Laguna Blanca School students produced another successful and sold-out TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool event on Jan. 29.
Based on the theme UNCHARTED, the event featured 20 speakers and performers from around the world who explored the theme by pushing the boundaries and sparking discussions about space, literature, disease, culture, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and music.
“This year, we wanted to go into new territory and we felt the theme UNCHARTED was the best way to do that,” said Rhami Zeini, Laguna junior and head of the business development team for the TEDx Project-based Leadership class.
Among the speakers were: Alison Teal, named the Female Indiana Jones by Time Magazine; Jen Bricker, an acrobat and aerialist who was born without legs; and Charlie Plumb, a former navy pilot captain and ex-POW for six years during the Vietnam War.
With some 650 attending, the event took place on the school’s Hope Ranch campus in Merovick Gymnasium, which was transformed into a theater— fully designed by students — reflecting uncharted territory from the deep sea to outer space.
What makes TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool different from other TEDx events is that the entire production is planned and run by students.
At Laguna Blanca, students in grades 9-12 can take TEDx as a class, which allows them to develop organizational leadership skills while working in a collaborative team environment to create and produce the school’s annual TEDx event.
Based on skills and interests, the group divides into six sub-teams: Executive Production, Design, Curation, Operations, Publicity, and Business Development, each of which is charged with specific tasks.
With support from faculty guides Anna Alldredge and Allison Armstrong, the teams accomplish everything from designing the stage set to creating and managing a complex budget, and organizing professional quality audio and visual coverage. The resulting talks are then shared around the world.
“Essentially, the students in this 16-week elective class are running their own nonprofit organization, top to bottom. And, the final project is this meaningful daylong TEDx event, a gift to the Laguna Blanca and Santa Barbara communities,” said humanities teacher Alldredge.
In addition to the three sessions of talks, the TEDx team created interactive galleries outside the gym for attendees to further explore the event’s theme during breaks. One gallery allowed guests to plant the seeds (succulent seedlings) of their own ideas on a living wall.
Local community organizations like the Santa Barbara Zoo, Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Musicology, and the Santa Barbara Audubon Society operated interactive booths for students to explore.
A community-wide effort, the following organizations, families and businesses partnered with TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool to make the event possible:
Connor Capital, Santa Barbara Foundation, Mosher Foundation, Montecito Bank & Trust, O’Connor Family, Bollag Family, Santa Barbara Design Center, Wyatt Technology, Viva Taco Bar, Movegreen, Domino’s, Martha Tolles, Farrell Family, Maps.com, Waiakea Hawaiian Volcanic Water.
Spark Creative Events, Bright Event Rentals, Anderson Family, Kopu Pure Sparkling Water, Scheinberg Orthopedic Group, Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Tolles Family, Fowler Family, Fuladi Family, Ellen Robinson.
Musicology, Zeini Family, Raith Family, King Family, Morouse Family, Adams Printing & Graphics, Santa Barbara Audubon Society Eyes in the Sky, the YMCA, UCSB, Schiebler Family, and Amazebooth.
Visit www.tedxlagunablancaschool.com for more information about the program or to meet the speakers. For more about the school, visit lagunablanca.org or call 805-687-2461.
— Tara Broucqsault for Laguna Blanca School.