Gratitude Conversation #5

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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Gratitude Conversation #5

Janice Nolen. Roxanne Schroeder-Arce. Lara MacGregor.

Why Gratitude?

In 2017, heartbroken and eyeballs deep in despair, I started searching for things for which to be grateful. I asked myself the question asked by poet Katie Farris

“Why write love poetry in a burning world? To train myself, in the midst of a burning world, to offer poems of love to a burning world.”

I reached out to people who — in the way in which they live — write love poems to our burning world. I cast my net far and wide amongst my heroes — those I knew personally and those who teach us all by their example. I invited artists, philosophers, psychologists, politicians, professors, yogis, writers, clergy, and others into a dialogue about gratitude. I am deeply grateful to those who said yes. Read more about my gratitude project methodology here.

Janice Nolan

It is with heartfelt sadness that we acknowledge the death of Janice Nolen, the American Lung Association’s National Assistant Vice President, Policy. Janice passed away Wednesday, April 15, 2020.

For 20 years, Janice was a national leading voice for healthy air for the American Lung Association. In this role, she supervised the development of policy positions on indoor and outdoor air quality for the organization. She was a nationally recognized authority on air pollution and a sought-after expert by news outlets such as the Associated Press, ABC, CBS, NBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, CNN, NPR and others. — the American Lung Association

Janice Nolen’s Obituary as published by the American Lung Association

Read my gratitude conversation with Janice.

Roxanne Schroeder-Arce

Roxanne Schroeder-Arce is a teacher, scholar, administrator, arts advocate, playwright, and director. She has was named Dean of the Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts and Professor at Ohio University in 2025. Before OHIO, she was Associate Dean of UTeach Fine Arts and Associate Professor of Theatre Education at the University of Texas at Austin. Her theatre practice is integral to her pedagogy. Schroeder-Arce’s bilingual plays have been presented to children and families in theatres around the United States. Her plays Señora Tortuga, Legend of the Poinsettia, Sangre de un Ángel, Mariachi Girl and Yana Wana’s Legend of the Bluebonnet (co-authored with María F. Rocha) are available through Dramatic Publishing. Her newest work, Lyric and the Keys, with music and lyrics by Jenn Hartmann Luck, premiered at the Magik Theatre in September, 2024. Professor Schroeder-Arce’s research interests include culturally responsive theatre education and Latino/a/x theatre for young audiences related to teacher training. She has published articles in journals such as Youth Theatre Journal, TYA Today, Theatre Topics, and Gestos. She has taught workshops on issues of diversity in theatre for young audiences and culturally responsive teaching artistry throughout the Americas and beyond. — Roxanne’s Website

Lara MacGregor

Lara MacGregor founded Hope Scarves in 2012. A seemingly small gesture from a friend of a friend sparked the idea that has become the international non-profit that supporting people facing all types of cancer through scarves, stories, and research today. On January 18, 2022, Lara passed away from metastatic breast cancer. She was just 45 years old.

To learn more about Lara, her Hopeful Life, and the impact she made on this world visit her website, My Hopeful Life. — Hope Scarves

Read my gratitude conversation with Lara here.