Laguna Blanca School Students “Spark” Inspiration with TEDx Conference

Over 3,000 TEDx events are held each year, but very few are completely planned and operated by high school students — other than at Laguna Blanca, which had its annual TED Event last week.

According to their website, “the TEDx program helps communities, organizations and individuals produce TED-style events at the local level” which are independently planned under a free license from TED. Taking a hands-on learning approach, the four faculty guides take a backseat to the 16 students on the TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool team talented enough to tackle the project of planning a TEDx conference.

For the sixth annual installment of TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool held on January 31, the students chose the theme “Spark.” Executive Producer of the TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool and high school senior Danica Damiani loves the theme because “each person can interpret it themselves, whether they really resonate it in sparking friendships, sparking joy, sparking kindness, or sparking connections.” From the handcrafted decor to the lessons embedded in each TED talk, the Spark could be felt around the gymnasium.

Laguna Blanca’s TEDx program is an elective class of students selected from a competitive application process. Based on their rotating schedule, the team meets a few times a week during the fall semester and more frequently outside of class as the event gets closer. Students join a committee (curation, design, communications, operations, or business development) and, if they stick with the program for multiple years, eventually get the opportunity to move into a leadership role.

“Students develop budgets, fundraise, and execute all aspects of an actual large-scale event,” said faculty advisor Jill Sonbudtasan. At the beginning of the 16-week process, the students start by brainstorming ideas for the theme and continue to flesh out the details until the day of the conference. “These are all their ideas, from stage design to the type of music we’re playing right now to what we serve at lunch,” Sonbudtasan said.

Once landed on a theme, the team begins coordinating the rest of the elements like keynote speakers, design, and emcee scripting. This year’s lineup featured a diverse slate of 15 accomplished speakers and performers ranging from two of Laguna Blanca’s very own students and UCSB’s “Improvability Team,” to retired NFL Kicker John Carney and bestselling author Leslie Zemekis.

“We try to keep in mind different genres of speakers that will appeal to all different sorts of audiences,” said Damiani. And they were proven successful when actor and writer Lorena Martinez had the entire audience from kindergarteners to parents dancing to Taylor Swift’s “Out of the Woods.”

With the support of the student executive production team and their faculty advisors, the committees get to work as soon as the semester begins. Each day in the classroom looks different based on which stage of the planning process they’re in, whether that means reaching out and coordinating with potential speakers, editing the intro video, promoting the event or building the set. On the Tuesday night before the conference, the students were setting up until 9:30 p.m. and didn’t slow down until Wednesday afternoon when it was over.

After the last speaker walked off the stage, the TEDxLagunaBlancaSchool team beamed with pride as they huddled on stage for a group photo. “I feel so accomplished and this day was truly incredible. I’m so proud of all my team members and the tireless effort that everyone has put in this month,” Damiani said.

“The central driving force of this program is our kids. Our students are always seeking to stretch themselves, to learn as leaders, to design, to create, to solve problems, and to try and think of ways they can make the world a better place,” Sonbudtasan said.