BY MORGAN GEYER
Staff Writer
What do Bill Gates, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, and senior Ean Eshelman have in common? They have all delivered a TED talk.
Baldwin hosted its first TEDx talk in April, and Eshelman was one of 18 students, staff, and community members to participate. TEDx talks differ from TED talks only in that they are hosted by individuals rather than the actual TED board.
Appropriately, the topic of Eshelman’s talk was the two things everyone has in common.
According to Eshelman, people should not avoid making connections with others because of the differences between them. People are connected because everyone lives on planet Earth, and everyone has some sort of internal or external conflict.
“I thought it would be a great experience and an even better opportunity to share my ideas with others. The most challenging part was listening to them introduce me before my speech,” Eshelman said. Eshelman feels he gained a lot of experience and was able to learn from others as well.
Eshelman’s advice to others fit in with the overall topic of the TEDx, connectivity. The theme was chosen by English teacher Dr. Daniel Harrold, who orchestrated the TEDx event. According to Harrold, the topic was intentionally broad to get a diverse group of speakers.
“I have always found TED talks interesting and educational. So as a teacher, I thought it would be a good idea to incorporate TED talks into the classroom, and it just grew from there,” Harrold said.
Harrold’s project became a showcase of the district, highlighting students, staff, and events in the community. These events included the Vision Club’s trip to Mississippi, the Austria trip for German class students, and the spirit brought to the school by the volleyball team’s WPIAL championship win.
“I did not see most of the participants’ talks beforehand, but I was pleasantly surprised by how memorable they were,” Harrold said.
Both Eshelman and Harrold agree that their favorite and the most inspirational talk was social studies teacher Adam Foote’s speech on the importance of connecting with students in the classroom, so that they can get the full educational experience.
“He really connected with the audience and highlighted that although there’s a push to standardize education, the students who come into school are not standardized. We’re all different and we learn differently,” Eshelman said.
Similarly, senior Dennis Doyle gave his talk on the importance of art education, encouraging STEAM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, instead of STEM programs that leave out the arts.
All of the talks will be available for viewing on the TEDx website in the near future, Harrold said.
