The TED-Ed Club, formally known as the Loudspeakers club, went on a weekend-long trip to NYC on Nov. 17-18 to work with other TED-Ed Clubs from around the world. The team members who traveled to the city consisted of senior Isabella Ruiter and juniors Kruthika Chintimani, Hannah Manjooran, Rishika Pasula, and Kaitlyn Dundorf; each member was personally invited to attend by the official TED organization.

The club has been running for four years and focuses on trying to let the ideas and opinions of students in the school be heard. They host events called “Boro Talks” which is their own form of TED -talks. TED-talks allows someone to get on stage and give a discussion on why he or she thinks a topic is important and why he or she believes in a position. The club members typically get to work on their speech-making skills. This year, the club will participate in the Poetry Out Loud Contest and the winner will be the school representative in the upcoming regional competition.

The TED-Ed weekend is a chance for all different people to get to join together and share ideas; it is also a great opportunity for the students to network. TED-Ed Club adviser Melissa Blevins submitted five students’ speeches and all five were selected to attend the summit in New York.

The first day at the summit was made up of three sessions in which students were able to listen to experienced TED-talk speakers and hear specific talks that were selected by the organization. The second day the participants learned more about how to develop a “throughline” and what really makes a talk successful. “Day two provided us with more of an opportunity to network with others,” Blevins said.

Even though their schedule was packed, the club members made sure to go visit the famous tree next to Rockefeller Center and were able to watch the figure skaters down below. The students also got to hang out with another group of TED-Ed club members from New Milford, NJ.

Overall, the trip to NYC was not only an amazing learning opportunity but will also be a lasting memory for the girls who were selected to attend.