Martha Woodroof

We meet Hawes Spencer, the founder and editor of fearless Charlottesville indy newspaper The Hook.

Trisha Brown Leweke says maybe Steve Jobs or J.K. Rowling wouldn't have grown up so imaginative if they were schooled in a No Child Left Behind curriculum.  She values daydreaming and she feels that an overemphasis on standardized test scores blunts students' creativity. 

In pants like that, he had to be completely self-assured.  Jenna Joseph recalls transferring into an area high school and seeing a peer whose merry rejection of youth fashion trends was endearing.

Actress, director, and playwright Ingrid De Sanctis talks about life, liberty, and a play she wrote based on another guest of The Spark:   Sarah Elizabeth Pharis.  Pharis' struggles against cancer while maintaining an active and artsy life were inspirational.

Self-described writer/artist/cancer patient Sarah Elizabeth Pharis is also the inspiration for a play called "Sarah and the Dinosaur." 

In the mid-60's Larry Yates  fought housing discrimination in Northern Virginia. When he informed the  draft board that he'd be spending his spare time organizing anti-war activity, Vietnam-era military officials decided against calling-up Larry. The Winchester-based activist now works with former death row inmates who have proven their innocence and speak against the death penalty.