Theme: TEDxTheMastersSchool

Students at The Masters School hosted a TEDx event on May 20, 2017 at the Fonseca Center's Experimental Theatre. During our TEDx event, speakers presented a variety of thought-provoking topics with the ultimate goal of sparking conversation, engaging in civil discourse and raising awareness. The TEDx presentations tackled social, political, economic, scientific and environmental issues.

The Masters School
49 Clinton Avenue
Dobbs Ferry, New York, 10522
United States

The Masters School

Amanda Taylor Critical Race Studies “Context, Bigotry and Privilege” — Amanda's talk will explore the various intersections of race and power within different contexts. The primary focus will be on Jamaica and the United States. Field research and personal accounts will be interwoven into this talk. Jonas Kolker Psychology Jonas’ talk will explore the concept of “embracing the suck.” How does one turn a diagnosis into activism, empowerment and coaching? Tulay Akoglu Sociology/Statistics “Family Secrets” — Tulay will explore violence and family secrets. How do families grapple with violent pasts? How do family traits and coping mechanisms get passed down to the next generations? How does migration and immigration help to complicate this narrative? Both personal and statistical data will be used to explore these questions. Jared Foxhall Peace Initiatives and the Environment “Peace and Our Relationship with the Earth” — Jared's talk will explore various ways in which peace initiatives that involve working with the earth have been effective. Julia Mathas Drama and Psychology “Just be yourself.” How can anyone — especially teenagers — accomplish this when they don’t know who they are? Challenge your understanding of yourself. Take a more active role in whom you portray. Julia explains how to use façades to create the person you want to be. Sam Coppola Dyslexia and Privilege “Dyslexia and Privilege” — Sam’s talk will explore the services, particularly for learning-different individuals, that are based on economic circumstances. The speaker, diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, well understands the privileges she was afforded based on paid services. Ahnaf Taha Business and Finance “Diversity in the Corporate World” — Ahnaf’s talk will focus on minority leadership in the technological industries: why is it lacking? What is being done to counter this reality? A study of youth outreach in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) will be undertaken to address possible solutions to this issue. Scout O'Donnell Child Development and Parenting Styles “Parenting Styles” — Scout’s talk will explore the current trends in parenting science from both a sociological perspective and from the point of view of children. Sophia Brousset Women's Studies “Educating Girls: a Global Perspective” — Sophia's talk will explore the need for girls' education to remain at the center of development discussions. Research will focus primarily on Peru as a case study.

Ahnaf Taha

Ahnaf Taha is a junior at The Masters School with interests in technology and social change. His TEDx talk represents a combination of these two passions: how more STEM education can help combat the technology industry’s lack of diversity and help lower-income students escape socio-economic inequality. Outside of school, he is heavily involved in hosting hackathons and coding sessions for fth and sixth graders in New York City.

Amanda Taylor

“Whiteness is simply an abstraction,” Amanda Taylor argues. The 18-year-old international student from Kingston, Jamaica moved to Dobbs Ferry, NY to study in August 2015. In her talk, she tackles privilege from a different lens, exploring the ever-pervasive nature of a dominant norm that structures social encounters in order to illustrate how it relates to the way people around the world are perceived to be racially different.

Jared Foxhall

Jared Foxhall’s early exposure to a nature-centered curriculum as a homeschooler has instilled in him a staunch advocacy for the Earth. To Jared, nature is not a luxury. Jared sees nature as a crucial element of the human experience. His talk advocates for nature’s integration with the spaces we occupy daily at work and at school. He sees nature as having the capacity to foster wholesome individuals and as a catalyst for growth and development.

Jonas Kolker

Jonas Kolker is a 15-year-old in the ninth grade. From grades three through eight, he dealt with severe anxiety attacks that were triggered by his school environment. Jonas had to learn techniques and strategies that would help him manage and control his ideas as he progressed through his school career. Through his experiences, Jonas has learned about the workings of the brain, as well as the common fears we all have to deal with every day.

Julia Mathas

Student, writer, still guring it out. Julia Mathas is a sophomore at The Masters School and has a passion for theater, science, the classics and writing.

Samantha Coppola

Samantha Coppola is 18 years old and a senior at The Masters School. She has spoken about dyslexia to teachers and elementary school students at multiple private schools throughout Westchester County. In the fall, she will be attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts to study drama.

Scout O’Donnell

Named after the strong-minded, independent young girl in To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout O’Donnell grew up in Vermont and Connecticut. The alternative ways in which her parents chose to raise her contradicted the ways experienced by her peers at the competitive prep school she attended in her early years. In this TEDx talk, she relates her story of maturing into the independent girl she was named after. She shares not a doctor’s perspective or that of a parent or psychologist, but her own perspective on the best way to raise a child and progress in society as a product of alternative parenting.

Sophia Brousset

Reflecting on her personal experiences as the daughter of Peruvian immigrants and her time living in Peru, Sophia Brousset discusses the transformative impact of a good-quality education on young girls in the developing world and on society as a whole.

Tulay Akoglu

Tulay Akoglu is an 18-year-old Japanese-Turkish American from New York. As a person of mixed race, she has been grappling with identity and culture since before she could even comprehend those ideas. In her TEDx talk, Tulay explores her family’s past and how culture has been used as an excuse for domestic abuse and its secrecy. Tackling an intense and deeply personal topic, she opens up a dialogue between her audience and herself about why this pervasive issue continues to be a cornerstone in many families, including her own.