Battle High School will host a TEDx event in the performing arts center, April 22nd. The event is called “Transcending the Block” and will have student speakers along with members of the Columbia community.

Twenty three students will speak in front of one hundred live bodies as well as thousands over a live stream. Jill Villasana, one of the teacher volunteers for the event, describes how everything can be viewed: “We are limited to one hundred bodies, in the auditorium, listening to the live presentations. We’re going to be rotating people in and out all day.”

This event will be called transcending the block, which was meant as a way to broaden ideas of those who will watch the talks on Friday. Rebecca Archer, one of the student speakers for TEDx Battle, says, “I definitely think it is important, our theme is transcending the block, it’s the idea that you’re taking something, and basically fixing it.”

TEDx is an organization that spreads information through short videos. The organization is owned by Sapling Foundation, and was founded in 1996. Archer shows her take on what the talks are, “They take ideas worth spreading through media, that’s how we connect. Every person has social media and so we can make these videos that are 15 minutes long and change or make an impact, simply from listening.”

Tedx is a well-known organization, and as Archer said, conveys information through short videos. Adele Dorman, another student speaker, was homeschooled from second to seventh grade. Dorman describes the impact the videos had, as a homeschooled student, “Ted and TEDx talks were ways I got information while I was homeschooled.”

The city of Columbia has already had a TEDx event; however, the event has never been placed on a high school campus. On October 13, 2012, Columbia held an event for TEDx called “The City 2.0.” As well as the event at Cosmo park on April 7th, 2016. The next TEDx event will be on April 23rd, 2016 on Mizzou campus.

Villasana explains the difference between this event from others, “This is going to be a unique TEDx event because it’s a student focused, youth event. But we are all also incorporating members of our community.”

You can view this event through constant live streams provided by the Battle, or if a teacher has signed your class up, you can be part of the 100 live bodies in the performing arts center. The videos of individual performances will be viewable on YouTube within a few weeks of the event.