Collegiate Hosts 5th Annual TEDxYouth@RVA Event

The fifth annual TEDxYouth@RVA will take place on Saturday, Nov. 17, in Collegiate School’s Hershey Center for the Arts. The general public is invited to hear a wide range of local speakers reflect on the theme Elevate.
Since last May, a group of Collegiate students, enrolled in the Senior Capstone class TEDxYouth@RVA, and students from 10 other area public high schools — Henrico High School, Huguenot High School, James River High School, John R. Tucker High School, Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School, Matoaca High School, George Wythe High School, Franklin Military Academy, Hermitage High School and Manchester High School — have collaborated to plan this year’s free event, which will be held from 5-9 p.m.

This year's theme, Elevate, challenges attendees to consider how they lift each other up, improve themselves morally, intellectually or culturally, and engage in a community event to raise their spirits.  

To put on an event like TEDxYouth@RVA, students “have learned about the greater Richmond community — what’s happening, who’s out there and what kind of music and noise are they making,” said Rhiannon Boyd, Collegiate’s Senior Capstone Coordinator.

Collegiate senior Lindsay Milligan says she and her fellow TEDx organizers are excited to showcase the diversity of speakers.

“There are so many good ideas from a lot of people who are helping expand the mindset of Richmond community,” she said.

Several of the individuals the students researched and invited to speak include:
  • Rodney Robinson, teacher, social justice advocate
  • Nico Cathcart, muralist
  • Jeremy Hoffman, climatologist
  • Henry Haggard, child activist
  • Aerica Lauren, musician
  • Chris Largaespada, wheelchair constructor
  • Elizabeth Redford, co-founder of the Next Move Program
  • Matt Daniel, satire writer
  • Dave Watkins, sound artist
  • Danielle Freeman Jefferson, race and education advocate
Attendance to TEDxYouth@RVA is free, but registration is required here.
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