TED talks capture the attention of global audiences to explore and share ideas with their communities. One Atlanta community decided to empower its students from Lower School through Upper School to step onto the stage and share their inner truths at TEDxPaceAcademy, an independently organized TED event.
On Sun., Nov. 3, Pace Academy, the first secondary school in Georgia to organize a TEDx event, hosted its fifth-ever event centered around the theme, “Living With Love.” Students composed and delivered all of the speeches, which explored seven of the eight Greek themes of love.
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Besides Eros (romantic love), all the speakers elevated their knowledge of love and expressed the different forms in which love appears. Paige Vadnais (‘27) discussed the ideas of Mania (obsessive love) and how she has found a healthy obsession with alternative culture.
Meanwhile, Bennet Cummings (‘26) spoke about Pragma (longstanding love) and how his long-standing love with movies taught him that life isn’t always a movie. Nekhi Stover (‘26) and Roman Pace (‘29) gave a joint speech surrounding how music has brought them together and with that the ideas of Philia (deep friendship love).
The two youngest speakers, Anika Singh (‘32) and Graeme Buffenbarger (‘32) gave a joint speech about their love of trying new things and learning from them when they analyzed the different parts of Ludus (playful love).
Teah Charkawi (‘26) shared her philosophy on Agape (love for everyone) when she shared how she has learned empathy from various people around her including dogs.
Harriet Blaha (‘26) gave a heartfelt speech about how running has many mental barriers and has challenged her multiple times, but she has grown even more from it and has learned the practice of Philautia (self-love).
Sam Halpern ‘29 was the final speaker, and he spoke about the importance of Storge (family love) while he demonstrated how to bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie on the stage.
The purpose of this year’s theme was to make people realize that love is in the world all around them, and does not always manifest in the more obvious forms like romantic love. Rather, it can come from a love of a craft that motivates someone, or a sense of self-love that can ground someone and make them feel confident.
Pace Academy’s TEDx events are distinct from other Atlanta-area TEDx events because of the diverse range of speakers, in terms of age, ethnic background, and subject matter. This year’s speakers ranged from 10-17 years old, representing four of Pace’s ten affinity groups, and showcasing students’ eclectic passions.
Organizers of this year’s event included John Hardesty (‘26), Madeleine Ganz (‘27), and Upper School English teacher, Robert Kaufman, who worked together to co-organize this event for an entire year. Hardesty shared, “I believe that TEDx is a really special program that helps foster an even better sense of community at Pace.” The event is truly about the speakers and their voices. The goal is to catch the audience’s attention and connect them to the speakers on the stage. Even if they didn’t have the same experiences as the speakers, they can find a connection that makes them think, question, and even self-reflect.
The organizers’ quixotic hope is that conversation will start flowing among the audience members, motivating the students and faculty members to participate year after year.
Learn more about Pace Academy in “Pace Academy’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership Turns 10”
One of these student speakers who courageously took the stage was Paige Vadnais. Paige is a sophomore at Pace and finds herself encapsulated in her love for the alternative music and style scene. The music, the clothing style, and the concert culture, all drew Paige in, and she shared her love of the art on stage at the event.
“TEDx has really helped me grow in ways that I didn’t expect when I originally applied. I feel more confident around some of my classmates and it has taught me valuable lessons about public speaking that I can take with me,” added Vadnais.
Paige also touched on how even though sometimes she feels like the different styles and interests can isolate her from her peers, she feels like being in the alternative scene is the only way she can truly feel like herself.
This year’s event also featured a musical number arranged by Livie Lynch (‘25) and two powerful student videos produced by Alex Eachus (‘27), Vivian Gerber (‘27), Kitty Lubin (‘27), and Jon Soren UyHam (‘26).
Over 500 attendees from Lower School students and parents to Upper School students’ grandparents attended the event last Sunday. “It was our best TEDx ever,” Kaufman said, “I will work hard to make sure next year is even better.”
