Theme: What's Beneath the Surface

TEDxYouth@CherryCreek is organized by a Youth Advisory Board and open to any high school aged youth in Colorado.

Armory Performing Arts Center
300 Strong St
Brighton, Colorado, 80601
United States

Aidan Gover

Student

Aidan Gover is currently a student at Legacy Highschool, he would like to raise awareness to certain race and income issues within the United States after living in Broomfield and seeing the difference between both of these areas, especially after seeing the outcome of people he knew growing up. Seeing how his father and other members of his family have affected the lives of many people through raising awareness of all sorts of problems throughout the world and spreading their culture in their community, Aidan would like to do the same. He currently is in 10th grade and a member of the environmental club and track team at Legacy High School. When he grows up, he would like to pursue a degree in the material science field as he likes learning about topics in science and mathematics and to set an example for other individuals within the Native American and indigenous peoples community throughout the world.

Alexandra Hammond

Student

I am a passionate and driven student with a 4.0+ GPA, and am active in many amazing clubs and activities at school. I love public speaking and am part of my school’s Speech and Debate team, and I recently made it to the finals at a meet where I was the only freshman who placed. Leadership is very important to me, and I use my student platform to make a difference at my school. As part of student government, I can couple my creativity with my organizational skills. I was chosen to be a student representative on both my school’s Accountability Committee and the Principal’s Advisory Committee. A huge passion of mine is travel, and my goal for the future is to work in international business, with a focus on marketing and sustainability. I am excited to be a speaker with TEDx!

Aloukika Patro

Student

I was born with a congenital disability called Caudal Regression Syndrome which is why my mobility is on a wheelchair. At school I am involved with clubs like Future Business leaders of America, She+ Women’s empowerment club. I am a part of the International Baccalaureate program at my school. I have my own Youtube Channel called Bollywood on Wheels. I am a part of the Youth Advisory Council at Children’s Hospital Colorado where I am the voice of the patient and impact youth who are hospitalized with serious illnesses. I am also a part of the SURGE group at Children’s hospital where I discuss and motivate the young patients to handle struggles juggling with the similar disabilities/surgeries. My current focus is to spread awareness about mental health in youth with my initiative called the KIKA project. KIKA comes from my name “ALOU -KIKA”. K.I.K.A. stands for “Kindness Inspires Kind Acts”.

Andrea Frishmuth

Student - Dancer

Andrea began her dance career at age 3 with lessons in classical dance. She began Irish dancing at Celtic Steps dance studios when she was 8-years old. She started to compete at local competitions shortly thereafter. After working her way up the ranks locally in Colorado she competed in her first national competition in 2016. In the years since Andrea has placed in several state and local competitions across the western United States. In 2019 Andrea competed in her first international competition at the North American Irish Dance Championships in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the fall of 2019 at the United States Western Regionals, she placed in the top 15 for her age group and qualified for the 2020 Irish Dance World Championships in Dublin, Ireland. Unfortunately, the 2020 and 2021 World Championships were canceled due to Covid. Andrea currently has her sights set on re-qualifying for the World Championships before she graduates from high school.

Chris Cervantes Dunn

Student

Chris Cervantes Dunn is a Junior at Wheat Ridge High School. Chris has a passion for literature, especially when it comes to reading varying genres, and when it comes to personal writings. They also have strong opinions when it comes to how we can make the world better, on both small and larger scales. In their talk, they are planning on speaking on the importance of adequate education when it comes to health, and how schools specifically need to implement comprehensible and mandatory health education.

Elias Earl

The Elias Earl Quintet is a group focused on a fusion of Modern Jazz and Hip Hop. The Quintet includes drummer Declan Scully(AKA GOLDYCHOPS), pianist Scarlet Before-Horses, saxophone/clarinet player Avery Rains, Bassist Aesop Pelta-Tiller, and Elias Haberberger the vibraphonist and composer.

Emmy Alvarez

Student

My experience growing up in a country foreign to my culture has not only shaped the focus of my Ted Talk, but it has also shaped the passions and interests I currently share. Amongst those is my passion for translation and the perspective I have gained as a Bilingual student who despite many tribulations, discovered newfound strength in the parallel relationship that my mother tongue and my then developing language shared. Through the power of translation, I have not only grown aware of the struggles communities alienated by language barriers have to endure, but I’ve also discovered the extent of the language barrier’s role in terms of limited educational exploration and future professional development.

Hadden Hatch

Student

Hadden Hatch is many things, a student, brother, son, “teacher,” but most importantly a learner. This longing has created a passion for storytelling and sociology. Hadden is a senior at Mountain Range High School in Westminister, he is also a student at CU Denver and certified in Business Administration. He works as a site aid at the STEM Launch K-8 Afterschool BASE Program and has since September 2021. Throughout his experiences, Hadden prides himself on being a young leader who hopes to inspire change throughout his lifetime.

Haylee Bass

Student

I was born and raised in Colorado. My family and friends have inspired me to have my personal mission of positively impacting people through my everyday actions. In my opinion, giving a Tedx talk goes along with this mission so I have wanted to give one for a long time. The main topic I have wanted to talk about is the mental health of our youth. This is due to my own mental health struggles in the past. I am very passionate about the topic and want to help as many people as I can get through their mental health struggles. I believe giving a Tedx talk can spread a positive message about this throughout the world and that is my goal.

Jack Haag

Student

Inquisitive in nature, Jack’s curiosity about why the Denver Area’s public transit and housing are the way they are has turned into a broader passion for urban planning and design. This includes everything from the history of the topic, to housing policy, to why different cities prefer different modes of transportation, to how redlining still affects our cities today, to why smart planning is important to making our cities and suburbs more environmentally sustainable. Jack believes that with better planning, our communities can be more environmentally friendly, economically sustainable, and have a higher quality of life. Jack lives in Littleton with his parents and two older sisters.

Kai Calkin

Student

I am 14 years old and a student at Embark Education. I currently find a passion for engaging with the world around me in various ways. I’m into art in all forms of expression. I find beauty in redemption, forgiveness, seeing outside the box and looking at life through multiple lenses. I am a creative writer, graphic artist and learner at Embark Education. None of that defines me though. I am simply me, each new day.I value the voiceless and what others may find meaningless; a plant, a random kid in school, a stray dog that follows me into the ocean, a lone kid. I look at the cracks in the sidewalk to notice the little plants trying to grow up through the cement; how strong and persistent they are. A voice in the voiceless. We could spend our whole lives trying to understand someone without even asking them who they are or helping them know themselves. Assumptions can build or break a community. When will we start seeing each other as whole and not bit by bit pieces?

Michael Zhang

Michael Zhang is passionately curious about science, math, and technology. He designed and developed small video games with JavaScript, a programming language he learned through YouTube videos when he was seven. He has also explored and experimented with other computer technologies, such as Cloud technologies. Michael loves watching YouTube videos, especially documentaries on space science and life science. During the Covid pandemic, video games became Michael’s biggest obsession and seriously disturbed his school and daily life. Through his struggles, Michael realizes how vulnerable kids are to video games’ powerful temptation.

Ryan Pool

Student

Ryan is an entrepreneur and nationally ranked tennis player. In May, he secured funding from Orange County investors for his most recent business, Tennisify. He serves as an Ambassador for Economics for Leaders and coaches tennis in his spare time. Ryan trains hard on and off the tennis court. When not playing you’ll find him asking questions and soaking up learning opportunities. His mission is to make the world a better place through innovation, using kindness, drive, and curiosity. Ryan was diagnosed with apraxia of speech at two years old, and dyslexia as a kindergartener. He has big ideas but slow processing time and works hard to understand how to optimize his brain. He’s grateful for his amazing tutors, teachers, and mentors who taught him how to advocate for himself and others.

Samuel Law

Student

Hi! I am a Junior at Legacy High School. I'm an American Born Chinese and I moved to Colorado when I was two. Since then, I've gone through school and picked up various skills, such as Piano, Tennis, Flute, a knack for losing things, and the inability to find anything around my house except food. I'm also gifted and talented, but my mother says that I'm only gifted and talented in being a dork. Nowadays, I spend most of my time focusing on school, trying to improve in tennis, volunteering at my church, and doing other side projects such as writing books, making short films, and other general shenanigans. I work with children and they seem to like me (or at least, like to insult me). As of now, I am working towards a future in Aerospace Engineering, because I am a dork and love planes, rockets, and space in general. And to make things clear, I do not want a career in law, or anything related to the legal field even though I know my name would make the coolest law firm title ever.