The TEDxYouth group showcased unique minds who shared their valuable experiences and nuggets of wisdom through inspirational speeches on March 13th. The club and the advisor, Ms. Loutsch, organized the event for the third consecutive year post-COVID. 

This year’s theme, Elasticity, the ability to stretch and form new ideas, emerged from weeks of extensive contemplation among the TEDx club members. “I think this year’s speakers were really inspired to write because elasticity is something that we can all incorporate into our lives. This year’s theme was really easy for us to talk about and for others to relate to as well,” Freshman speaker Victoria Kang said.

The structure of the annual show altered with a few tweaks. The team moved the location to the Jetnasium instead of the presentation hall for the first time. The expanded space allowed the audience to enjoy intermission performances by the high school rock bands. The band ASAP performed Beautiful by Anne Marie and Blastoise performed XXL by Lany.

Various lunch clubs dotted the outer walls of the Jetnasium to promote and share their work. Groups such as National Junior Honor Society, Peer Tutoring Club, Oiko Economics Club, LGBTQ+ Organization for Various Ethnicities, and a few others created boards and hands-on activities. 

Drama Club hooked students of all ages with fun rounds of charades. Mr. Cameron, advisor for the club, said, “The ninth graders came up with some games for people to play when they came by.” Both students and teachers relished the experience. Sophomore Jenny Lee said, “The game was really fun and I enjoyed both playing it and watching others play.” 

However, not all parts flowed smoothly. Technical difficulties delayed speeches as the organizers tried to fix these issues. Choppy mic reception and unresponsive slideshows posed a challenge. TEDx advisor Ms. Loutsch said, “It was really frustrating with the clicker because it was technology that we had checked ahead of time. Although both the team and the speakers put in a lot of effort, that simple glitch made it difficult to know when to advance the speaker slide.”

Ms. Lualhati, secondary science teacher, broke the ice with her opening remarks. She suffered as her slideshow would not move past the first frame. Ms. Lualhati said, “Well, it’s not anybody’s fault, but I was out of mind. But still, I tried my best to continue with my speech.” 

The audience immersed themselves in their own elastic world. 9th grader Justin Son said, “I think the speakers were all creative and it was very entertaining to watch. I liked Bolt’s speech when he talked about connecting coding to real life.”

 Future improvement seems necessary, as a few minor issues compounded. Loutsch said, “I think problems both come from speakers and team members. We did make deadlines for speakers, and we did email them frequently this year but I think we need to have stricter deadlines for speakers just to make sure that they’re getting quality speeches in. And there they have it memorized and they feel confident.”

As the TEDx unit prepares for its return next year, attendees look forward to a revamped lineup of speakers, plus an all-new theme promises to ignite curiosity and stimulate provocative discussions.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Lewis Kim

Senior Bolt Yi integrates his knowledge on coding with elasticity. His humorous tone keeps the listeners engaged.