Gunn High School to Hold First ‘TEDx’ Event Thursday

The name on everyone’s lips these days at is “Ted.”

If you’re wondering who this guy “Ted” is, and why he’s so special, we’ll let you in on a little hint—Ted isn’t a guy, he’s a phenomenon; a radical idea that is taking the world by storm, and the next stop on his whirlwind tour is Gunn High School.

“TED” stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. It is a small, nonprofit organization devoted to the concept of “Ideas Worth Sharing.” It started out as a conference in 1984 that brought together some of the world’s brightest minds in the fields of technology, entertainment and design. Since then, the concept of an open, free-flowing exchange of new ideas has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. TED now hosts the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal Conference in the United Kingdom each summer. There is also the TEDTalks website, the Open Translation Project, TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.

In 2007, the Ted.com website was founded, as a way of sharing some of the most inspiring videos of TED talks from around the world.

TEDx are independently organized TED events. Last month alone, more than 200 TEDx events took place in 38 countries.

Meg Omainsky, the librarian at Gunn High School, said the concept of TED events fits right in with her philosophy and vision for what she wants the Gunn library to be—a place where people can collaborate and share ideas.

“Gunn High School strives to foster knowledge, creativity, integrity and personal excellence in its students. ’TEDxGunnHighSchool’ will provide a platform for students to get inspired, and encourage them to think big about their ideas, their future and their community,” Omainsky said. “The TEDx platform also provides the opportunity to showcase the innovations and inspiring stories of the broad Palo Alto community.”

“TEDxGunnHighSchool” will take place this Thursday, May 26, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the school’s Little Theater. Throughout the day, selected students will deliver “rapid-fire” presentations of 12 to 15 minutes each, on topics ranging from biology, to Bach, to dealing with natural disasters. Interspersed among the student presenters will be talks from local professionals, such as the CEO of Adobe Systems, the deputy director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory, the CEO of organic foods company Mighty Mouse Foods, a representative from Not in Our Town, a representative from the Heroic Imagination Project, and even the mayor of Palo Alto, Sid Espinosa.

A team of Gunn High School students have been working hard to organize the school’s first TEDx event for months— Soham Tikekar, Jessica Sun, Takuto Sasajima, Yona Ran and Sarah Dukes-Schlossberg.

“Our event will ignite the flame you didn’t know existed inside of you,” said Jessica Sun.

Admission to “TEDxGunnHighSchool” is free, and a select number of seats are available to the community. Visit www.tedxgunnhighschool.com for more information.