Theme: Blank Canvas

TEDxYouth@WISS will feature a collection of student and adult speakers, sharing their ideas to the community of WISS. It will also feature some incredible performances and a thought-provoking Art Exhibition. This coordination of this event involved a high amount of student input and direction and the coordination and production elements are also managed by students. It is an event for the students, and will highlight some extraordinary student speakers with unique and inspiring ideas. The theme, Blank Canvas, is to encourage a wide range of talks and ideas; there is endless opportunity for our speakers and audience, a blank canvas waiting for us to recreate.

Western International School of Shanghai
lianmin road
Qingpu
Shanghai, Shanghai, 201702
China

Grade 9 Dance and Drama

The WISS Grade 9 Dance and Drama group consists of students: Vanessa Bailey, Malin Stockare, Paul Johnson, Rachel Teo, Jade Vereecken, Patricia Kohring, Asha Luevano, Scarlett Lee, Tommaso Del Giudice, Alice Tian and Ambre Gestin.

Belen Martinic

Student, Traveler

Belen Martinic is a from Chile. She was born in Santiago, but moved to China when she was three years-old. She lived in another city before moving to Shanghai when she was seven and also lived in Thailand for 2 and a half years in between. Belen is fluent in English, Chinese, and Spanish. Her hobbies include hiking, reading and traveling. She is an IB student at W.I.S.S, where she has been studying for the last five years. Belen hopes to study Economics in university. Her talk was inspired from her experiences of growing up in an international environment and identifying the self-esteem issues in teenagers, especially of teenagers that are Third Cultured Kids, and how to overcome this issue. Her hope is to influence people in being able to talk freely and accept that everyone is different.

Cooper Vardy

Student, Writer, Traveler

Cooper Vardy was born and raised near New York City, in a shoreline Connecticut town in the Northeastern United States. He lived in North Africa for two years and has travelled extensively across 4 continents. Now living in Shanghai, Vardy is a junior at WISS, and has undertaken many varied and miscellaneous ventures. In addition to being a world traveller, Vardy can call himself a published author, commissioned artist, paid musician, tournament video gamer, scuba diver, philanthropist, and stage performer, among other titles. In supplement, he has spent countless hours in the study of language, geography and history. He believes that, in partnership with hard work and perseverance, hunting and taming opportunity is the root of all success. He would like to share this outlook with those willing to listen, and, hopefully, encourage anyone who wishes to expand his or her own portfolio of life experiences.

Danielle Popov

Student, Inquirer, Traveler

Although growing up in Shanghai since her very birth, Danielle was born in Toronto, Canada to Ukrainian parents. She is fluent in Chinese, Russian, English, and sarcasm. She has lived abroad her entire life and often considers her cultural curiosity to be a sometimes detrimental thing in her life. Her hobbies include; hiking in desolate areas with beautiful landscapes, psychology, reading (she's been reading independently since the age of 3), competitive swimming, theatre (both reading and acting), and team volleyball along with questioning everything she's ever been taught. The experience of studying at an international school recently made her consider the different gestures that people show to each other and expect, so fueling her psychological curiosity, learning the ways of fellow humans is becoming a priority to her.

Danny Khursigara

COO, Life & Executive Coach

Danny Khursigara is the COO, China & Taiwan at the Royal Bank of Scotland and a Certified Life & Executive Coach, and Trainer. Through the experiences of his corporate career he has served in various capacities, including Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for Fortune 500 financial institutions. Danny specializes in cross cultural engagement and leadership, awareness training, individual and high performance team coaching, and motivational speaking. Despite having much of his career focused in the corporate world, Danny’s calling is far greater. His purpose is to inspire and empower others to become successful through leading happier and more fulfilling lives and becoming the best version of “themselves”. As a qualified Life & Executive Coach, Speaker, and Trainer who was personally mentored by Jack Canfield—co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul series and The Success Principles—he is endlessly passionate about helping to develop the human

Elizabeth Nishio

Elizabeth is a Grade 4 student at the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS). Although from Japan, she has spent much of her life abroad and in China.

Fred Yang

Founder of Rainbow of Hope, Farmer

Fred was born in the Western Hunan mountains in China. He moved to Shanghai as an adult before returning to his home town to be a farmer. He is the founder of Rainbows of Hope, an initiative hoping to bridge the rural and urban communities in China.

Margherita Girardi

Student, Traveler

Margherita was born and grew up in Italy. When she was 16 she moved with her family with the United States, where she lived for almost one year. After that, she moved to China and is currently living and studying in Shanghai. Moving around so much, Margherita’s personality has changed and has been shaped by the cultures, people and languages that she has come into contact with: among everything, what she considers to be the most important aspect for a teenager exposed to so many changes is the ability to maintain a good level of self-esteem. Having experienced so many changes and having adjusted her life and personality to completely different contexts, with her talk she hopes to inspire and help those who struggle with maintaining a good level of self-esteem.

Mark McAuley

Teacher and Mentor

Mark McAuley was born in London, England. He was trained in education at the University of East London, where he specialised in teaching children aged 3-7. Prior to this, he worked in Sales and Marketing. During this time, he not only transferred those skills to mentoring young children and helping rehabilitate young offenders, but also was part of a Queens Award winning team for promoting Cultural and Social Awareness. He is currently a Pre-Kindergarten teacher at the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS).

Rei Meytal

Rei is a Grade 4 student at the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS). He is from Israel and has lived in Shanghai, China, for almost half his young life.

Yoav Reshef

Yoav is a Grade 5 student at The Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) and lived in multiple countries before moving to Shanghai, China.