TEDxTalk in Oak Forest Successfully Shines a Light on Our Youth

As the lights dimmed and the first speaker of the TEDxYouth@OakParkAve lecture series took the stage, the audience was fascinated. There was a genuine sharing of ideas that occurred over the next 2 hours and that was the goal when Annais Gangolf started planning this TEDx Event.

Sharing ideas is the whole idea behind the "TED" movement. TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

Annais Gangolf took the initiative to apply for a TEDx license and received one to her delight. She then started rounding up speakers from Oak Forest and planning her event. It all came to fruition on June 3rd, 2018 at Gaelic Park in Oak Forest.

Her speakers were fantastic. First up was Yosra Abdulwahid and Reneen Allan. They are going to be seniors at Oak Forest High School and they spoke about standardized tests and how they fail students. Then was Ed Lipowski who is the AP Geography and History teacher at Oak Forest High School. His talk was entitled "Democracy is Not a Spectator Sport" and spoke of how important it is for people, especially our youth, to be involved in the American democratic system. Up next was Shealyn Scott who talked about the importance of gun control and how it is everyone's duty to get involved. Gabrielle Rona then spoke about her path to passion through hard work and dedication. Lastly, Breanne Morrissey spoke about epilepsy and how her brother coped during his life living with epilepsy. Annais Gangolf was the moderator of the event and she was very happy with the end results.

When Annais Gangolf was asked why she went through all this trouble to put on this event, she had a simple answer. She said,

"The whole idea of sharing ideas in a genuine and truthful way is important in today's climate. We are bombarded everyday with advertising and information that has an agenda. A TEDx Event is the antithesis of this. It is just for the sole purpose of sharing ideas and I think that is meaningful."

When organizing a TEDxEvent, no money can be made off the event. Ticket sales go directly to producing it. Annais Gangolf reported that it actually cost her money to create this endeavor but she thought it was worthwhile.

All of the TEDxTalks that occurred were videotaped by Ronan Morrissey and Brandon Boyce who are both alumnus of Oak Forest High School and donated their time and equipment. All the talks will be uploaded to the TEDx Network Youtube channel in the next week so they will be able to be viewed by the entire world.

So what is up next for TEDxYouth@OakParkAve? Annais reports that she in the process of organizing a TEDed Club in her high school and another TEDxYouth lecture series which will hopefully take place at the high school. We look forward to seeing what comes next.