TED Talks are an international phenomenon, with over 3,000 events now held annually, and more than 1 billion online views. Born in 2009, TEDx Talks utilize the TED Talk format for local, independently organized events featuring live speakers and recorded TED Talks. While these events are not controlled by TED, event organizers do agree to abide by guidelines for curation, speaker coaching, event organizing, format, and more.
During the 2021-22 school year, several of our campuses hosted TEDxYouth events organized by our students and faculty. Each event had its own theme, chosen by the students, and featured up to 20 speakers in Grades 4 – 12.
TEDxYouth @ BASIS International School Hangzhou
From Speech and Debate Teacher Nicholas Burr
On Saturday, May 28, BASIS Hangzhou hosted a live TEDxYouth event. An impressive slate of twenty speakers from our community presented their ideas worth sharing in a series of lively, engaging, and thought provoking talks. The student leadership club helped to organize the conference, including choosing the theme “Outside the Box.”
The experience was amazing! Twelve students ranging from Grades 4 – 12 spoke on a variety of subjects and really got a chance to share their passions with a wider audience, alongside four of our teachers and four guests from our broader community.
TEDxYouth@BASISHangzhou demonstrates just how powerful ideas can be. It was my absolute pleasure to see students make their voices heard on the big stage, and I look forward to seeing our learning community come together for more ideas worth sharing.
TEDxYouth @ BASIS International School Shenzhen
After months of preparation, the TEDxYouth event at BASIS International School Shenzhen was a great success. Grade 10 student Wendy W. became licensed by TEDx to organize the event under the guidance of Colin Malinak, Director of Speech & Debate. The event included six student speakers.
The theme of this year’s event was “Growing Up Internationally in China.” Through sharing their own personal stories, the speakers discussed and reflected on their experiences of shifting from confusion to relief, from rejection to enjoyment, and from resistance to reconciliation on their journeys of growing up internationally in China.
Check out the talks by Edward W., Symphony S., Andrew C., Rhythm S., Jianing Y., and Ken Z. on YouTube.
TEDxYouth @ BASIS International School Park Lane Harbour
From Hunter Mueller, Dean of Student Life
We are all very proud of the students who put in hours of work for the first-ever BIPH TEDx talks. The nine students and one teacher spoke on an array of ideas that they felt, as TED likes to say, were “ideas worth spreading.” This group of fearless speakers was set up by two of BASIS’ very own students, Jessica G. and Crystal L. Jessica and Crystal helped oversee the selection process, assisted in the promotion of the event, helped review and offer feedback on students’ talks pre-performance, and much more.
Each of our TEDxYouth student speakers put in hours of writing, rewriting, practicing, and reviewing for their talks. Here is a sneak peek of our TEDx speakers and their diverse topics: Grade 5 student Ashely H. shared her ideas and thoughts on inequalities and how we can overcome them together. Albert W. (Grade 8) spoke on his ideas and insights of “The Involution Evolution.” Kevin Z. (Grade 8) shared his philosophical ideas on “The Philosophy of Superman” proposed by Friedrich Nietzsche. Hugo J. (Grade 8) enlightened us on “Synthetic Biology” and the amazing role it plays in our lives. Dean of Student Life, Hunter Mueller, shared about overcoming the qualms of life. Diego J. (Grade 10) and Noble Z. (Grade 10) brought us a delightful talk on “Perfectly Planned Procrastination.” Jane H. (Grade 9) shared on how to accept and deal with judgment from others. Rose Y. (Grade 10) brought to light a social issue in China. Tison W. (Grade 8) and Manbo H. (Grade 8) spoke on the beauty of Ancient Chinese Warfare techniques and how we can apply them to everyday life. Fiona W. (Grade 8) shared her thoughts with us on “The Unbalanced Equilibrium” and explained how important it is for us to have a balanced life. As you can see, we had a wide range of topics grounded in profound thoughts on life and academic rigor.
Each one of our students did a fantastic job! Now that they have completed their TEDx Youth talks, they are a part of a very prestigious group of speakers. They definitely displayed what it looks like to be a BIPH Scholar.
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