Payson students take on TED Talks

By Karissa Neely daily Herald - | Feb 25, 2016

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Payson Junior High School student Sydney Hill sheds some tears while talking about anxiety during a TED Ed Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 in Payson. TED is an association that is devoted to spreading ideas via small speeches and presentations. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald

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Payson Junior High School student Kaija Carr speaks during a TED Ed Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 in Payson. TED is an association that is devoted to spreading ideas via small speeches and presentations. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald

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Payson Junior High School student Lexie Linde speaks during a TED Ed Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 in Payson. TED is an association that is devoted to spreading ideas via small speeches and presentations. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald

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Payson Junior High School student Gabe Toelupe speaks during a TED Ed Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 in Payson. TED is an association that is devoted to spreading ideas via small speeches and presentations. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald

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Payson Junior High School student Sydney Hill speaks during a TED Ed Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016 in Payson. TED is an association that is devoted to spreading ideas via small speeches and presentations. DOMINIC VALENTE, Daily Herald

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True to the model, there was both depth and breadth to the TED Ed Talks shared by Payson Junior High students Tuesday morning.

With a variety of subjects from anxiety and dyslexia, to spiders and pigeons, 19 seventh and eighth graders braved taking the stage alone to deliver their speeches.

TED Talks were born in 1984 with the goal to allow great minds all over the world a place to share their expertise and passion in short, powerful presentations. As the organization has evolved, TED Talks have touched on almost every subject from science and technology, to art, business and social and personal experiences. According to TED.com, the goal is to build “a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world’s most inspired thinkers — and a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other, both online and at TED and TEDx events around the world, all year long.”

The English teachers at Payson Junior High have incorporated a TED Ed Club this year, and made prepping for it a lesson unit in their curriculum. All students were expected to write a strong, detailed and supported TED Talk for the unit, but not every student was required to perform. Students shared them in their English classes, and then the top ones were picked for Tuesday’s TED Ed Conference event.

“Our students have watched many TED Talks over the last couple of months, so when we had them write their own, they were thinking of many different ideas. And we had them ask deeper questions, questions they can’t just look up on Google,” said Maddy Bragg, the English teacher spearheading the TED Ed program.

As a result of challenging the students to think deep, the topics shared on Tuesday reflected the people the students are becoming. Sydney Hill, was a visibly nervous seventh grader who started off the conference event, and her subject was not easy. She spoke of experiences with anxiety, even tearing up at moments, and the need for compassion and a listening ear for those who suffer with it.

“I have anxiety, I struggle with it severely, so getting up here and doing this is big,” Sydney said. “But the best thing you can do is listen. Reach out to these people and just listen. You can make a world of difference.”

Many other students touched on personal struggles as well, and pleaded with their audience to be more kinder and less judging of themselves and others around them.

Kaija Carr, an eighth grader, tackled even the most fundamental, almost elementary, struggle of most childhoods.

“Whoever said, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,’ should have a dictionary thrown at them, and see how it feels,” Carr said.

She went on to share statistics about how physiologically damaging it is to the brain to experience verbal abuse. On the flip side, she highlighted how healing and helpful it is to the brain, and the person overall, when words are used to empower and uplift.

Brayden Webber, an eighth grader, encouraged students to find their own superpower, while another eighth grader, Lexie Linde, asked students to look beyond people’s fake smiles to the real person within.

Daxon Geldmacher, another eighth grader, lauded film as the greatest art form — “it’s not just a movie, it’s an event and we all want to be a part of it,” — while seventh grader Tate Siggard shared his expertise and wonder on pigeons. Every student’s TED Talk was supported by outside research to further strengthen their point.

The event was filmed by the Payson High School Broadcasting team, and streamed live Tuesday morning. Payson High will now splice the video into individual, edited segments for each student, and send them on to the Ted Ed Club website, so others can learn from these Payson students.

For now, Bragg said the students who presented were mostly just relieved to be done.

“But it’s exciting, as we build the program, there’s so much student excitement about this,” Bragg said.

This event has been incorporated into Payson Junior’s curriculum, and also includes elements that prepare the students for upcoming SAGE testing.

“It will now be an annual “authentic experience,” Bragg said.

The broadcast of the event is available at Payson High’s Skalooza page, www.skalooza.com/utah-utah-payson/payson_high/videos.html, but viewing requires a free sign up.

Payson students take on TED Talks

By Karissa Neely daily Herald - | Feb 25, 2016

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