Maria Luisa Arroyo teaches writing in the Women as Empowered Leaders and Learners (WELL) program at Bay Path University. Her book publications include her full-length poetry collection, Gathering Words: Recogiendo Palabras; her chapbooks Flight and Destierro Means More than Exile; and Just Imagine in Springfield: A Poetry Handbook for Middle School Students. Magdalena Gomez is an American playwright, poet, author, educator, social activist, motivational speaker, and performer. She currently lives in Springfield, Massachusetts where she is the artistic director of Teatro V!da, the first Latin@ theatre in Springfield.