Have you ever felt compelled to action and change after listening to a TED Talk? 

The intended purpose of these passionate presentations (that often go viral) is to inspire and enlighten the audience. Knowledge is power and can be paid forward in a multitude of ways, both big and small. This is Goal 3 in action at Stuart Country Day School.

On the first day of the eighth grade TED Talk-style presentations, students delivered their individual research as it applied to climate change, banned books, Type 1 diabetes, girls’ mental health, and stereotypes in American culture. The Stuart students were asked to pick a social issue in particular because this is a topic that effects almost all eighth grade students.

Many of the girls remarked on the skills that they used and developed during their research and presentation projects. One of Stuart School’s core values is to engage with the world, identify problems in the world, and to work to make changes to these injustices. Eighth graders Karina and Zion shared some reflections on their projects:

 “What I’ve enjoyed from this experience is that I’ve gotten to use my freedom to do my own research on a topic that I knew no one else was doing,” said Karina. “I’ve learned that you need to do a lot more than just look at an article. You need to annotate and know the importance of the information on it.”

 “I have learned that it is important not to procrastinate when writing and preparing for my speech and to ask your classmates to help read because they might see something that you are not aware of,” said Zion. “I enjoyed writing my speech because I know many people who can relate to the topic that I chose. I learned that there are a lot of topics in the world that need to be addressed and shouldn’t be a secret. At first, I thought writing a speech and presenting it would be stressful, but after writing it I feel confident and proud of myself.”

Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart is a pre-K to grade 12 school in Princeton. For more information, visit stuartschool.org or call 609.921.2330.