Theme: Your Voice is Not a Luxury: Bridging Empathy and Action

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

39 School Street
Ashburnham, Massachusetts, 01430
United States

Anna Zueva

Student

Anna Zueva is a two-year senior at Cushing Academy. She is an international student from Russia who came to the United States seeking new opportunities and an interdisciplinary system of education. Being a senior in the year of pandemics and facing a variety of obstacles during the college application process brought her to explore the role of standardized tests and, hence, she joined TEDx to represent this topic.

Julia Allain

Teacher

Julia Allain is in her second year teaching and coaching at Cushing Academy. She loves to include the valuable insight and unique voices of TED Talks in many of her lessons as a psychology teacher and was both thrilled and flattered to be asked by the Cushing TED Talk committee this year to give one of her own. With a master's degree in sport psychology, Julia runs her own mental performance consulting business, Allain Mental Performance, and has worked with many of the Cushing athletes as well as other prep school and collegiate athletes throughout New England.

Radar Onguetou

Educator

Radar Jones Onguetou Essiene is a professional conflict resolution practitioner, speaker, presenter, and equity trainer dedicated to lifting others through education, athletics, and self-confidence. Since 2012, he has instructed students in grades 9-12 on a variety of subjects, including U.S. History/Government, Civics, African American History, Economics, and French. As an individual learning facilitator, he utilizes hands-on instructional methods and encourages critical thinking to impart lessons. But no matter the audience, Radar encourages learning balanced with fun and confidence-building activities. And whether he’s teaching academics or coaching sports, Radar promotes the moral and social values that comprise teamwork in the truest sense.Radar admits he began his own journey believing that success should be measured in material achievements. Today, he operates with a mindset that views success as one’s ability to positively affect others—something he tries to do every single day

Talia Trigg

Student

Talia Trigg is a second-year junior at Cushing Academy. She has been greatly influenced by TED talks over the years and is excited to be able to present one of her own. During her time at Cushing, Talia has been actively working to grow and educate herself about the systems of oppression around her and her own role in upholding them, and she is always learning more. She has attended the national Student Diversity Leadership Conference for the last two years, which has transformed her understanding of herself and the world and informed the personal work that has gone into creating her talk. She looks forward to sharing her ongoing journey in anti-racist work with her Cushing peers and faculty.