Check out 9 year old Ellen’s instructive video on sewing for children!

And check out Matthew’s great idea for a Portable Allergen Specialized Spectrometer at Connect A Million Minds “Wouldn’t It Be Cool If…” project.  If you think it’s as  totally awesome as we do, consider giving it a positive vote, too!

“Of all the gatherings, it’s TED, which might as well be the official event of digitization, that has acquired an outsize cultural footprint. Giving a talk at TED, the technology journalist Steven Levy has written, is “a rite of passage for an Internet-age intellectual.” The conference makes the Stuff White People Like list. In last year’s The Muppets movie, the character Scooter is updated to be a Google employee and TED attendee. And just as Davos is darkly symbolic to those who believe the world is controlled by 300 people, TED is uniquely able to stir up the Internet’s latent intellectual-class resentments. To attendees, or “TEDsters,” as they refer to themselves, tweeting from behind the velvet rope is a chance to camouflage pride as wonderment. From the 2011 conference, Ashton Kutcher shared that he was “jazzed to be here” and “Wow.” To speakers, filing a dispatch from TED is the jackpot of false modesty. “As I was stepping onstage,” Eboo Patel blogged in 2008 in a classic of the genre, “I thought to myself, ‘Literally everyone in the audience is smarter than me.’ ”

Author Benjamin Wallace goes on to observe, “To judge by TED’s remarkable success, we may well be living in a golden age of ideas, a time not just of counter-counter-­counter­intuitive concepts but of their exhilarating democratization. Yet it’s also possible to see in TED’s recent growth strategies the marks of desperation and dilution. With more and more conferences fighting over the same speakers, sponsors, guests, and ideas, the sustainability of the movement has begun to look increasingly tenuous. Might there be a cap on the number of interesting ideas in the universe? “Then it becomes Coke and Pepsi,” says Jolie Hunt, the global head of PR for Thomson Reuters, who has gone to virtually all the big status confabs. “Then it becomes: ‘Whose curation, whose guests, whose audience is better?’ ” Or, as Zolli says, “What’s happening to the whole category is it’s all becoming commoditized. The secret sauce has been fully digested. There’s a general feeling of replication and fatigue. Most of this conference explosion will die.”

This is something at least some of us at TEDxYouth@TampaBay have considered, especially during the recent SOPA protest, when rather than going dark like many other large organizations in protest of potential large scale censorship, TED choose to do what it does best – talk about the issue – over acting on it.   TEDxYouth@TampaBay chose to go dark.

As an independently organized event, TEDxYouth@TampaBay has to meet branding and other production guidelines set by TED, but we set our own tone and focus, and bring our own unique take on the goal of “Ideas worth Sharing” to the table.

Principle among those goals is we seek to be equal parts talk and action. It’s great to have ideas and to learn from those who have parlayed their ideas into potent economic, cultural, social and educational improvements. But if all we’re doing is sharing ideas, with no opportunity to put them into action, that’s not very helpful or useful.  To that end, we’ve added a new page to our website that will help you connect with past speakers to join in their efforts for change, or their projects for good – to Take Action.

Soft spoken Matthew Temmer spoke out firmly and with conviction about the power of youth voices.

We also have long sought out those who are not necessarily seasoned speakers,  but who have compelling stories to tell, and messages with which they can hopefully inspire and encourage others to a better way of being.

We work with our youth presenters to help guide the development of a useful skill:  how to give a presentation – a skill they can use at school, and in their careers. We also work with them to encourage them to speak from their hearts, to share their passions with conviction and power, another useful skill.

Wallace asks the important question, “What happens when the idea of ideas worth spreading gets spread thin? What happens when the concept of innovation itself becomes stale?”

Jacob Rice collects new shoes for those who have none.

I think the answer lies in keeping the opportunity for action alive within the ideas venue – giving those who listen ways to act, and those inspired by innovation ways to create.

The concept of innovation itself has no reason to become “stale” if we keep it fresh with opportunity for  action by more people.

If you’re interested in bringing  your yen for active ideas to TEDxYouth@TampaBay, let us know!

Today we’ll take a fond look back at this great presentation by Devante Robinson. Devante Robinson was a recent graduate of Hillsborough High School,  when he spoke at our November event.  In high school, he was Student Government vice president, a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club and Jr. ROTC for 4 years, and graduated with a 4.75 GPA.

Cadet Major Robinson, a Battalion Executive Officer, is just about wrapping up his Freshman year at Hillsborough Community College right now,  where he is double majoring in medicine and psychology. He is the first of his 11 siblings to attend college and is studying to be a doctor. Devante has been a Big Brother Big Sister “Big” for the last year, and caught TEDxYouth@TampaBay’s attention when he conducted a fundraiser for BBBS and almost single-handedly raised over $800 for the organization. Devante accumulated 226 hours of community service while in high school and came to TEDxYouth@TampaBay 2011 to share his passion for giving back, for being an active and involved citizen and for refusing to achieve anything less than his full potential.  Enjoy a look back at Devante, and his Three Steps, for making the most out of your life…

Written by Alex Harris (LX), artist in residence at the Royal Theater Boys & Girls Club of St. Petersburg, and performed solo by one of the students, Let’s Get Together is a musical tribute to area police officers killed in the line of duty, and a plea to citizens everywhere to work together to end violence in every community.

This video was recently featured on the TEDxTalks page, where you can find a great selection of TEDx and TEDxYouth talks, including several others from our recent TEDxYouth@TampaBay 2011 event.

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I’m very happy to tell you about something that is very important to me: giving kids a voice. You’re probably thinking, “Don’t they talk enough, with their screaming, complaining, and crying?” Well, that is partially true, but what I’m talking about is giving kids the chance to share their opinion, their feelings about what is going on in the world today; or as I like to say, giving kids a voice.

Let me first give you some background of how I discovered my own voice. As a young child in school, I always thought that no one wanted to listen to me, that my voice wasn’t important enough. At times I was afraid to even share it.  This was the reason I was often called the “quiet one” or “shy one”.  I had a lot to say, but I was just too afraid to express myself.  As I got older, I found out that I enjoyed singing, which I discovered was one way to share my voice. Later on, during my time in middle school, I developed mononucleosis.  This illness caused me to feel tired all of the time, and as a result, I could only take the required classes at my school, which unfortunately did not include art.

I felt like I was becoming very different from the rest of my class, since I was the only one not taking all of the courses at school. I was also pretty disappointed that I couldn’t take art anymore, since I love to express myself artistically.

But, I wasn’t done with art just yet. My art teacher, Debra Campbell, wanted me to do something outside of art class so that I could get a grade and actually be able to do a project.  This project is why I am standing here on this stage today.  I was given a great opportunity to do something big and it made me feel more important at school, especially after feeling so different for all of those years.  With this project, I am able to share with you how the kids of our age feel and think.

What I did was take the art pieces of 6th and 7th graders at my school and put it into a video presentation. The 6th and 7th grade students were allowed to pick any topic and create an art piece in any medium.  Then they were asked to write an artist statement discussing their own opinion, even if it was not shared by the teacher.  This gave the students the opportunity to freely express themselves.  I recorded them speaking these statements and put them in the video while their pieces were being shown.  Some topics they chose include bullying, racism, homelessness, teen suicide, media stereotypes, and the Holocaust: all big ideas that kids, (that’s right, KIDS!) have the ability and maturity to discuss.

Our nation as a whole is currently questioning itself in order to redefine who we are as a nation, what we believe in, and what needs to change. Dominance of one racial or religious group over another, concern over environmental issues, economic and social issues, all create divisions among us. Artists frequently bring these issues to the attention of the public.

The Social Commentary and Art Project grew out of a workshop that was organized by Bob Barancik, a St. Petersburg artist. His Art Not Hate workshop in 2010 helped to begin the dialogue with the students. The students had to ask themselves: What issues do I care about? Can one person really make a difference? and Can I actually persuade others to take positive action through my art work? Through art and creating this video, I was able to give the students and myself a voice.

Another great way kids can express their voice is through music. I enjoy singing, so I can greatly relate to the idea of sharing a voice literally through your voice!  Some of the songs I have sung express my feelings and opinions about my life.

There are so many ways to find your voice and share it with the world, probably more than I can name.  But art and music are ones that I feel are most powerful.

Now, let me talk to you about kids. Yes, I know, we can sometimes be very hard to handle.  But there might be something you don’t know about us young people: We have voices, and important ones, too!  We (the kids) are used to being talked to, but sometimes the adults should listen to us, too.  We’ve got a lot to say!  I believe that we can share our feelings, thoughts, and big ideas through art.

As a student, I have come to realize that sometimes the best teacher is the one being taught. You learn  from your students as much as they learn from you.  Children have had an important role in changing the world, even in recent history!  Young people have toppled whole countries in the Middle East and Africa.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Anne Frank. She was a young girl who wrote about her experiences during the Holocaust in her diary.  She was not afraid to share her voice, even though she was risking her life.  Her story still touches the hearts and minds of people all around the world.

These kinds of kids are the perfect example of why we shouldn’t be afraid to share our voice. We have to remember that each one of our voices is important in helping the world become a better place.

“What can adults do?” you might ask. Give us a chance to share our feelings and thoughts so that we can grow up to be unique individuals. Provide a safe and nurturing environment for us to be creative and share our ideas.

“And what can kids do, when they’re not playing video games or texting on their cell phones?” Go outside of the box, make something creative, and share it with the world!  And don’t forget, kids are just as important to society as adults are! Give us a chance to talk!

I’m Matthew Temmer. This is my voice. It’s been an honor to share it with you today.

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The recording of Matthew’s talk was lost due to a technical problem.  Matthew was gracious and understanding about the loss, and happy to share his talk here as a guest blog.