TedxKids “Power Up” sessions brings talent together in El Cajon

On Saturday, June 3rd The El Cajon Valley School district held it’s third annual TedxKids@ElCajon. TED is a non-profit organization devoted to spread ideas worth sharing in the form of talks or speeches. Tedx is an independently organized event or program that brings together thinkers and innovators to share an inspirational, TED-like experience.

On Saturday, June 3rd The El Cajon Valley School district held it’s third annual TedxKids@ElCajon. TED is a non-profit organization devoted to spread ideas worth sharing in the form of talks or speeches. Tedx is an independently organized event or program that brings together thinkers and innovators to share an inspirational, TED-like experience.

The event on Saturday took place at Greenfield middle school and the theme for this year was “Power Up.” “ It is important to bring people from different backgrounds together. The kids presenting today are real talented and have great messages,” said Liz Loether, director at El Cajon Valley School District and the event’s organizer.

The event consisted of four sessions: People, Community, Aspirations, and the Future. There was a total of eight hosts, two for each session and 37 speakers. There were some featured speakers amongst the presenters like Congressman Duncan Hunter, Heather Whitley-Quinn and Dr. Kevin Lachapelle. Student speakers were chosen through an application process by submitting speeches to their English class. Speeches ranged all the way from enlightening the audience about mental health and other illnesses and students personal experience with immigration to the perks and struggles of being a twin.

The event was not restricted to speeches. There were four stations to help kids engage in the day’s activities: Power Park, Superhero Headquarters, Live stream Lounge, and Theatre.

The Tedx event at El Cajon has surely grown. The first two years ago had about 300 people show up, the one on Saturday had an expected turnout of more than 2,000 people.

Junious Blake, the grandfather of one of the presenters described the events as “Valuable.” “The children need to, at an early age, to learn about a life they are not prepared for and accustomed to. Events like this help them learn that and build themselves up,” said Blake. The kids did great, and this just prove that this event is promising to grow more and more every year.