Theme: I Think, Therefore I Can

It is in times of change that we often acquire the greatest wisdom about ourselves and our world. Our student, faculty and other guest speakers will share their thoughts on different kinds of thinking and doing - as they come to new awareness about the nature of the world and their place in it.

TVT Community Day School
5 Federation Way
Irvine, California, 92603
United States

Ada Hepner

Ada Hepner is a 15-year-old sophomore in high school from Orange County, California. A proud Jew, Ada seeks to understand and bring God into the world. She loves learning in various fields and creating art; she wrote her first string quartet in 2018. She hopes to go into the sciences as a career path in the future.

Arnie Benn

Arnie Benn is an author, a composer, and a teacher. He spends his time writing and teaching AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, and Human Behavioral Ecology at TVT Community Day School in California. He has previously worked in the entertainment and internet technology sectors, with professional experience including producing and directing film and television content, online entrepreneurship, and consulting for a 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign. He has lived on three continents, having grown up in South Africa, and he speaks three languages. Emerging from this disparate experience and exposure is the primary thrust of his message: we humans are all essentially the same, and we all, predictably, behave in similar ways in similar circumstances.

Ellie Glantz

Ellie Glantz is a high school student at TVT Community High School. Since she was young, she'd grown up in a household with strong feminist voices. She took it upon herself to learn more and came to the conclusion that there was time for some change.

Ephraim Light

Ephraim Light is a 17 year old high school student who is passionate about social justice, local politics, and creative writing. Ephraim is a community leader who organizes educational events about pressing issues, most notably leading a student walkout at his school after the Parkland school shooting. Ephraim is the Executive Producer of the TEDxYouth@TVT event.

Ethan Shill

Ethan Shill is currently a 9th grader at TVT Community Day School. Aside from academics he is soccer crazy, with his favorite team being Manchester United. He also likes sports cars and real estate.

Ethan Wayne

Ethan Wayne was born and raised in Orange County, California and is currently a junior in high school. His biggest passions are music and debate which he explores through various clubs and specialized courses.

Ilan Berdy

Ilan Berdy is a 17-year-old high school student from Orange County, California with a passion for self-improvement.

Jonathan Cassie

Jonathan Cassie is Director of Curriculum and Innovation at TVT Community Day School in Irvine, California. An avid gamer (tabletop, roleplaying, video...doesn't matter), podcaster (Many Windows, Game Level Learn, The Name of the Pod) and writer, his book on game-based learning and gamified instruction, "Level Up Your Classroom," was published in 2016 by ASCD.

Kevin Bachelder

Kevin Bachelder grew up on a steady diet of music in Springville Utah. He received his BM from Berklee College of Music in 2000 and in 2006 his MM from USC in Jazz Studies with an emphasis on voice and trumpet. Kevin has spent the last 12 years as director of The Visual and Performing Art Dept. at TVT Jewish Day School in Irvine Ca. Kevin will tour Japan in July 2019 with the Jason Lee Bruns Jazz Collective where he is the featured vocalist, songwriter, and co-arranger for the group. His most recent composition for two flutes and upright bass has been selected as a Jazz Summit featured piece for The National Flute convention on August 1 in Salt Lake City.

Noah Meislik

Noah Meislik is a high school student in Irvine, California who enjoys spending his time tinkering with software and learning about new technologies.