"The students who got up to present were incredibly inspiring, and you could tell they were very passionate," recalls Amy Cribbs about the high-school students from North Allegheny (where the event was held), Propel Braddock Hills, Andrew Street in Munhall, Pine-Richland, and elsewhere who gave short speeches, dramatic presentations and other impressive presentations at TEDxYouthDay late last year.
"It was an incredible event," says Cribbs, who helped run the show as career exploration coordinator at Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3.
Now the videos are finally ready for viewing. If you weren't in the exclusive audience of 100 -- or even if you were -- you'll want to see these TED talks by some remarkable young people:
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Lily Zhang and Katherine Zhou: A dramatic interpretation of the controversial educational views of author Amy Chua that contrast Chinese and Western parenting.
Beekeeping by Jonathan Walker and Anthony Hrubetz: An examination of the importance of saving bees and how crucial they are to the environment.
American Sign Language by Carrie Johnston and Amanda Keller: Lessons on how valuable ASL is to these students, leading to a possible career.
Observations by Anna Sinelnikova: Of life as a young ballet student.
The American Dream by Ji-Ho Park: What is the American Dream, and is it only in America?
MRSA by Michelle Lee: Lessons on how to prevent the illness, employing a stuffed bug representing the infection, and some new research.
Propelled to Read by Alex Francette: Using old old newspaper boxes donated by the
Post-Gazette, a group of kids repurposed them into book distribution spots at bus stops. Now they have book drives and their own website, and they're hoping to make this a national program.
Importance of Integrating Global Communities by Ronald Reha, Jr.
Speak Your Mind by Alexandra Grese: It's a new twist on an old story: a boy and a girl who like each other but are afraid to say it directly, so they employ an intermediary, who is sworn to secrecy. Except this time the intermediary tells the boy and girl the truth.
Concludes Cribbs: "It was a nice way to wrap up the day with an inspiring message."
Writer:
Marty Levine
Source: Amy Cribbs, TEDxYouthDay