By Anika Lippke ‘24, Feature writer (March 2022)

TED-Ed is an organization most widely known for its initiative to spread knowledge. At TED-Ed conventions, speakers deliver presentations intended to educate people on their areas of passion and expertise. With topics that range anywhere from Economics to Engineering, TED-Ed is widely informational and quite interesting to follow. After listening to just one fifteen minute speech, a viewer can become familiar with a topic that they had no prior knowledge of beforehand.

TEDx conventions are events organized independently of TED-Ed, meant to carry on its great legacy of spreading knowledge to others through these performances. On March 31- April 1, Newark Academy will be hosting its very own TEDx event for the first time since 2019. This year’s theme, “Facing the Future”, is a theme that can be broadly interpreted in talks to inspire anything from future solutions to modern problems, to actions taken by their spectators. 

Typically a biennial event, TEDxNA is a special opportunity for students and faculty to speak to the NA community about the topics that interest them most. Speakers craft these speeches over the span of multiple months to ensure that the speeches will be both engaging and informational. Furthermore, TEDxNA is assisted by a steering committee of eight members who have each made their own considerable contributions to the event. 

“I hope that the event is engaging and that everyone learns something,” Ellie Moose ‘23, who is on the Steering Committee, expressed, reflecting the wishes of the other members and the speakers. Svan Mura ‘24, another committee member, added, “TEDx is an opportunity for not only our speakers but the whole NA community to take ownership of our ideas and what we know we can contribute to the world, starting not in the future but today, as high schoolers.”  

This year, TEDxNA 2022 features seven promising speakers who will all be presenting topics interpreting the theme “Facing the Future”.

Samad Siddiqui, a faculty member, will present a talk that addresses the current state of the user interface on computers, and how it can be adjusted to fit the current needs of people using technology in the modern age. 

Kaya Patel ‘22 will be delivering her talk on environmentalism, and inspecting our relationship to the environment and therefore, what our responsibilities, present and future, are when it comes to preserving the environment. 

Mason Kung ‘22 will be discussing everyday rejection and possible solutions to overcoming rejection and possibly utilizing it to one’s advantage.

Navyaa Jain ‘23 will be focusing on the importance of having a third-party system in politics, and how it affects citizens’ voting choices and priorities. 

Rahul Arora ‘23 is going to cover the omnipresence of math in one’s day to day life, and the usefulness of STEM to diverse groups of people. 

Izzy McNeilly-Anta ‘23 will be talking about optimism and how someone can adopt an optimist mindset for their own good. 

Finally, Suved Wali ‘24 will be analyzing the intersection between entrepreneurship and innovation, and his own personal entrepreneurial journey. 

All of the speakers are enthusiastic to show NA their studies. 

TEDxNA will premiere on March 31, 2022, during 4/5th periods in the Coraci Auditorium, and again at 7:00 pm on April 1st. 

Come down to one of the shows to see how their hard work pays off. Also, check out the TEDxNA Instagram (@tedxna) for more information about the speakers, times, and locations, and plan to come out. This year’s lineup is a promising one, so come out to learn something new.