OUR INAUGURAL YEAR - 2013 - WE HAD NO IDEA WHAT WE WERE DOING - BUT BOY, DID IT TURN OUT FANTASTIC!

John Dorroh was born to US Army parents who were stationed in La Rochelle, France. The Dorroh family moved around a lot, so his early life was full of travel and learning about other cultures at an early age. When his father left the military, they moved to Mississippi to take care of his mother. That's where John began teaching high school science. He also taught in the Atlanta area and for the DOD schools. His teaching career lasted 30 years and then he worked as an education consultant in several states in the Southeast and Midwest. He also worked as a text-item writer for ACT and Harcourt Brace.

John's mother, Sue, told people that he was born with a pen in his right hand because he was always writing. His first poem was written with her red lipstick on the bathroom wall. Since then he's crafted his writing and has had over 400 poems and articles published in journals such as Feral, North Dakota Quarterly, Red Fez, Selcouth Station, and Pinyon. He's had four stories published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, and several others. He's also had a book of flash-fiction, "99 Words," published a few years ago and recently a poetry chapbook called "Swim at Your Own Risk."

He spends his time in the St. Louis Metro East making photo note-cards, cooking, biking, swimming, entertaining, and traveling when it's safe to do so. He lives in Highland with his partner, Dale, and one cat, Pitterz, and an ancient dog, Max, who thinks he's still a puppy.

Donna Weinsting can be described as many things, actor, stand up comedian and real estate agent.  But her favorite titles are wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
Donna has traveled the country performing and has won awards for her acting.  Real estate has provided the means to a comfortable home but family is the heartbeat that has guided her life.

Being a part of this show is a special honor and Donna is very proud to be a part of it.
 

 My name is Astra Cherry. I’m a proud graduate of the Historically Black Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU). I am a retired educator from the St. Louis Public School System (SLPSS) and the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ (UMSL) Gateway Writing Project (GWP). I must confess that each institutions encouraged me to go way beyond my expectations and goals as a “teacher”. My proudest accomplishments were experiences, awards, and recognitions that came from being involved with these establishments. Recognitions like The Outstanding HSSU award, STARR program representing SLPSS, and GWP Co Director/Consultant at UMSL. Although I enjoyed teaching grades in the classroom, I enjoyed teaching writing to young students and sharing writing ideas with teachers best. Co teaching teachers in the GWP Summer Institute allowed teachers and me to try writing ideas and to publish our stories in writing and orally. A few of the stories written by me were published in a booklet called

Missouri Teachers Write. That’s the extent of my publications. And now the Listen to Your Mother show.

I have been widowed for five years. Richard Cherry and I were married 50 years and 3 months. Luckily, we were blessed, 51 years ago, with a daughter, Angela Richelle Cherry. She’s been married to Kanzi Tyehimba for 21 years. They’ve given me three wonderful grands and one great grand. Tylar is 28, Anaya is 18 and KJ is 14. My adorable great grandson is 9 months.  My family is my special interest. But outside of them I love to paint with friends in the park; write with my writing buddies; and read with my Shalom Book Club members. I love to shop. Not in the grocery store but at clothing stores and stores like Home Goods or At Home. What I’m looking forward to most about being in the show is being with writers once again, hearing the different voices in their writing, and just enjoying like-minded people with different perspectives.

 Jen is surrounded by boys; she has two sweet sons, Jack (3) and Will (20 months) and has been married to her husband Tim for almost 5 years. (Even her dog is a boy!) In between diaper changes and nap times, she dreams of taking long, uninterrupted showers or just sitting in a quiet room, alone. In the interim, she loves to dream up house projects she can’t find the time to do and listens to audiobooks to try to drown out tears and save her sanity. Jen is a former middle school teacher but is currently staying home with her children. She can’t sit still though, so she’s started blogging, is creating her own freelance company, and is renting baby equipment for families traveling to St. Louis with a company called BabyQuip. Jen is most proud of submitting her story and putting herself out there. She believes in manifesting what you want and even had an image of Listen to Your Mother on her vision board this year.

Jordan Braxton has been an Activists in the St. Louis LGBTQIA community for over 35-years, raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and Intersex and Transgender Rights. Jordan is on the Board of Pride St. Louis, Inc. as The Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach and the Vice President of St. Louis Black Pride and Vice President of TransParent. Jordan currently works at Vivent Health as a Prevention Supervisor doing education and outreach for the prevention of the spread of  HIV/STI.   

 Melissa Fuoss is a breast cancer survivor, an alternative education teacher, a mother of two fantastic boys, and a wife to a man who knew he would marry her the day he met her.  She loves the challenge of getting her students to get lost in books and share their personal stories.  Before she became a teacher she was a reporter/photographer for a small daily paper in Kirksville, Missouri where she literally cut, waxed, and pasted her stories on a board before they went to press.  She has written a book about her cancer journey, but unfortunately it has remained unfinished in her google doc drive. She was a member of the inaugural  cast in St. Louis nine years ago and is so excited to be a part of this incredible event again.  You can see her latest blog here: https://covid19mademedoit.wordpress.com

Lisa is an educator, creator, and performer who lives in Eureka with her kidlet, Fia (they/them) who just turned 11, and her amazing spouse Matthew who continues to broadcast that he is exactly 11 months and 18 days younger than she. They live a geeky life filled with video games, art projects,  arguments about the best Star Trek captain, and the constant mission to get Kiddo to like Star Wars. 

Professionally, Lisa spends her time teaching students public speaking, communication, and media literacy at Jefferson College. In 2021, she was awarded the Phi Theta Kappa Teacher of the Year award, and she counts it as her greatest professional achievement as it is given by students to the teacher they feel makes a difference in students’ lives. Outside of school Lisa is a documentary filmmaker and speaker whose work is centered on building a kinder community and facilitating hard conversations. Her hope is to leave the world just like you leave a picnic table-A little better than you found it.  

Josh Loevy is an attorney living in Naperville Illinois with his Wife Morgan and son Theo. His work focuses on litigating Federal Freedom of Information Act cases on behalf of journalists and researchers.  He helps his clients obtain Government records that further government transparency and accountability.

Josh is also a stand-up comedian and improviser.  He graduated from the IO Theater training center, and was a cast member of two of IO's house teams.  Josh grew up in St. Louis and is thrilled to be back to celebrate his incredible Mom.

 Mom. Wife. Shia. Educator. Writer. Organizer. Overthinker. Data analyst. Researcher.
I enjoy connecting with others and learning from their journeys.
My passion is to support educators and empower women.

Zeinab is 13. She enjoys coding, karate, and photography. (Or at least she does those things to keep me happy.) Hossein is 5. He enjoys winning others over and doing whatever it takes to reach his goals. I daydream that our goals will align one day.

If you want to show me something new at Pan-Asia, join a Zumba class with me, or go on a trail at Castlewood Park, email me at FatemehMardi@gmail.com.
If you want to chat about culturally responsive teaching or inclusive design, are interested in sharing educational technology tricks, or want to collaborate on a research project related to learning analytics, email me at Mardi@umsl.edu.  

My name is Ta’Lisha Franklin. I am the Center Director of Cornerstone Center for Early Learning. I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. I was educated in the St. Louis Public School district most of my childhood. As a young child, I expressed interest in dancing, styling hair and teaching. My childhood interest helped to motivate some of my accomplishments throughout my life. In 1995, my mother enrolled me into St. Louis Desegregation program; therefore, I was given the opportunity to attend and graduate from Kirkwood High School in 2000. After graduation, I expanded my interest in styling hair to the public.  I became a mother of two beautiful children: Ta’Anyea Snider (20) and Terell Snider(19). I earned three degrees while my children were young. I loved to travel around the country with my children. My children participated in many activities and earned some of the highest awards. Throughout my children’s childhood, I loved to support their different interests and had fun while doing so. Today, I am Cornerstone’s Center Director. I am responsible for the daily operations in our facility. I make sure that our teachers have the support that they need to provide enriching care and education to all children. I effectively communicate with all of the families that we serve. Being in the show gives me the opportunity to share my journey through motherhood with a variety of mothers that are or know someone in a similar situation as mine. I want to help give them the motivation to never give up and continue to advance throughout their entire life.  

 Michelle is the executive producer and co-host of Cliterally Speaking the Podcast. She lives in St. Louis but is from everywhere and nowhere. She has lived in 9 different states and traveled to 11 different countries. A divorced mother of three, colon cancer survivor, serial dieter, author of Midnight Playground: Where the Soul Plays, and lover of all things Improv. Michelle’s secret joy is making guests and listeners laugh. Her unique observations and insightful, illuminating questions guide guests and listeners towards personal and societal revelations. Many are heard saying, “I never thought about it that way.” When she isn’t working on expanding her podcast’s “Wine and Panty” pairing list, she can be found playing games with her improv teams, or working on her next book, or taking long walks. Although Michelle’s heart has been broken more times than she can count, she’s still a believer in love and can say “I love you” in five languages, because, you never know... 

Armetta is an Okie from Muskogee with a Bachelor's degree in Education and a Master's in Reading.  For 19 years, she taught middle school language arts and reading in the Kirkwood School District.   Her retirement has given her time for daily walks, tennis, gardening, traveling, reading (same book club 40 years), and volunteering.   Her adult son lives in Massachusetts, and she has been married to the same wonderful guy for 29 years.  Armetta is looking forward to soaking up the energy from the exciting, high-energy cast!   

We were delighted to have Joan Lipkin as our emcee for both the 2021 and  2022 shows!  Joan's community, story sharing, volunteerism and giving back is at the heart of her decades long award-winning career. Internationally recognized as a groundbreaking theatre artist, educator and social activist, Joan Lipkin works at the intersection of performance and civic engagement, creating events and dialogues about the most pressing issues of our time including climate change, voting advocacy, disability, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ experience, gun sense, reproductive choice, and immigration reform.  Prior to the pandemic, she was dividing her time between St Louis, NYC and other parts of the US as well as Eastern Europe.  She has created work with many diverse populations, including the LGBTQ+ community and their families, seniors, adults with Alzheimer’s and early stage dementia, college students, women with cancer, people with disabilities, survivors of suicide, women who have been sexually trafficked, people in recovery and communities of faith, among others. As an expert on rapid response theatre, and has contributed to or produced several national projects including Every 28 Hours, After Orlando and Climate Change Theatre Action.  Most recently, she created a prototype for college campuses to study climate change and sustainability and create theatrical responses and has worked as a dramaturg about environmental racism with Ashleyliane Dance Company.  Joan founded Dance the Vote, a nonpartisan organization, in 2016 in the belief that voting is our most precious right and the cornerstone of democracy and that the arts are a pivotal way to engage the community. DTV creates graphics, videos and community events and commissions dance pieces to share accurate information and promote voter registration.  Joan is the Producing Artistic Director of That Uppity Theatre Company in St. Louis, Missouri where she founded the nationally acclaimed Alternate Currents/Direct Currents Series, The DisAbility Project, The Louies and Apple Pie. The company has received numerous honors including the John Van Voris Award for Community Service, What’s Right with the Region Award for Improving Racial Equality and Social Justice from Focus St. Louis, the Community Enhancement Award from the Governor’s Council on Disabilities, and the Midwest Gala Human Rights Campaign Organization Equality Award.  Joan has received numerous awards including a Visionary, Ethical Humanist of the Year, Leadership for Community-based Theatre and Civic Engagement, a Woman of Achievement, What’s Right with the Region, and IDEA, among others.  Thank you, Joan, for everything you do for our great city and our world!