Friends that we sometimes forget to look at what’s happening outside of our world. With so much going on, it’s easy to sort of think very sequentially, without really seeing the kinds of things that are possible for us to do beyond high school and college.” Junior Remy Dhingra, in voicing this concern, decided to do something about it. Helped by a troupe of dedicated teachers (Mr. Dunn, Ms.Greenwood, Mr. Graf, Ms. O’Dea, Ms. Cushing, Mrs. Chu, Mrs. Hobbs, Ms. Lanctot, and Ms. Flassing), a team of students will organize the TEDx conference that Latin will host this spring, bringing together some of the best and brightest minds in the community to share their experiences. I sat down with Remy to learn more about the upcoming event. What is TEDx? “TEDx is a way to bring the idea of a TED conferences to a broader audience,” Remy explained. “TED’s tagline is “Ideas Worth Spreading,” so TEDx allows independent organizers to bring that same concept to everyone, so everyone can get the TED experience and hear from trailblazers.” Why did you want to bring TEDx to Latin? “I want TEDxYouth@LatinSchool to inspire and connect us to larger purposes, ideas, and principles—to see what we can do beyond a classroom, and that we can really ‘change the story’ of anything.” Tell us about the logistics for Latin’s TEDx conference? “TEDxYouth@LatinSchool’s theme is “Changing the Story,” which encompasses a wide variety of things. It can be about changing our perspective on an issue, an industry, a process, a way of thinking, or a lifestyle. I’m hoping those who will attend the event on April 25th will begin to think differently about things, perhaps move forward in a new way.” If you want to attend the event, you have to act fast! “The event is for 100 Latin students—it’s a really unique opportunity and I think everyone will be really inspired by the speakers’ compelling stories and presentations.” Sign-up is first come, first served. When asked about the speakers, Remy wanted keep the lineup a surprise, for now. “There are five or six speakers coming to the event and they’re very different from one another, which is one reason I’m so excited to hear them! We’ve got speakers in the fields of sports, research, entertainment, computer science, and social media.  No two talks are going to be alike! We’ll also be showing a few of our favorite pre-existing TED talks.” What was the process like of bringing TEDx to Latin? Phase one: “I started watching TED talks about two years ago and I loved how a ten-minute speech could broaden my perspective. That led me to do some research and find out that it might be possible to get a license from TED to hold an independently-organized TEDx event, even as a high schooler!” Phase two: “I talked to Mr. Dunn and wasn’t surprised when he was incredibly supportive about the idea. I then had to fill out a pretty extensive application to obtain the license, which I got around October. Then I had to start asking around about potential speakers.” Phase three: “To give it a distinctly Latin flavor, we decided that speakers should be mostly Latin parents and alumni, perhaps some faculty, because I think it’s even more relevant to students that people who have walked the same hallways as us are revolutionizing their fields. I talked to lots of people around the school to come up with a list of possible speakers and then started reaching out to them. It was difficult to narrow down the list because there were so many people to choose from that have been thriving and creating novel ideas.” Phase four: “The student organizing team has been working with speakers to fine tune the scope of these talks and make them as meaningful as possible for us. You can look out for more stuff about the event at Gathering, the Upper School Newsletter, and your email!” And there you have it, Latin! For more information and to sign up, check out tedxyouthlatinschool.com, where the conference lineup will be posted soon.   TEDxYouth@LatinSchool will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015 9:00am-12:30pm  ]]>