Theme: Change

TEDxNCSSM was the first TEDx event hosted by a high school in North Carolina. NCSSM's mission to "inspire innovation for the betterment of humankind, through challenging residential, online, summer, and virtual learning driven by instructional excellence and the excitement of discovery" is in perfect alignment with TED values; this school is a place where students exemplify innovation and inspired thought daily. This year, the theme was "Change". Speakers include three outside speakers: Jonathan Hayes, CEO of RewardStock.com; Marc Mereyde, CEO of TiktoPlus, Inc.; and Hannah Sloan, founder of FreshSpire. Both Jonathan and Hannah are alumni of NCSSM. Student speakers include Tasneem Essader and Issac Schorr. Audience members will include local high school students, NCSSM students and faculty, and other distinguished guests from around North Carolina. TEDxNCSSM hopes to foster a place for discussion, inspiration, and the sharing of ideas destined to impact the future.

North Carolina School of Science & Math
1219 Broad Street
Durham, North Carolina, 27705
United States

Hannah Sloan

Student

Hannah Sloan is a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studies Mathematics and Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and she graduated from NCSSM in 2014. While at NCSSM, Ms. Sloan co -founded FreshSpire, an organization committed to developing new and engaging solutions to reducing food waste using technology. FreshSpire has won $10,000 in the Institute for Emerging Issues Prize for Innovation competition and has been recognized by MSNBC and the Clinton Global Initiative University. Ms. Sloan has a passion for public service, and she is also involved with combatting poverty through the Community Empowerment Fund.

Issac Schorr

High school student

Isaac Schorr was born on Eglin Air Force Base in Okaloosa County, Florida in 1998. At two weeks old, he was adopted, and he spent the first seven years of his life in Wilmington, North Carolina. Isaac’s family then moved to Phoenix, Arizona for three years and then to Greensboro, North Carolina, where he has lived for the past eight years. Isaac is an accomplished guitarist, and he also plays the piano, drums, ukulele and several other small instruments. He enjoys writing about life experiences and making music.

Jonathan Hayes

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), RewardStock

Jonathan Hayes is an NCSSM alumnus and the Founder of RewardStock, a company in the Raleigh area. After graduating from NCSSM in 2003, Mr. Hayes majored in economics at Princeton University and served as the Vice President of Citigroup’s investment banking division. After paying for his honeymoon vacation to the Maldives entirely with reward points, Mr. Hayes founded RewardStock, a web-based business which allows consumers to analyze their reward points in order to plan cost-effective vacations of their own. Mr. Hayes has received over $350,000 in seed funding for RewardStock, and he now lives with his wife and daughter in Durham while serving as the company’s CEO.

Marc Mereyde

Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TiktoPlus, Inc.

Marc Mereyde is the Founder and CEO of a web design and digital advertising agency, TiktoPlus, based in Wilmington. Tikto comes from the ancient Greek word for “to bring forth,” and Mr. Mereyde is passionate about sharing his extensive knowledge of communication technologies with others in order to inspire them to use web development to actualize their ideas. Mr. Mereyde also teaches web-based classes at the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Wilmington, and he speaks regularly about technology in the Cape Fear region. Mr. Mereyde holds a master’s degree in Information and Communication Technologies.

Tasneem Essader

High school student

Tasneem Essader is a senior at NCSSM. She loves Speech and Debate, watching and performing slam poetry, and changing people's perceptions on who she is and what she can do. As a student very involved with the #STEMLikeAGirl campaign, Tasneem is an advocate for female education, especially in STEM fields. Tasneem is an aspiring biomedical engineer who gets very excited when mathematics and the sciences are combined in order to solve problems. In addition, she is a chemistry teaching assistant, the Head of the Student Government Mental Health Committee, and the Co-President of the Muslim Student Association at NCSSM.