On April 2 Staples students will present their fully produced TEDx talk at the Westport Public Library as an event to allow individuals in the community to share their experiences and ideas.  According to the TED website, “TEDx was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, ‘ideas worth spreading.’ It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community.”

Grace McGinley ’17, one of the founding members of the TEDx club at Staples, explained that the process is mostly up to them.  After they submit an application for a TEDx license with a set of rules, guidelines and applicable dates, they need to be approved and then they can start planning.

“There is a little fundraising, we have to talk to potential speakers, think of a theme, and get everything to mesh together,” McGinley said.

This year’s theme is perseverance. “Our speakers are all going to be people who have faced some big obstacle in their life and managed to overcome it,” McGinley said. “We think it should be a good talk and quite interesting to hear.”

Phoebe Spear ’17 will be one of the speakers at this year’s event.  She’s thinking of discussing the non-medical challenges with having cancer.  “The hardships of chemotherapy are widely known, so I thought it would be interesting to give the community some insight into the emotional stress that I went through during treatment,” she said.  She hopes this talk will allow her to connect to the community better about her hardship.

Another speaker at the event this year with be local artist Rosie Jon. She lives in Connecticut and was born without arms.  Despite the drawback, Jon learned how to create an array of paintings with her feet.

Club advisor and social studies teacher Ashley Gayanilo reflected on last year’s talk as “a very moving event.”  

Tickets are not sold for profit and the event itself will take place in the McManus room at the library from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm.
“We hope to keep each of the talks short and intriguing to ensure an entertaining and stimulating event,” Gayanilo said.