Second TEDx conference on campus features senior Sachs, spoken word poetry

By Bari Cohn
Staff Writer

Mayor’s Youth Council student planners hosted its second TEDx Costa conference on Jan. 13 during second office hours in the Mira Costa small theater, featuring senior Miriam Sachs’ talk focused on the conference’s theme of creativity.
MYC, an organization for Manhattan Beach youths that allows them to build connections with their community, and its student planners organized the conference and invited speakers for the Jan. 13 theme of creativity. It was the second of their three planned TEDx conferences for this school year.
“The process of curating gives the MYC kids a chance to expose all students to the powerful messages of TED talks,’’ MYC co-chair Penny Bordokas said. “They get a chance to pick subjects that matter to them and present them in a way that students will enjoy.”
According to TEDx Costa management director and junior Julian Grunauer, the conference’s theme of creativity was excellent because it applies to students as well as everyday life.
“It’s my firm belief that everyone is creative in some way,” Grunauer said. “That spark of artistic passion should be found and nurtured in all of us.”
In Sachs’ talk, she taught the audience how to have a creative mindset by talking about her writing process.
She got involved in spoken word poetry through Get Lit, a classic and spoken word poetry performance troupe of teenagers from Los Angeles County schools. Sachs also shared three of her own poems, “Just the Right Time pf Night,” “I Might” and “Walls,” with the audience.
Through her talk, Sachs hoped to teach people that learning creativity can help teach people about themselves, as well as help make the world a better place.
“I wanted to share why I love writing so much as well as what I’ve learned,” Sachs said. “I think anyone can benefit from being more creative because being creative is all about expressing yourself and finding out who you are.”
This conference was the second of three TEDx Costa conferences that MYC student planners have organized at Costa. The theme of the third TEDx Costa conference, held on April 13 in the small theatre during second office hours, is still undecided. However, the next student planners senior Anabelle Tribble and junior Ronald Clinton hope to continue implementing creativity into the talks.
“We are excited about the next conference in April because, as co-directors, Annabelle [Tribble] and I will have a chance to improve the quality of TEDx beyond the outstanding Wednesday performance,” Clinton said.