year-old. While most people her age struggle to just maintain their activities, Laborde continues to push the bounds. She is a working actress, with a steady flow of jobs in commercials, TV shows and film -- not bad for someone who just broke into the business at the age of 93. It’s not that Laborde has a perfectly fit body either: she took a fall several mont... posted on Dec 18, 2620 reads

A 9-Year Old's Vision: Hoops of Hope
When Austin Gutwein was 9 years old, he tried out for his school's basketball team, and didn't make it. But he did rebound in an unlikely and inspiring way. Austin's disappointment dissolved when he learned about the millions of children in Africa orphaned by AIDS. "I really started to think about what it would be like if I lost my parents," he says. Austin decided to raise money for these childre... posted on Dec 23, 2641 reads

Risking Life to Save a Life
Would you risk your life to save a stranger? Most of us have reflected on the question theoretically; Wesley Autrey faced it in real life. Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran, was waiting with his two young daughters at a New York subway station when, nearby, 20 year-old Cameron Hollopeter had a seizure, stumbled to the platform edge and fell directly into the path of an on... posted on Jan 4, 1785 reads

Living More With Less
As she plunked down $4.20 for a Grande Mocha at the local coffee shop, Mary Carlomagno realized her life had gotten way too complicated, with too many distractions, too much stuff and too much technology. She decided it was time for some serious simplification. Each month for an entire year, Mary renounced one thing: shopping, elevators, newspapers, cell phones, dining out, television, taxis, coff... posted on Feb 8, 3837 reads

Heifer: Passing On The Gift
Heifer International is an organization that works in over 100 countries to provide people with animals that continue to nourish impoverished families, rather than short-term relief. The charity’s goal is to provide the livestock to needy families so they can produce a product, such as milk or silk, and support themselves. Heifer's signature value, "Passing on the Gift," requires recipients to s... posted on Jan 13, 2087 reads

No Contest: Competition Versus Cooperation
In this seminal 1987 article, author and researcher Alfie Kohn analyzes competition vis-a-vis cooperation. Refuting what he calls the myth of competition promoting excellence, he puts forth the notion that optimal productivity not only doesn’t need competition, but that it seems to require its absence. Research Kohn cites shows that competition creates anxiety, inhibits the exchange of ideas and... posted on Jan 14, 2883 reads

100 Years of Montessori
One hundred years ago in January of 1907, Dr. Maria Montessori opened the first Montessori children’s house for fifty illiterate children from the slums of Rome. This was the beginning of the Montessori movement -- what is today the single largest educational pedagogy in the world, with over 8,000 schools on 6 continents. The Montessori philosophy maintains that children are not merely "adults i... posted on Jan 24, 4354 reads

Getting All She Wanted -- And ALS
Darcy Wakefield, a runner, teacher, and writer, was always on the go, so when she was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal neurological disease, at age 33, she did what came naturally. She lived what she referred to as a ''fast-forward life," buying a home, comiting to a partner, becoming a mother, and writing about it all in a book published two years later. ''She redefined what it means to be a person... posted on Jan 27, 4006 reads

Why Do Good?
Why do people do good? A new scientific study suggests that it's not just for an emotional reward: people may actually act selflessly because they're acutely tuned into the needs and actions of others. For decades, psychologists and neuroscientists have puzzled over the tendency of humans to engage in altruistic acts -- defined as acts "that intentionally benefit another organism, incur no direct ... posted on Jan 29, 3071 reads

Nigeria's Lady Mechanic
Sandra Aguebor, an activist known to Nigerians as the Lady Mechanic, has turned a personal passion into a successful project in female empowerment. The energetic mother of two rose from humble beginnings to national prominence as the creator of the Lady Mechanic Initiative. It's a thriving enterprise that trains disadvantaged women in Africa's most populous nation to learn a trade once considered ... posted on Jan 30, 1537 reads

Teen Grocer Revives Community
Not just bagging cans and produce, 17-year-old Nick Graham owns the only grocery store in the small town of Truman, Minn. The high school senior bought and reopened the store a month ago, making him "something of a hometown hero." Locals -- many far older than Graham -- credit him with restoring life to the town's struggling Main Street and saving them a 24-mile roundtrip to another store. "I didn... posted on Feb 2, 2770 reads

A 17-year-old's Life-saving Breakthrough
In what could be a life-saving breakthrough, 17-year-old high school student Madhavi Gavini has found a way to defeat the Pseudomonas bacteria, which, in addition to killing people with cystic fibrosis, can cause deadly secondary infections under immune-suppressing conditions. To find a way through the bacterium's shield, the young scientist turned to Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional Indian hea... posted on Feb 4, 2528 reads

Rottweiler Adopts Newborn Lambs
Rottweilers have a fearsome reputation, but a dog named Molly is proving that the breed has a softer side by helping rear two lambs! After a complicated birth on an English farm, newborns Lucky and Charm needed some extra attention, and it was Molly who unexpectedly stepped up to the plate. Her owner Maria Foster says Molly stayed close to the pair at night, and even protected them from other anim... posted on Feb 6, 3349 reads

Bermuda's Environmental Awards
A would-be pig farmer, a teacher with a passion for science and storytelling and a group of children who grow their own vegetables are among this year’s recipients of the Government’s Environmental Awards. Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield yesterday handed over grants worth $62,500 in total to 12 worthy schemes aimed at highlighting, preserving and restoring Bermuda’s natural environm... posted on Feb 16, 1949 reads

From Loss to Compassionate Action
Seven years ago, Pam and Randy Cope’s lives revolved around their son’s baseball games, their daughter’s dance lessons and family vacations. All that changed dramatically in 1999, when their fifteen-year old son, Jantsen, died unexpectedly of an undetected heart ailment. With his death, Mrs. Cope said, "we were instantly transformed into different people. We couldn’t resume normal life." S... posted on Feb 9, 2595 reads

The Man Who Moved a Mountain
Years ago, a frail, landless farmer decided to move a mountain. The challenge for Dashrath Manjhi was formidable -- a 300-ft-high rocky hill stood between his village and vital resources. With most of the cultivable land and shops across the treacherous hill, villagers were forced to cross it many times a day. Not waiting for help from the Indian government, Manjhi chose to go at it alone, selling... posted on Feb 11, 3151 reads

Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind
Where do creative people get their inspiration? Guy Claxton, author of "Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind" has a theory: according to him it comes from a combination of inspiration and evaluation, "of being able to let an idea come to you and then crafting it into shape." Claxton talks of the intuitive understanding creative people have, of the importance of alternating work rhythms with reverie, of knowi... posted on Feb 14, 3023 reads

Secret to Long Life: School
For decades, there have been a variety of hypotheses about what it takes to live a long life -- money, lack of stress, a loving family, lots of friends, even IQ. In every country, there is an average life span for the nation as a whole and there are average life spans for different subsets, based on race, geography, education and participation in faith-based activities. Surprisingly, year after ye... posted on Feb 17, 2851 reads

A Dollar A Year CEO
In a letter sent November 2006, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey announced that he would take nothing more than a $1 annual salary, donating the rest and all future stock options to the company's two foundations. "The tremendous success of Whole Foods Market has provided me with far more money than I ever dreamed I'd have and far more than is necessary for either my financial security or personal happi... posted on Feb 19, 3568 reads

Rachel's Challenge
As part of her essay at Columbine High School "My Ethics, My Codes of Life", Rachel Scott wrote, "Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer." This essay was found in her room by family members a few weeks after Rachel died -- the first victim in the Columbine shootings in 1999. Rachel's Challenge, a program started by her family, consists of five challenges based on Rachel's jou... posted on Feb 21, 4941 reads

Never Check Email In The Morning
You read that right, "Never Check Email in the Morning"! It's advice from Julie Morgenstern, a leading time management and efficiency expert. She's helped companies like American Express, Microsoft, and FedEx revamp the way they work, and is a regular guest on Oprah. Her strategies stress among other things, the importance of deleting. In her words, "It could be catalogs when they come in, it cou... posted on Mar 5, 5024 reads

Photobloggers: Chronicling Lives in Pictures
Waitress Valerie J. Cochran started her photoblog partly as a reaction to customers who view restaurant workers as robots and not real people. Based in Berkeley, California, her photos are often of ordinary people and places. Lecturer David J. Nightingale is another photoblogger -- one of the thousands of people around the world using the net to publish photographs that offer a glimpse into life. ... posted on Mar 10, 3281 reads

Airline Ambassadors: Wings of Love
It was 10 years ago when Nancy Rivard asked a simple question. "I'm working on these flights every day, and I would see empty space in the overhead bin, empty space underneath in freight, empty seats, and I thought, why can't we use this to help others?" she says. Initially, the airline answer was no, but Nancy would not give up. Eventually, she convinced executives any additional costs were outwe... posted on Mar 14, 2366 reads

A 9-Year-Old Scholar's Determination
Brenda Tejeda Baez has endured a lot of chaos in her short life. By the time she was in third grade, she had lived in five different friends' apartments and two homeless shelters. Yet, the 9-year-old girl has refused to budge on the one constant in her life: attending Louis Agassiz Elementary School. Even when her family had to live for three months in a homeless shelter, Brenda, her mother, and h... posted on Mar 20, 4392 reads

Wisdom of the Teduray Tribe
In the 1960s when Stuart Schlegel came across the Teduray, a tribe from the Philippine rainforests, he found a "radically egalitarian" society. Men and women, children and adults, shamans and basket weavers: all operated as equals. The Teduray knew no violence, repression or hoarding of wealth. Child-rearing was equally divided between parents. The whole society was built on cooperation, non-viole... posted on Mar 21, 4004 reads

Mindfulness Practices For Patients
In 1979, a biologist at the University of Massachusetts named Jon Kabat-Zinn had an idea. He had a hunch that pared-down meditation techniques could help patients at the university's medical center deal with pain. The idea of mind-body health wasn't well explored at the time, so Kabat-Zinn approached physicians and pain specialists at the university, asking them to refer their patients to his new ... posted on Mar 31, 2797 reads

We Are All Innovators
Innovation, to organizational consultant and thought leader, Margaret Wheatley, means the ability to rely on everyone's creativity. Wheatley -- whose work studies systems thinking, theories of change and learning organizations -- is quick to recognize that in today's era of constant change, it is crucial for leaders to constantly evolve and adapt. Doing this, Wheatley maintains, depends on one's a... posted on Apr 2, 2799 reads