Theme: Legacy – The Power Within a Generation

Good afternoon and welcome, everyone!

My name is Ana Gabriela Menezes, and I’m TEDxYouth@ESBRiodeJaneiro’s Licensee, Executive Producer and Designer. It sounds pretty unbelievable to me, now that I’m saying it out loud, standing here, facing you.
Six months ago, I decided I could use an extra challenge, as of course, school was just too easy and not stressful enough.
Not really.
But I had a vision, though. And a dream.
Those who know me are aware of my passion for learning. Ever since I was a kid, I loved exploring and creating. I have always been passionate about the idea of going to a magical place where people voluntarily share all the secrets of the world with you. Yeah. Some may simply call it school.
Anyways, along with this ever-growing enthusiasm for possessing knowledge, came my recently discovered aspiration: to share knowledge.
I believe that the sharing of ideas is the key to building a better world. A better tomorrow for the future generations. And above all, I believe we, the generation that now has the power to impact on our planet, have a lot to say.
And that’s why I worked hard to make this event happen. Because I believe in the power within a generation. I believe in our legacy.
Today, I invite you to witness my dream.
You are going to hear about social inclusion, equality, the power of communication, environmental issues, mental health, the youth, the importance of changing perspectives and the pursuit of happiness!
I couldn’t me more excited. I hope you are too.

Escola Suíço-Brasileira by Swiss International Schools
Rua Corrêa de Araújo, 81
Biblioteca
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 22611060
Brazil

Amelie de Oliveira Bruce

Student

Amelie de Oliveira Bruce was born in 2003 in Brazil. She is half Brazilian and half Scottish. Amelie has studied in Swiss international School all her life and can speak English, French and Portuguese. Her favourite hobbies consist in reading, swimming and painting.

Antônia Schmitt

Student and Ballerina

Antonia Schmitt has been dancing since she was three years old. Her mind, however, has been interested in many subjects, not only arts, since younger age, as for example sciences, literature, and, most shockingly for a young girl, philosophy. She has attended the Swiss School for her whole school life, being acquainted with different languages such as German and French. Her future aspirations show themselves still as a mystery to all, including her, although she understands whatever she choses there´s always a good perspective to be found and explored.

Joana Flores

Student

Joana Moreira Flores is a Pisces born in February 24th 2005. She speaks English fluently, German and a little bit of French, but she hopes that by the end of her school life, she’ll be able to speak all these languages fluently. Ever since Joana was a toddler she loved and deeply cared about nature and the environment. Because of her adoration for animals, for a long time she wanted to be a biologist and live in Africa, taking care of baby elephants. Now, Joana isn’t sure about what she wants to do in the future, but whatever that is, she hopes it can help something or someone. She’s also a lover of the Pop Culture universe; Marvel superheroes, Harry Potter, she could probably do a TED talk about that too. Movies in general are Joana’s favourite thing. She loves watching them, independently of the genre; she watches literally everything. Apart from that, she’s a very determined, helpful, anxious, introspective, happy girl, very excited and hopeful about the future.

Margot Tostes

Student

Since her mother is French and her father is Brazilian, Margot speaks three languages: Portuguese, French and English. Since she was a child, the languages she spoke were French and Portuguese as she was used to hearing those languages at her house. Margot learned how to speak English only when she was on 5th grade. She started to speak very late, compared to all her friends as she had to learn two languages in a row. Also, nowadays, at her house, it is common to hear her starting a sentence in a certain language and finishing it in another, usually when she is talking to her mother. She lives in Brazil now, but she wants to study in France, in a business school. Therefore, she will be able to discover more about the word, meeting new people and facing the challenges of living in a new country.

Maria Tonenberg

Student and Artist

Maria Eugenia Tonenberg is a Brazilian student, who studied great part of her life in Escola Suiço Brasileira, where she is completing her last year. During her school trajectory she learned and become a speaker of the Portuguese, English and German language. Also, the student got involved in several community projects. Passionate for the Arts, one of Maria’s most remarkable academic projects was the exhibition of paintings “Feminism through the Contemporary Art”, in which she did a rereading of feminist approaches on the artworks from female iconic painters. She pretends to pursue an artistic career as a graphic designer, planning to study abroad.

Maria de Fátima Machado

Literature Teacher

Maria de Fátima Machado has been a teacher for more than half of her life. Her young spirits, loving nature and incredible wits have led her to be one of the school's dearest and best teachers. Thus, due to her strong bond with the students, she is the perfect person to discuss the struggles faced by the teenagers she came in contact with, specially because of her understanding posture.

Paulo de Tarso Fernandes

Student

Ever since he was 5 years old, Paulo de Tarso’s favourite hobbies were going to the theatre, watching TV and reading comic books. That has yet to change. His favourite movie, TV show and comic book are, respectively, “Back to the Future Part 2”, “Marvel’s Daredevil” and “JLA/Avengers”. He also likes other types of book too, having read “Dom Quixote” twice. While he doesn’t listen to many songs, he considers himself a fan of classic rock bands like “Queen” and “Legião Urbana”. He’s terrible at playing video games. When it comes to sports, he loves swimming more than anything else. History is, for him, one of the most fascinating subjects. He also admires of animation. However, in his opinion, there is nothing better in this world than pizza.

Rodrigo Verney

Student

An enthusiastic for physics, he is currently attending the last year of high school. Rodrigo participated in events such as GARATEA's scientif competion and has written a book about dynamics and cinematic. He has interest on engineering and technology. This translated into his passion for creating and learning.

Sônia Bridi

Journalist

Sônia Bridi is a journalist who dedicated her entire life to gathering information and promoting consciousness regarding climate change. Ever since she was a kid, she was extremely curious about her surroundings and all innovation she witnessed. Now, she is 55 years old and is one of the most influential journalists in the country, thanks to her hard work and passion for the craft.

Soraia Dale-Harris

School Coordinatior

Soraia Dale-Harris graduated as an English teacher. Now, she is Escola Suíço-Brasileira Rio de Janeiro by SIS Swiss International School's middle years program coordinator, thus constantly in touch with teenage students. Due to her occupation, she is constantly aware of the generations' concerns and struggles, attempting to aid whenever possible.