Theme: Spindrift

Tickets for Spindrift are now available to purchase! Just click the blue "Attend this event" button!

What do a digital citizenship expert, a team of 4th grade poets, a 20-time Moth StorySLAM champion, and young artists-activists have in common? They are innovators in their respective fields, and are using their creativity to boldly make a difference in local and global communities. They are sharing these ideas at Spindrift, a TEDx event hosted by TEDxTheCountrySchool on April 23.

At Spindrift, the first-ever TEDx Youth event planned and organized by students at The Country School, you will hear from speakers who will bring their different ideas and areas of expertise in TEDx talks to the shoreline community. TEDxTheCountrySchool, a team of current students working with Country School alumna Marina Sachs '07, has collaborated all year to design and plan Spindrift, a day-long event focused on empathetic action, diverse ideas, equitable outcomes, and the power of play.

Selected by the TEDx team as the theme of the conference this year, the word Spindrift means the perfectly symmetrical part of an ocean wave, the crest of the wave that forms just as the wave is built up enough before it breaks. It's also the ocean spray that comes off the top of the wave, affected by the wind and how tall the wave is. Metaphorically, it's an analogy to the present moment - the exciting time that we're living in, our young age and how we're poised to make the future into something incredible, how our past experiences affect who we are now and how we can use them to make a better version of ourselves for the future.

This day will include amazing talks given by speakers, and attendees can expect to get involved with tons of hands-on stations! Want to get your hands dirty? You can be a part of our tree-planting initiative in celebration of Earth Day. Love playing with LEGOs? Jump in on our big LEGO building station. Ever been to a musical instrument petting zoo? We'll have one here!

This is a ticketed event, with a suggested donation of $10.

Questions?

Just email tedx@thecountryschool.org

The Country School
341 Opening Hill Road
Madison, Connecticut, 06443
United States

David Ryan Polgar

Tech Ethicist

David Ryan Polgar is a frequent speaker and a respected tech commentator whose ideas and thoughts concerning cyber ethics, business trends, and humanizing our online experience have been featured globally in The Boston Globe, Financial Times, Sydney Morning Herald, SirusXM, US News & World Report, Forbes, HuffPost Live, CNN.com, Inc.com, and more. With a background as an attorney and college professor, he digs below the surface to examine our tech use from an ethical, legal, and emotional perspective. Last year he co-founded the Digital Citizenship Summit, a global network of summits focused on the safe, savvy, and ethical use of social media/technology. Often referred to as a Tech Ethicist, Polgar has become a unique voice in the ways to humanize the web and improve online culture. Standing at the intersection of tech, business, and ethics, he specializes in utilizing technology correctly in order to maximize the human experience.

Fourth Grade Poets

Poetry for Social Justice

Students from the Fourth Grade class will be sharing their original work in a number of different poetry forms. As a group, they will be presenting their talk and incorporating original work throughout. Their impetus behind writing poetry is from a study of identity and belonging, and their overarching message is one of social justice and activism.

Geordann Daguplo

Singer-Songwriter

Geordann is a 19 year old singer-songwriter based in West Haven, CT. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing instruments such as guitar, bass, ukulele, piano, alto saxophone, and voice. He is currently studying at The University of New Haven with a focus in Music Industry and Business Management, and has performed at various festivals and venues including Webster Hall. Outside the classroom, he is working on recording and writing new songs. Where does he get his inspiration? Jason Mraz, John Mayer, The Beatles, and Damien Rice (to name a few), and it's clear when you listen to his music how he's used these musicians as role models. His songs effortlessly combine jazz, r&b, light rock, funk, and stripped acoustic influences, while still retaining an original sound. When asked why he loves what he does, Geordann replied, "I love to capture the moment of where I am in my life and what inspires me at the time. Music can transcend any barrier, and is a universal language we can all feel.”

Katie Davis

Author and Entrepreneur

Katie Davis is the author of picture books, middle grade, and young adult novels. After selling over 755,000 copies worldwide, she published How to Promote Your Children's Book, a #1 Amazon bestseller. Katie’s secret superpower is teaching tech- and marketing-phobic writers, so she created courses such as Video Idiot Boot Camp, How to Create Your Author Platform, and Launch Your Book Blueprint. She also co-created the first online conference of its kind, Picture Book Summit. Katie’s spoken at a maximum security prison, to students around the world in pre-k through college, including UCONN and Yale, and has keynoted conferences and fundraising galas. Her podcast, Brain Burps About Books, ended, yet is still #1 in its category. Using her now not-so-secret superpower allowed Katie and her husband,Jerry Davis, to take over the 47-year-old Institute of Children’s Literature, where over 404,000 people have taken college level courses learning to write for both children and adults.

Kolton Harris

Creative In Question

Kolton Harris is an artist, creative, performer, and speaker from Groton, CT. He focuses his attention on work that expresses the struggle of the modern black man, white privilege, and popular culture.

Matthew J Dicks

Novelist and Storyteller

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of the novels Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend, Something Missing and Unexpectedly, Milo, and The Perfect Comeback of Caroline Jacobs. His novels have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide. He is also the author of the rock opera The Clowns and the musicals Caught in the Middle and Sticks & Stones. He is the co-host of Boy Vs. Girl, a podcast about gender and gender stereotypes. Matthew is a 20-time Moth StorySLAM and three-time GrandSLAM champion whose stories have been featured on the nationally syndicated The Moth Radio Hour and their weekly podcast. When not hunched over a computer screen, he fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, a life coach, and a Lord of Sealand. He has been teaching for 17 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

Sophia Harvey

Producer and Filmmaker

Sophia Harvey is a producer and filmmaker based out of NYC. By day, she works as the Manager of Creative Production at GKIDS, an internationally acclaimed art house distribution company that has 8 Academy Award nominations in the Animated Feature category, second only to Disney. Sophia has worked closely with acclaimed writers and directors, including Steven Shainberg, director of "Secretary" starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. She is currently producing multiple projects. "Yellow Heart," Sophia's latest film, premiered at Cannes Film Festival in May. In her free time, she enjoys yoga and fantasizes of one day traveling the world by train.

Vidita Shah

Student Activist

Vidita is a seventh grade student at Clark Lane Middle School, and lives in Waterford, Connecticut. She plays violin and piano, and draws inspiration from J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series. She is interested in issues surrounding prejudice, identity, and the powerful role young people as advocates for social justice.