Napa, CA (November 7, 2012) – Emilie Marenec of Sonoma Valley High School beat out almost one hundred students from four high schools to win the opportunity to speak at this year’s TEDxNapaValley event on December 2 at the Napa Valley Opera House. Napa High School, Sonoma Valley High School, New Technology High School and Justin Siena High School, each narrowed their overall entrants to select their two best students to compete in the regional TEDxNapaValley Student Speak Off last night at the Napa High School Lecture Hall. Each student presented their three to six-minute multi-media talk centered on this year’s theme “Connected” to the TEDxNapaValley board who selected the final winner. Emilie, a violinist in the Napa Valley Youth Symphony, approached the theme “Connected” through a touching talk reflecting on family and music.
"This is the type of program that fits in perfectly with the curriculum that our school has been developing and using for the past 16 years,” said Tom Solberg, Vice Principal, New Technology High School. “TEDxNapaValley is providing a real, instead of realistic, experience for students to demonstrate their understanding through critically thinking and orally communicating ideas using multimedia.”
Student talks were judged on elocution and style, their ability to immediately "grab" the audience in the introduction, use of digital media to enhance their presentation, the general crafting of their talk and the ability to deliver it within the allotted three to six-minute time frame. “The judging rubric was aligned with the Common Core Performance Standards - the new content standards adopted by the nation and in different implementation phases across the country to provide a consistent framework to prepare students for success in college and the 21st century workplace,” said Barbara Sabbadini, TEDxNapaValley Education Outreach Director. “Every student did an amazing job and they made our choice difficult.”
Napa High School Principal Barbara Franco said, “We must understand the power of the voice of our students. They have a lot to say and this is what this is about—spreading the word of our students. This is a historic moment.”
TED, a 25 year-old nonprofit organization devoted to supporting world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives has established TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world. The first TEDxNapaValley event took place in the fall of 2011 to a sold-out crowd at the Napa Valley Opera House.
TEDxNapaValley 2012 will feature 12 speakers and three performers from the local community and beyond. On Saturday, December 1, interact and converse with speakers face to face over a custom menu paired with wines from Domaine Chandon and Newton Vineyards at the Andaz Hotel. On Sunday, December 2, the 2012 live speaker event takes place once again at the Napa Valley Opera House. This year’s speakers represent such diverse fields as technology, entertainment, visual and performance art, design, politics, medicine, education and more, and each will bring their own unique perspective to the event’s theme, “Connected.” Napa local Pat Jeffries will serve as Master of Ceremonies.
Event information, full speaker biographies and online ticket sales are now available at http://tedxnapavalley.org.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of "ideas worth spreading," TED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxNapaValley, where x = independently organized TED event. At TEDxNapaValley, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.
For sponsorship opportunities: tedxnapavalley@gmail.com
Follow the conference on Twitter at @TEDxNapaValley. Like it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TEDxNapaValley
ABOUT TED
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Edinburgh, UK. TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to organize local, independent TED-like events around the world; and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.
Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks and on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.
For information about TED's upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration
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Media Contact: Tia Butts, (707) 260-5620, TiaButtsPR@gmail.com
Images available upon request.
