Theme: Molding the Future

The theme of our conference is molding the future, which means that we are starting a dialogue on what we can do to try and make a better and brighter tomorrow. We chose this theme because we believe that now more than ever it is important to examine the effect our actions will have on the future, whether this be through pollution of our environment, what we are taught in schools, or how we treat our homeless, we must reform what we do today so we can have a happier tomorrow.

North Carolina Stage Company
15 Stage Lane
Asheville, North Carolina, 28801
United States

Allan Wolf

Author

Booklist says, "Allan Wolf makes reading and writing poetry cool." A two-time winner of the North Carolina Young Adult Book Award, as well as Bankstreet College’s prestigious Claudia Lewis Award for Poetry, Wolf’s picture books, poetry collections, and young adult novels showcase his love of research, history, science, and poetry. His latest picture book, No Buddy Like a Book, honors the special collaborative relationship between books and the readers who make them come to life. His latest YA novel, The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party, is an example of how Wolf explores historical events from multiple points of view. And The Day the Universe Exploded My Head is an illustrated collection of poems for children celebrating the wonders of our Solar System.

Davis Reynolds

Student

I am a 4th grader at Lucy S. Herring Elementary in Asheville, NC. I love spending time in nature, and I love animals. When I am not studying or learning about animals, I am playing with them. I have five pets but would love to have a big farm one day full of all kinds of animals. Anxiety in schools has been increasing every year, and this is why I think all schools should embrace the calming effects of animals. Our schools need to focus just as much on ways to reduce anxiety as it does on math and other subjects.

Emily Cortright

Student

My name is Emily Cortright, I am a 9th grader at Franklin School of Innovation Asheville NC. I am passionate about people and animal rights, and I speak out about my beliefs. I love to be around people who make me feel comfortable with who I am and to meet new people. I think that domestic animals should be given individual rights. That they should be adopted and not treated like property. I strive to pull more attention to this issue so that we can put in more laws that protect animal’s rights.

Heather Brooks

Nature Artist

I am a nature artist living in Asheville, NC. I forage the woods for mushrooms, berries and nuts that I use to create nature collages that I photograph. This work has been a catalyst to learn about fungi and its role in the ecosystems of the southern Appalachian mountains. I’m a big fan of all the small and wonderful things we can find in our forests and want to share some of the especially colorful and unique ones with you!

Kay Dalton

Kathryn Dalton is a 17-year-old student raised in Asheville, North Carolina hoping to expand her knowledge and explore her passion for chemical engineering. Since Kathryn was a young girl she fixated on mathematical equations and their complex solutions, which later led to her greatest failure. Kathryn hopes to share her experience with hyper-fixations and their damaging effects on a person’s point of view and personality.

Kylie Miller

Student

I am Kylie Miller, I am 17 and a current senior at Blacksburg High School in Blacksburg, Va. I have been engaged in the activity of ballet/gymnastics my entire life. Being in the community for so long, I noticed/experienced the toxicities of such activity with relation to body image. This encouraged me to pay attention to other activities in which my peers have participated in and I observed a similar trend. There are implied body standards romanticized to people relating to success. In my speech I hope to deliver awareness of such social epidemics and evolve our view on adolescent activities.

Makesha Gordan

Hello. My name is Makesha Gordon. However, I go by Kesha. Since 2022 I have taught 8th grade science at FSI (Franklin School of Innovation) and love it! My family and I moved to Asheville in August of 2022 from Virginia. I have been married for 26 amazing years to my best friend and we have 2 adult children. I have 3 dogs and 1 cat. I am a huge animal lover and if I wasn’t teaching I would have a career involving animals. I enjoy running and coloring in my spare time and I love all types of music. I love spending time with my family and pets. I believe that every day is a gift and I try to live my life each day with this mindset.

Marcel Duhaime

Educator

My name is Marcel Duhaime and I am 58 years old. I first met my wife, Beth, when we were 16. At that time we would each spend our summers on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in NH. Sadly, it took me almost 20 years to come to my senses and finally ask her out! This has been, without a doubt, the smartest decision I’ve ever made. We have one son, Sawyer, who is a student at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) where he studies Industrial Design. I am also a proud member of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy’s class of 1986. After serving tours in Honolulu, Boston and Washington, DC, I decided to pursue a career in education. I have been teaching math, computer science and engineering at the high school level for over 25 years. In my TEDx presentation I plan to talk about the difference between what I am required to teach and what businesses look for in their future employees. Sadly, they are not one in the same!

Mary Smith

Mary Kenney Smith grew up in West Virginia surrounded by woods and National Geographics. She earned her BS in Biochemistry from Ohio University in 1994 and her MS in Molecular Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA in 2000. She spent her early career studying the biochemical signaling pathways involved in carcinogenesis and asthma. After moving to Asheville, Mary started teaching in 2012. This is her fifth year teaching chemistry at the Franklin School of Innovation. In her free time, Mary enjoys cooking, listening to music, dancing, harvesting flowers, and exploring the forests with her family and dog Minnie Pearl.

Michelle Vruwink

Michelle is the founder and Executive Director of The Franklin School of Innovation. Prior to joining Franklin, she and her husband founded Arroyo Research Services, Inc., a national education research and evaluation firm. Ms. Vruwink has a diverse background of education and health policy, government service, and nonprofit management expertise. She initiated the community effort to create The Franklin School of Innovation, with primary responsibility for organizing local support, obtaining charter approval, and opening its doors. She has led the school from this original vision through to its full implementation, overseeing growth from 250 to over 700 students and the construction of its permanent facilities. Ms. Vruwink is a passionate supporter of excellent public education as a pathway to equity and social justice. She firmly believes that all students can and must learn at high levels, and that skills and traits such as persistence, innovation, critical thinking, and problem-solving can be taught. Ms. Vruwink earned her Master’s in Public Administration from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, NYU.

Nick Liu

Educator

My name is Nick Liu I have been a teacher for 15 years, I have taught in Miami, China, and Asheville, following a brief first career at the U.S. Geological Survey in New Jersey. After teaching 7th grade science since 2011, I have developed an understanding of the 7th grader and a belief that it is a critical year to engage them with the fundamentals of scientific thinking. The philosophy I would like to impart to students is that life is an experiment; they are the administrator and test subject in that experiment! While science is certainly not the only lens through which to view life, it is an objective one that will lead to a greater understanding of the connections that bind us all–to each other and the world we live in. I use a hands-on approach to engage students and enjoy the freedom to create that teaching allows. My preferred approach to education is that Ignorance is Boring, Knowledge is Power, Power is Responsibility, and Responsibility requires Action!

Oliver Edwards

Student

Hi, I’m Oliver Edwards! I am 15 years old in 9th grade at The Franklin School of Innovation. I love skateboarding, animation, animals, adventure, and acting. In my Ted Talk, I will be talking about the importance of trying something new and how it adds spice to the bland and stressful Covid life that we all have experienced over the last two years.

Peter Tromba

Peter Tromba is currently the high school principal at FSI. He has over 20 years of experience as a secondary school principal and district administrator. He also served for 5 years as the Interagency Policy Research Director for the State of Oregon, where he oversaw program initiation and evaluation for Early Learning, K-12, Post-Secondary, and Youth Re-Engagement. Before becoming an administrator, Peter taught reading classes to all ages and high school science and computer programming. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in education leadership from the University of Oregon.

Rylan Heasley

Student

My name is Rylan Heasley. I’m a 16-year-old musician, and I’ve been attending FSI since my freshman year. I have been doing work with the homeless population on my own for around a year and a half now and it has become a very important topic for me as I have known many good people who have ended up on the streets. I have decided to dedicate my speech to educating people about homelessness and what small things we can do to help show empathy and material help to the homeless population.

Sandi Wilson

Music Educator

Sandi Wilson is an internationally recognized and two-time Music Educator Grammy Award© nominee, musician, and educator. For more than a decade, this award winning music educator, musician, and clinician has excelled in the field of strings, vocal, and mindfulness music education. Originally from North Carolina, Wilson began studying music at the age of four and continued with her studies to receive her Bachelor's in Music from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte. She has since continued her studies in Colorado through the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and plans to continue to further her education with ambitions for a Doctoral Degree. Since Wilson began her teaching career thirteen years ago, she has built six different music programs from the ground up in various private, public, and charter schools in North Carolina and Colorado.

Sarah Pusser

Student

I am a 10th grader at Franklin looking to make a difference in the world. I have grown up with curiosity about the state of our world, and I can’t help but notice the impact plastic is making on Earth. For my project, I will be discussing how plastic affects our oceans and marine life, and I will be showcasing how I have attempted to clean our oceans; by creating a business, COA (Cleaning Oceans with Art). I will be collecting donations and selling art I made using plastic. All of the money raised will be donated to: Ocean Blue https://oceanblueproject.org/ Sea Turtle Conservation https://conserveturtles.org/sea-turtle-conservancy/ The Ocean Clean Up https://theoceancleanup.com/donate/.

Stacey Uria

Educator

Stacey grew up with a heightened awareness of trash- her dad worked for the NYC Dept of Sanitation driving a garbage truck. Her dad would proudly point over to the giant grass-covered landfill on Staten Island and say in his thick Bronx accent: ‘I helped make that place!’ Fast forward to 2022, Stacey lives in Asheville, NC and sees that each day is filled with dozens of opportunities to make sustainable choices. She points to the hills and mountains that surround their home and says to her kids: we help take care of this place!