Theme: Moving Forward

We're thrilled to announce Lancaster's very first TEDxYouth event, TEDxYouth@Lancaster! A TEDxYouth event is a TEDx event created for youth and by youth with the help of adult mentors. TEDxYouth@Lancaster is geared towards students in grades 6 through 12. Adults aren't the only ones with ideas worth spreading. We're excited to provide a platform for students to share their ideas as well.

Winter Visual & Performing Artts Center
60 W. Cottage Avenue
Millersville, Pennsylvania, 17551
United States

Akash Banerjee

Stereotypes vs. bigotry

Akash Banerjee is a freshman at Warwick High School. Growing up in the rather conservative town of Lititz, he has encountered stereotypes and prejudice almost everyday of his life. He is part of Warwick High School’s choir and band, and has a passion for drama. He also practices Taekwon-do, a Korean martial art. He has a strong passion for public speaking, and is also an advocate for Muslim rights, especially on social media.

Alexa Schwab

Taking action

Alexa Schwab, 16, is a big believer in “Taking Action!” Along with her sister Madison and brother Sammy, they co-founded the MAST STEM Center in Harrisburg City Schools. Their STEM Center (named M-A-S-T, after Madison, Alexa, Sammy, Tina-the gifted teacher) was a labor of love. The Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation heard of their STEM center and agreed to partner with them to open up a minimum of 9 more MAST STEM Centers around the country (4 are already open). Because of their work, Alexa was the first ever recipient of the Youth in Philanthropy award from the Foundation for Enhancing Communities. Alexa also is Vice-President of her class and Regional Vice-President of BBYO, a Youth Leadership organization.

Annie Dickinson

Synesthesia

Annie Dickinson is a sophomore at Lower Dauphin High School. She plays violin in her school orchestra and in the Hershey Symphony. She has been fortunate to play in some unique events, including a Lincoln Center concert with the Hershey Symphony, the NAfME All-Eastern Convention, PMEA festivals, and alongside the Piano Guys at their concert in Hershey. In addition, she is the pianist for her school jazz band and sings in her school chamber choir. Annie serves as President of her school’s Tri-M chapter. She has also self-released an album entitled “Synesthesia” under the artist name “Annie Elise”. In her free time, Annie enjoys dancing ballet and jazz. Annie is also focused on academics and is a part of her school’s honor societies and STEM team. In the future, Annie hopes to major in a music related field and continue to speak about synesthesia.

Brennan Stark

Natural building techniques

Brennan Stark is a recent graduate of Archmere Academy in Wilmington, Delaware as well as the CEO of Y Innovations, a nonprofit organization that uses natural building techniques to create affordable and environmentally-friendly housing for homeless and low-income citizens in the Delaware area. Brennan has been featured in several publications for his work with Y Innovations, including most recently, USA TODAY. Brennan traveled to Denmark as part of the 2017 UNLEASH Innovation Lab to pitch his work in sustainable development to government officials and international investors. Brennan is also passionate about education and renewable energy and is currently working on a venture to promote and expand options for young people after graduating high school. Brennan enjoys reading, backpacking in the woods, and spending time with his family. Brennan plans to study Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovationwith a focus in computer science next fall at the University of Delaware.

Brye Balla

The 7 Minute Principle

Brye Balla recently graduated from Pequea Valley High School. He works at Black Rock Retreat center as a Program Assistant. In September, he will go to Costa Rica with YWAM to do missions work. In high school, he was involved with marching band, the fall play, the spring musical, the concert choir, and the Chamber Singers. He served as the choir program president this past school year, and choreographed and assistant directed the middle school musical. He enjoys eating, hiking, travelling, singing, dancing, acting, playing piano, ukulele, and guitar, and hanging out with his friends (four-legged friends too!).

Drake Gooding

Eliminating age as an excuse

Drake Gooding, age 15, is a senior at Ephrata Senior High School. He spent much of his education (2nd grade - 8th grade) cyberschooling in order to graduate three years ahead of schedule. Drake is very interested in mechanical engineering, but plans to become a serial entreprenuer. He wants to get right out of high school and into the business world. Drake believes that as a society we tend to use age as an excuse to hold ourselves back, and he would like to change this.

Elaina Kreider

Finding the truth

Elaina Kreider is an eighth grade student in Solanco School district. The biggest thing anyone should know about Elaina is that she loves Jesus. She is the eldest of five siblings, two of whom are adopted from China and Bulgaria. Elaina enjoys spending time with her family as well reading, writing, dancing, horseback riding, swimming, and traveling. She has been to China, Ireland and France and hopes to add more countries to her list in years to come. At school she is involved in NJHS, the gifted program, and has competed in Odyssey of the Mind and Math 24 competitions. Elaina is not sure what she wants to do when she grows up but is thinking about pursuing something in the teaching field.

Lauryn Chotiner

Volunteerism

Lauryn Chotiner, 12, just finished 6th grade, although her passion for volunteering started at a much younger age. She began visiting elderly residents at a local nursing center as a toddler. In second grade, she donated her hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to make wigs for cancer patients. In 4th-6th grades, she created and sold gift boxes to raise money for AFMDA, a Red Cross affiliate. She has worked in a soup kitchen, baked treats at Ronald McDonald house, and created crafts for hospitalized children through Caitlyn Smiles. She continues to be inspired by volunteers in her community. At school, she’s an active runner on the Girls on the Run team. She enjoys playing piano and tennis, in which she has won bronze medals two years in a row at the Jr. Maccabi games.

Marissa Witmer

Curing Alzheimer's in Type II diabetes patients

Marissa Witmer, age 18, is a recent graduate of Solanco High School, where she served as Class President and President of Spanish Honors Society. Marissa has had the honor of going to the 2016 International Science and Engineering Fair as a Finalist for her project “Reducing the Risk of Alzheimer’s in Type II Diabetes Patients. Marissa is currently continuing her research at Hershey Medical Center and working as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) for Lancaster EMS. Marissa will be attending Franklin & Marshall College this fall, and plans on eventually attending medical school to become a surgeon. Marissa finds joy in challenging herself to make meaningful change and in inspiring others to do so.

Palak Patel

Body shaming

Palak Patel, the youngest of three, was born in New Jersey and moved to Lancaster when she was eight. She is an upcoming senior at Conestoga Valley High School where she is the Vice President of National Honors Society and an officer in Students against Destructive Decisions. Palak loves to be involved in her school through Student Council, Link Crew Leadership, Math League, and more. She has a passion for tutoring students, volunteering at North Museum of Nature and Science, and promoting positive mental health. When she’s not volunteering or doing things with her school, she can usually be found doing yoga, playing badminton, or eating way too much cheese. Palak has been to England, Scotland, Ireland, India, and she hopes that the list will continue! Her academic interests lie in math and science and she hopes to pursue biomedical engineering in the future.

Sadie Penn

Suicide prevention

Sadie Penn will soon be graduating from Penn Manor High School. She is planning on studying psychology and working with youth. She’s passionate about educating others on the importance of suicide awareness and positive mental health. Sadie enjoys writing, going for hikes, and hearing others’ stories.

Sammy Schwab

Taking action

Sammy, an avid sports fan, created his own Sports show, Sammy’s Sports Kids Network. He took action and his shows now have had over 1 million views. Due to the success of his show, he has been asked to announce minor league sporting events, interview Hall of Fame athletes, and has been interviewed on Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS, including a feature on Super Bowl Sunday. Sammy recently gave a class lecture to 48 business students at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania on “Following your Passion, Take Action!”

Sanjith Narayanan

Violin - Indian classical music

Sanjith is an eighth grade student in the Kingsview Middle School in Germantown, MD. Sanjith always believes that there is lot of commonalities between Indian classical and Western music. Sanjith is learning Indian classical music from Mr. Kamalakiran Vinjamuri (George Mason University student) in Violin for past 7 years and won many awards in prestigious music festivals. Sanjith always enjoys accompanying his teacher Kamalakiran in violin concerts both in US as well as in India. Sanjith will be performing quick raga elaboration with a short song (krithi) followed by on the spot creation of various mathematical musical patterns and musical jingles (called kalpana swaras).

Sarah Hafiz

Helping refugees

A rising senior at Franklin & Marshall College in her hometown of Lancaster, Sarah’s interests in how medicine intersects with policy and access to health care drew her to pursue a Public Health major. Having been highly involved with organizing and serving as a counselor at Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA) retreats, Sarah was eager to help strengthen the Muslim community at F&M by joining the Muslim Students Association, where she is currently president. Sarah tutors McCaskey middle and high schoolers through the Squash ACES program at the Ware Institute for Civic Engagement. In addition, Sarah got to spend some time this past summer in Jordan, where she worked with Helping Hands for Relief and Development to provide aid to the Syrian and Palestinian refugees seeking asylum. Sarah hopes to provide some insight into what youth can do in their own town to help alleviate the global refugee crisis.

Shohini Banerjee

Indian Classical Dance - Nandi Padam

Shohini Banerjee is a senior at Warwick High School and an Indian classical dancer. She has been training in the traditional Bharatnatyam style for twelve years, and graduated as a classical dancer in 2012 after vigorous training culminating in a two-hour solo performance. She continues to share her love of dance through teaching, choreographing, and performing. She also enjoys playing the flute, conducting scientific research, reading, and playing chess. She is a meticulous student in her studies and maintains her position in the top three in her class. Shohini will attend Schreyer Honors College at Penn State for biomedical engineering and wants to become a better person everyday by adopting more altruistic ways of life.