Theme: History in the Making

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).

Unionville High School
750 Unionville Road
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, 19348
United States

Alexa Kitay

Student

Alexa is a 10th grader at Unionville High School. Her favorite subject is Spanish as she hopes to use it in her future career as a psychologist. Outside of school she is an equestrian and spends most of her days at the barn. Her passion is advocating and spreading awareness for eating disorders and depression. Over the past year she has learned a lot about her own mental health and mental health in general. She will be speaking about how therapy, specifically Dialectical Behavior Therapy, helped her reach happiness in recovery.

Arnab Sircar

Student

Arnab is a junior at Unionville High School with a keen interest in many different topics ranging from mathematics and technology to economic and societal matters. He likes to study the nature of human economic activities with data-driven analyses and network science. He loves to play around with data to understand the world around him. Arnab thrives on building things, solving problems, having interesting conversations, and making an impact through his work. In his free time, he enjoys flying drones, solving Rubik’s cubes, exploring his heritage, reading, and playing the piano. At TEDxUnionvilleHS 2021, Arnab will be talking about the phenomenon of collaborative consumption in marketplaces where people decide on what they want‒ rationally and sometimes, even irrationally.

David Ferron

Designer

David Ferron is an award-winning fashion designer with roots in Unionville, PA. He graduated from Unionville High school in 2007 and went to Parsons School of Design in New York City. After winning Designer of the Year for womenswear in 2011, he worked in the fashion industry for multiple designers. During his time in New York, designs that he worked on were worn by inspiring women including Michelle Obama, Selena Gomez, and Jennifer Lopez. In 2018, Ferron brought his experience back to Unionville when he opened his design studio and store in the heart of historic Unionville. To this day he works with local clients to create beautiful designs to flatter each and every one of them.

JT Capperella

Student

JT is a current sophomore at Unionville High School. In school, JT is a part of Active Minds, Students Helping Other Classmates (SHOC), student council, Unionville Post, and the soccer team. Outside of school he enjoys basketball, playing soccer for his club team, coaching little league soccer, and skiing. Through TEDxUnionvilleHS he hopes to offer an optimistic outlook on COVID-19 and encourage positivity in general.

Jyotsna Venkatesh

Student

Jyotsna, or as most people know her, Jo, Venkatesh is a sophomore studying at Unionville High School. She grew up in Ames, Iowa before moving to Pennsylvania in 2019. When she is not at school, she spends time with her family and working on other activities. Growing up in a diverse college town in Iowa, Jo regularly encountered many diverse cultures and names. Through her speech, she wants to explain the significance of appreciating the unique names of different cultures and why we should take the time to say everyone’s names correctly, especially because her name is just a little hard to say.

Navya Nadkarni

Student

Navya Nadkarni is an 8th grader at Charles F. Patton Middle School. She participates in FIRST robotics and is on the speech and debate team. She loves to read and play the piano. Navya loves social media and has recently been using it to educate others on important topics. She has noticed how in this time of learning, many people are being “canceled” for mistakes from their past. In her TEDx talk, she will discuss how toxic cancel culture is. She wants to address the benefits of holding people accountable and educating them on their mistakes instead of immediately canceling them.

Patty Hillkirk

Educator

Patty is an alumna of Penn State University and a graduate of the Pennsylvania Gestalt Center. Her work in the HIV/AIDS community started in 1986 when she volunteered with the Red Cross, and then as a therapist with adults living with HIV/AIDS. In 1996, as the founder of Camp Dreamcatcher, she created a therapeutic community for children coping with HIV/AIDS. For the past twenty-five years, her tireless work, coupled with support of thousands of volunteers, have given over 5,700 children the amazing experience of receiving unconditional care and support within Camp Dreamcatcher’s Circle of Love.

Sarah Cathcart

Longwood Gardens: Vice President, Engagement and Learning

Sarah joined Longwood Gardens in June 2017 as Vice President, Education, where she oversees the development, implementation, and coordination of Longwood’s global education programs. She comes to Longwood from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the UK, where she was Head of Education and Learning and oversaw the quality and direction of RHS’s national education programs for school-age children through to Master of Horticulture programs, including the award winning ‘Rocket Science’ project with Space UK and the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, with 35,000 registered schools and groups. Sarah was a member of the Horticulture Roundtable Council, where the Horticulture industry and UK Government work together, and chair of the Education Group within this. She was a trustee of the UK Chartered Institute of Horticulture, chairing the Education group and a trustee of Streetscape, a charity training disadvantaged young people for careers in horticulture.

Will Cunningham

Student

William Cunningham is currently a senior at Unionville High School. He lives with parents, two sisters, and brother in Chadds Ford, PA, primarily engaging in difficult but fulfilling activities such as youth groups and martial arts, though he also loves discussing professional sports as well. He was diagnosed with autism when he was 16 months old, but is high functioning and has even done activities such as coaching YMCA basketball and leading small groups for a few years. His particular passion is speaking about his life experiences, such as struggles with school and how he handled the pressure, and he is committed to attending Eastern University in the fall of 2021, majoring in Interpersonal Communications.