On January 11, a student-lead and organized TEDx event will be held at the Gracie Theatre at Husson University from 10:00 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. where speakers will unite under the theme of “Create, Conserve, Empower.”

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a conference that began in California and has grown into an international phenomenon. TEDx is an initiative of TED that allows anyone to independently organize an event using the TED name. TEDxYouth events are directed towards, or organized primarily by youth.

Diego Grossmann, a junior at John Bapst, attended TEDxDirigo for which his father was a presenter and he was hooked. “Attending this event opened my eyes to some incredible things happening right here in Maine.  Also, I was inspired to organize my own event, a TEDxYouth event directed towards high school youth. After I attended two TEDxYouth events, one in Cape Elizabeth and one in Biddeford, I knew I had to bring the movement to the greater Bangor area. I chose to name my event TEDxYouth@JBMHS because I’m a student from John Bapst, and so are the other students helping me. Hopefully, this event will inspire students from local high schools to create an event of their own. A TEDxYouth event has a variety of community speakers with talks directed towards youth, in our case, Maine high school students.This past year and a half, I’ve been working to create a list of interesting speakers from our community. Their talks will be directed towards Maine youth. The speakers will address the possibilities that exist and the opportunities that are to be found in Maine. Their talks will inspire students and hopefully make them strive to become more active members of our community.”

Grossmann enlisted fellow student Lydia Mackay to direct volunteers and Anna Bryan has helped with ticketing and getting assistance from the members of SEAC. Haley Deluca Lowell and Julia Leslie are working on food for the event.

NESCom graciously allowed the use of the Gracie Theatre and will be recording the talks and running the audiovisuals with assistance John Bapst technology students who will help in the sound room and backstage.

Grossman believes that it’s important for educators to attend, “For the success of this event, it’s vital to have educators in the audience. There will be a few teachers from all over Maine – Hampden, Brewer, possibly Bangor, Farmington, I think Biddeford, and Cape Elizabeth will be there. I hope that many of you can make it, your attendance will really make this event special.”

Speakers for the event include:

Susan Mackay, founder and CEO of Cerahelix
Roger Doiron, the gardener/entrepreneur who started the organic garden at the White House
Alan Lishness, Chief Innovation Officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Robert Shetterly, a Maine artist and illustrator of the portraits in the book “Americans Who Tell the Truth
Abe Furth, a 32 year old serial entrepreneur
Zoe Weil, president of the Institute for Humane Education in Surry
Ina and Esu, activists from Maine and co-Founders of The BARKA Foundation
Serena Galleshaw, creator of the collaborative space The Graduate House
The Maine Marimba Ensemble
Gabrielle Russell, an architect
Dr. Habib Dagher, the founding Director of the Advanced Structures & Composites Center
Graham Morehead, a computer scientist, entrepreneur, and IT professional
Jon Amory, talking about Baxter Academy, the new Portland charter school