Teen Ted Talks
At the second annual TEDxYouth@TorreAve this summer, teens gave virtual talks on topics ranging from the importance of biculturalism to the psychology behind climate change to growing up in the Silicon Valley bubble.
The Cupertino Library’s Teen Advisory Board collaborated with Cupertino’s Teen Commission to present the virtual event.
The mission of TEDxYouth@TorreAve, an officially licensed TEDx event, is to unite high school students, ages 13-18, in the Bay Area through the power of ideas. At April auditions, the organizers chose five teens to speak to the event’s “Ignite” theme.
“Despite the initial hiccups along the way, with the struggles of shifting to online education, our TEDxYouth@TorreAve organizing team was immensely pleased with the amount of dedication and support from our speakers,” said Teen Advisory Board chair Aditya Sharma in a statement. “Navigating through the current pandemic situation is a challenge in itself, but by bringing our community together in a time like this, we become enlightened by each other’s ideas.”
In a speech to kick off the event, Jennifer Weeks, county librarian for the Santa Clara County Library District, said the teens took advantage of the T in TED, an acronym for technology, entertainment and design.
Matt Lorenzo, the Cupertino Library’s Teen Services Librarian, agreed.
“The teens did a fantastic job of bringing their creative skills to new heights,” Lorenzo said. “The live streaming was also new territory for us, and we were able to reach more people than we ever imagined. It worked to our advantage.”
