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Sujin Cho delivered a heartfelt speech,, concluding the first session of speakers.

Lambert’s TEDEd Club hosted its first TEDx show in Forsyth County on Friday, March 17th. The show was officially licensed by TED as “TEDxYouth@LambertHS” and followed guidelines set by the corporation. The show featured 12 speakers who each gave their own TED talk, but behind the composed and confident speakers was a journey of diligence and obstacles the club faced.

The TEDEd Club at Lambert began in the 2016-2017 school year. The advisors were Mrs. Janice Kochevar and Mrs. Noelle Suggs. The club launched largely in part to Simran Malhotra, the sophomore who founded the club and took on the role as president.

“I founded TEDEd at Lambert because I wanted to give a public speaking platform where kids could share their ideas and make a difference in the world while still standing out and not being judged. This club will not only improve public speaking skills, but also increase confidence, acceptance, and self love. We want this club to inspire many!” she shared.

Ever since the creation of the club, the idea was to have a TED show at Lambert to showcase several students. In addition, in December, Lambert was invited to attend TED-Ed Weekend at the TED Headquarters in New York City. Several students who had joined the club submitted an application to TED, and five members, along with the president, was accepted. Club members from across the globe—Italy, Spain, Korea, India, and Malaysia, to name a few—gathered to listen and interact with others.

In January, Lambert TED-Ed hit the ground running in preparation for the show. Teams for technology, sponsorships, advertisement were quickly created. Auditions were held February 14th and 15th, with a month to practice and perfect speeches. All the speakers worked rigorously with the editor, Karan Sharma.

The date of the show finally arrived after a month of high tensions. According to TEDx guidelines, only 100 audience members can attend a show, and tickets sold out two days before the day of the show. Karina Teichert and Trevor Starling are credited to working behind the scenes and running the show smoothly. Many of the talks were powerful such as “Confidence is Key”, by Khushi Joshi, while others were more heartfelt like “When We Love, Peace Will Come,” by Sujin Cho. The emcees, Lauren Hong and Karan Sharma, cracked jokes and interacted with the audience. 

After a highly successful event, in which every club member played a significant role, the club hopes to make TEDx at Lambert an annual event, and to give students a chance to speak out for years to come.