GSB Hosts TEDx Conference

Wednesday, Gill St. Bernard’s hosted a TEDx event in the new Performing Arts & Community Center, marking the fourth annual TEDx collaboration between Gill St. Bernard’s School and Blair Academy. Seven students shared presentations, including GSB students Rebecca Michaels ’20, Gabrielle Kaminski ’19, and Carrie Lotito ’21. Introducing the students for GSB was sophomore Travian McNair.

 

Michaels’ talk “Happiness in Waves” was a personal and data-driven look at the ways that being in, on or around water contribute to happiness and wellbeing. Kaminski presented “Art in Instinct,” a talk based on a college-application essay she developed. She argued that art is unique in that it is simultaneously subjective and objective—informed by instinct, emotion and rational thought all at the same time. In her presentation, “Forgot My Keys?” Carrie Lotito ’21 looked at recent developments in the science of memory and shared some mnemonic strategies to help us remember our keys.

 

After the conference, audience member Caitlyn Matthews ’20 shared, “It was cool to see kids our age discuss topics that never cross our minds but that we should really know about.” Fellow junior Emily Smith shared her enthusiasm, offering “I loved the way that the speakers made things that were complex or difficult to talk about easy to understand. Everything was so well explained and articulated.”

 

In addition to the students who were on stage, several students and faculty members contributed to the success of the conference from behind the scenes. Upper School math teacher Isabel Corbin organized this year’s event. Three seniors who were part of last year’s conference—Emily Axelsen, Sarah Crystal and Iyanah Vemuri—worked with this year’s presenters helping them rehearse their talks for the big day, while fellow senior Allison Keeler designed the TEDx program for the event.

 

Great job everyone. Stay tuned for video of the TEDx conference, which will be posted soon.