TEDxRedmond - organized for kids, by kids

Reposting this September 2010 entry about the TEDx event that Alyssa attended.  The 2011 event is scheduled to take place in just 45 days on September 10.   We highly recommend your kids to consider.  It is invite only, so quickly send in an online registration!!  Alyssa will gladly play hostess to anyone that wants to go with her since she knows the ropes now.  It is recommended for ages 11+ and is all about inspiring kids to do great and hard things!  http://tedxredmond.com/

_________________________________________________________________________________

Saturday, September 9, 2010 - Alyssa attended TEDx in Redmond.  There are more coming to the area if you are interested.  It is very inspiring to hear the stories of these amazing children who go above and beyond being average!  BING helped to sponsor the meeting, so it was held here at Microsoft.  HUNDREDS of children attended the 8 hour conference, with over 14 youth speakers who flew in specifically for this conference.

"In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At TEDx events, live speakers will spark deep discussion and connection. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized."

World's youngest teacher, Adora Svitak hosted this conference.  She is 12 yrs old, her vocabulary was astounding.  She published her first book at 7 and has written over 600 children's books.  She also is a student of WAVA the online school stystem that we and 150.000 other Americans utilize.  She has been featured on shows like Good Morning America and plans to win a Nobel Peace Prize someday. 

We also saw Jordan Romero, who is the world's youngest mountain climber to have done Mt Everest and 5 other top continent peaks.  He will summit his final and 7th continent soon.  He was very uplifting in his sharing his ambitions. 

Jessica Markowitz, is the founder of Richard's Rwanda.  She has traveled there the past 4 years and is now 15 years old.  She has raised thousands for the cause that moves her the most in life.  She attends a local girls school but has now connected with girls at 9 other local schools who opened their own chapters to follow the same cause.  Her quote, "One of the biggest things we have to realize is how privileged we are. Going and seeing the difference of how much we have compared to people in impoverished countries gives you the importance of valuing things. Many kids in the U.S. don't have that realization. Once they do, they want to help out." $40 sends a girl to school for an entire year in Rwanda.  Right now, she is raising $25K because Paul Allen has approved a match to that figure.  How amazing is she?!

Finally, we heard some amazing musicians on piano, cello, guitar and vocals too. 

If you have a chance to attend a conference, you should! It is free and you will learn so much about setting goals and making a difference in the world.  I believe Tacoma will host a conference in the next few months, watch for it.