Louis Lafair

Louis Lafair is currently a sophomore at St. Stephen's. His other activities at school include tennis, soccer, debate, a bioinformatics program, and volunteering with Breakthrough. He first discovered TED several years ago and is excited to be a part of bringing this TEDxYouth event to Austin.

Patrick Wickham

Patrick Wickham is a junior TMI, his third year at the school. Born in Knoxville, TN, he has come a long way from his birthplace and has undergone several moves. His father's background as an Episcopal priest has fostered in him a contemplative and perhaps even philosophical way of thought. He has always held most dear to his heart the deep and passionate type of discussion which is how major issues are truly solved. This is why he is inspired by the ideals of TEDx.

Yasmine Smith

Last year, Yasmine Smith, currently a Senior at St. Stephen’s, created AKNOWLEDGE, a group dedicated to helping those affected by modern day slavery. Yasmine had an "AH-HA" moment while attending a seminar on South African slavery and knew without a doubt that this was what she wanted to do with her life: to help victims of Human Trafficking. Yasmine helped co-host the first “Freedom Fest” last Spring and is currently busy giving lectures and talks throughout Austin, spreading the word and getting people to acknowledge that slavery still exists in 2011. In her spare time, Yasmine plays basketball for the Spartans!

Alexis Roberts

Alexis (Lexy) Roberts is 14 years old and attends TMI—The Episcopal School of Texas. She has attended TMI since 6^th grade. Before that she was homeschooled. Her family has always been very tight due to the kids being homeschooled, except her older sister. Her family morals have always been respect, treat others the way you want to be treated, always be thankful, and serve others. She tried  every activity at TMI, and that’s how she found volleyball. At first it was just an in-school activity she did along with every other club possible. In 8^th grade she joined a select club volleyball team that practiced frequently and traveled all through Texas for tournaments. While doing this, she volunteers teaching Special Olympics swimming classes. With her mother she started a new volunteer activity called Chicktime, where she teaches others to love volleyball and basketball or to find what they are passionate about.

Richmond Dewan

Richmond Dewan is a 16-year-old Sophomore at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School.  His two major passions are music and technology.  A member of St. Stephen’s auditioned groups, Madrigals and Thunder Drumline, Richmond also composes his own songs and performs.  Both music and technology were early interests, and by middle school, Richmond had performed in over 30 community theatre productions.  Recently, Richmond combined his passions and worked as a counselor at a music camps for children, shot a music video for a rising star from Nashville, directed an adult cast and crew in a film for a church Christmas production, and ran technical elements of his school’s theatre productions.  

Emily Binford, Maya Saxena, and Julia Fowler

Emily Binford is a senior at St. Stephen's in Austin, TX. She is highly involved in the arts at her school, especially film and theatre. She plans to study neuroscience next year in college. Maya is a senior at St. Stephen's who enjoys theatre, knitting and rock climbing. She plans to pursue computer science and/or engineering in college, with a minor in drama and/or costume design. In her limited free time, she reads, writes, sews and sings. She is integrally involved in the arts and knows that she would be a different person today if not for them. Julia Fowler is a senior at St. Stephen's who loves many arts and many maths and many sciences and is super excited to be doing the first TED talk at St. Stephen’s.

Maqui Gaona

Maqui is a senior at Saint Mary's Hall, San Antonio, Texas and she is in love with the arts. She began with the violin in third grade, learned the main principles of music, and then continued to play the guitar and piano instead.  She started visual arts with drawing and learned how in love she was with it and began to pick up photography and cinema as well.  "Art is a very important  component in my life, and without it, I would be a completely different person."

Chloe Melear and Julie Gester

Chloe Melear is a 13 year old 8^th grader at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas.  She is an avid student of the musical and visual arts with a great passion for community growth and tolerance.  She is a student leader in the 8^th grade with aspirations to make her world a better place.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her friends and family and playing tennis. Julie Gester is a 13 year old 8^th grade student at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas.  She has a love for theater arts and aspires to spend as much time on stage as she possibly can. She considers herself a people person with a strong leaning towards student leadership, problem solving, and building communities of respect and tolerance.

Taylor Thompson

Taylor Thompson is a 12 year old 7^th grade student at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Austin, Texas.  He enjoys a wide variety sports and has keen interests in Latin and History.  As a Boy Scout, he is also a strong advocate for community service and youth leadership.  In his free time, Taylor loves to spend time with his family and travel.

November 19th 1:00pm - 3:30pm

TEDxYouth@ISASStStephensSchool is hosted at St. Stephen's Episcopal School in Austin, Texas. Middle and Upper School students from St. Stephen's Episcopal School, St. Andrew's Episcopal School, TMI and Saint Mary's Hall will be participating at this event. If you are interested in attending please contact Dan Laws at dlaws@sstx.org.

TEDxYouth@ISASStStephensSchool is being organized in concert with fellow ISAS schools. Four other ISAS TEDxYouth Day events will be taking place in New Mexico, New Orleans, Arlington, and Houston.

Please check back at the beginning of November for a schedule as well as a list of talks and presenters.