TEDxDHS March 27, 2026

001Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. to present to you this exciting event here at Dartmouth High School. This is an independently organized event. This year we have a live audience and we will also be broadcast via liveream by DHS TV media productions. Our theme this year is making waves for a better future. You may be new to TED and may be wondering who this TED guy is. Um, I'm here to tell you that there really isn't a TED person. Instead, TED is an acronym for technology, entertainment, and design. Keep going. The TED organization has covered many ideas worth spreading in various fields of study. You will see the same diversity in the topics being presented for you here today. Before we begin, we would like to ask our

002audience to please be respectful of our presenters by keeping electronic devices silenced and refraining from talking. They've worked very hard on this presentations. We would like your cooperation. >> Thank you. All right. Thank you. We're going to start with our first period presentations. Our first presentation will be modern prisons when poverty is a crime by Tabitha Cabaral Elliot. Tabitha is a senior here at DHS. Tabitha has been part of T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T X club since her freshman year. She is also part of a rowing team, is a member of DHS TV media, participates in dance, and often volunteers. She plans to major in psychology in college with a final goal of becoming a lawyer. Tabitha chose her

003topic because of her interest in legal justice and law and because she feels passionate about sharing her knowledge with her peers. Please welcome Tabitha Cabaral Elliot. Hello everybody. Today I want to talk to you about an issue that very pe few people even know exists and that is the case of modern debtor's prisons. So let's get started. First, what is a debtor's prison? According to the American Civil Liberties Union, debtor's prisons occur when indigent defendants who owe unaffordable fines, costs, and restitutions are imprisoned because they can either not pay what they owe or cannot pay it as fast as the court demands. Now, the United States formally abolished debtor's prisons in 1833. However, it still widely occurs and that creates kind of a paradox in that imprisonment of debtors is technically illegal. Everywhere you go,

004everywhere you look on paper, it doesn't happen. However, there are documented instances of it happening by the thousands across the country every day. So, let me take you to the landmark Supreme Court case Bearden v. Georgia from the 1980s. Let me walk you through it. So, it started with Danny Bearden, a 19-year-old with only a ninth grade education who was not able to read. He plead guilty to a simple burglary and theft charge. Now, addition to his, you know, prison sentence and all that, he was ordered to pay a $500 fine and $250 in restitution. Despite his inability to pay, he was still ordered to pay that. Especially when he lost his job after a sentence and couldn't find another one due to his new felon status, it made making those payments all the more

005difficult. So he got arrested and imprisoned for failure to pay those dues. So it was appealed all the way to the Supreme Court and they ruled that people cannot be jailed for inability to pay fines or dues. Unwillingness is a totally different matter. But if they are proven to make a quote unquote bonafide effort to pay, they cannot be incarcerated for that reason. However, it didn't stop in the 80s. There it goes. Since 2015, in the modern age, there have been 10 lawsuits against local municipalities for incarceration of debtors. And that's because of the escalation of fines and fees and interest that these initial offenses cause. Like the fines, for example, why isn't this working? There it goes. The fines, which are the penalties for the original offense. For example, a traffic citation or speeding

006ticket. You get a certain amount of dollars to pay as a fine. or fees, charges for court costs, public defenders in some cases, and even in rare cases, room and board for being incarcerated in the first place. All compounded by ridiculous amounts of interest, sometimes up to 12% on these costs. with this traps people in a vicious cycle of incarceration to debt to incarceration again. These unpaid fines lead to warrants, arrests, more jail time, and more fees. It's nearly impossible to get out of once you get in it. So, let's take a bit of a closer look. As I've mentioned, there are very few databases based on this phenomenon. However, there are some prominent case studies I'd like to walk you through. A woman who went by the alias Mrs. Smith from Texas in the

007in 2008, she received a citation for driving without car insurance. What would be a simple citation compounded because she could not afford to pay that initial fee. So, her driver's license was suspended. However, to get to work, to make money, to feed herself and her family, she drove on that suspended license. So, she kept accumulating citation after citation after citation that she could not afford to pay off until she was arrested and detained over 10 years later. Alana Kaine from Louisiana. She had to pay restitution and court fees because she was charged with a felony theft offense in 2012. Though she plead guilty and served out all the non-fiscal elements of her sentence and filed as indigent to pay this off, aka she couldn't afford it. She was still arrested and detained. In the most

008tragic aspect, Eileen Denino of Pennsylvania in 2015, the Pennsylvania district fined parents for child their child's truency. Truency basically meaning being late, being absent, not going to school enough. She was fined. She could not afford it. She was arrested and detained for failure to pay those fines. And unfortunately, within a one night in prison due to health complications, she died in that jail cell. And what's most disturbing about all of this is how little data there is. There was no media coverage. There was no news article. All of these people's experiences, again, which come into the tens of thousands, are buried beneath headlines. And you know, via the sixth amendment, as you know, is the right to counsel, the right to an attorney. That's inherent in the bill of rights, as you may have learned

009in your US history or government classes. However, sometimes it gets a bit more complicated than that due to some a very controversial thing called public defender fees. Now, ironically, in 42 states, there is a possibility of someone being charged money for their free attorney, which leaves you to either in that situation represent yourself, which very rarely goes well legally, especially to these defendants who may have limited education or experience of the law. Or accept a lawyer you cannot afford and get deeper in that debt spiral. These are the states who can have council fees, application and council fees. By getting a quote unquote free attorney, you can still end up paying. However, some modern reforms have been made like abolishing the driver's license suspension for debt so we don't have another Mrs. Smith incident. When

010you abolish the driver's license suspension, they can still get to work to make money to pay off the debt without accumulating more and more citations. Even in Massachusetts, as recently as 2025, the Debt Collection Fairness Act was passed, which explicitly bans all incarceration of those who are unwilling to pay consumer or court related debts. Even in Massachusetts, this occurs. and I had no idea about it until I started looking into it. This is very rarely covered, has very few studies, and is completely brushed under the rug. This awareness is important. This awareness that people can go to jail for simply making one wrong move and not being able to financially pay it off. This awareness is crucial to be able to make further reforms because we are not there yet. We are not fully reformed

011yet. These are just some of the first steps and this is how I try to make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you Tabitha for being part of T uh TEDex for the past four years and your wonderful presentation. Our presenter number two, our second presenter for uh for period one is um the route to rhythm by Emma TK. Emma is is a junior here in a D at DHS and she has been a member of TEDex since last year. She is interested in music, performing and traveling. She often sings the national anthem at school sporting events. Emma chose her topic because of her love of music and different cultures. Please welcome Emma TK as she presents. Does anyone want to go on a vacation? Because I do. So, let's go. First, we'll start here.

012Then, we'll go to Jamaica. then the United Kingdom, South Korea, France, and finally we'll end it in Brazil. First stop, we're staying here. Sorry. And we're going to be discovering the rap genre. Rap is broken up into a couple different parts: break dancing, graffiti, turntableism, and rapping. Well, you might be asking yourself, what is turntableism? Well, the official definition of turntableism is the art of manipulating vinyl records and turntables to create original compositions. Now, what makes rap different than all of the other genres? First, we have rhythm and we also have breakbeat. The rhythm of rap is always going to be different because it often times consists of disco sounds and oftentimes breakbeat is really used. Now, what is breakbeat? Breakbeat is the technique of isolating, looping, and sampling drumheavy rhythmic beats. Now, who are

013some important artists in this genre? I'm sure you know them. First, we have Kendra Lamar, and we also have Cardi B. Now, some popular songs that I'm sure you all know are Kendra Kamar, Not Like Us, Luther featuring Siza, I Like It featuring Bad Bunny and Jay Balvin, and Cardi B was also featured on Maroon 5, Girls Like You. Next stop is Jamaica. We will be discovering the um genre of reae, which is one of my favorite genres. Reae has a couple different categories to it. First we have that a lot of the music cons has a lot of rock in it as well as rap and finally oftentimes dance. Now what makes reae music different? Well first we have the environment. Reae music was made to be played outdoors because of how loud a

014lot of the instruments are. There's also the instruments. Aside from the vocalist, the bass guitarist is often the leading instrument. And not only that, they often times tend to be the leader of the band. Now, some very popular instrument in instruments that you will hear are the bongos, the talking drum, and finally the goblet. Now, some important artists are Bob Marley and the Whalers and Peter Tosh. Don't get me wrong, Peter Tosh was a part of Bob Marley and the Whalers, but not only that, he wrote his own music, too. I've been throwing out Bob Marley and the Whalers, but what are some songs by them? Well, we have Three Little Birds, No Woman, No Cry, and Peter Tosh wrote Get Up Standup, but he also featured his band as well as Stop that Train.

015Next stop is the United Kingdom. And in the UK, we'll discover another one of my favorite genres, pop. Pop is broken up into a couple different categories. We have appealing, popular, and finally, a strong melody. Now what makes pop music different? Well, pop music is made to be radio friendly and all the songs are will be made and if necessary be altered to be politically correct as well as radio friendly. There's also the sound aspect of it. Pop music was made to be approachable and not as loud and harsh as other genres could potentially be. Who are some important artists in this genre? Well, we have Elton John as well as Duual Lia. Now, some popular songs that Elton John wrote were Benny and the Jets, Rocket Man, and Dual Lia wrote Levitating as well

016as Training Season. Those are just a couple of their songs. Next stop is South Korea where we will discover the genre of K-pop. K-pop has a couple different categories. First we have the fashion, the bands and finally we have the electro dance pop. Well, what is electro dance pop? Electro dance pop is where the song utilizes synthop or techno elements to create hooks as well as a catchy beat and or rhythm. So, a lot of the songs that you hear that are K-pop often times have a very catchy beat or catchy rhythm. Now, what makes K-pop music different? First, we have the artists. A lot of the artists are seen as models for popular Korean beauty brands. And not only that, they also started on social media. K-pop originally started on social media during co

017and once they eventually started to gain lots of views, they became an actual genre. Now, who are some important artists in this genre? Well, first we have Cat's Eye and we also have BTS. Popular songs from Cat's Eye include Gnarly, Gabriella, and BTS. Yes, They're Coming Back wrote Butter as well as Dynamite. Next stop is France where we will discover French classical. French classical is broken up into a couple different parts. First, we have the atmosphere. We also have the emotion. And finally, we have the dramatic extremes. A lot of times, what the composer of French classical aims to do is trying to get a reaction and some kind of emotion out of you when you're listening to their music. Now, who are some important artists? First, we have Carla Brunie and we also have

018Emma Cook. Well, what makes French classical different? First, we have the music structure. French classical is a mix of different genres and types of music. Not only that, the artists that tend to produce the most popular music aren't always native from France. Well, remember those um artists that I told you about? Here are some popular songs from them. First, we have Cara Brun as well as Raphael. And Emma Cook covered Voila featuring Andrew Rio and she also wrote her own song called Strzer. Next stop and final stop is Brazil. We're going to be traveling to Brazil to discover Brazilian samba. Brazilian samba is broken up into a couple different parts. First, we have syncopated rhythms, two four time signature, and finally fast-paced and energetic. Well, what is syncopated rhythms? Syncopated rhythms is the musical technique

019of emphasizing the offbeat. I'm going to call up a friend. That way they can demonstrate what syncopated rhythms is. Do you mind demonstrating? As you can see, the offbeat often times um is more emphasized. And next, what is two four time signature? Well, that means that there are two beats per measure and the quarter note will always receive the beat. Now Ash, can you just show the difference between 24 and 44? Thank you. Well, what makes Brazilian samba music different? First, we have the dance structure. The difference between traditional samba and Brazilian samba is Brazilian is much more relaxed and a lot less structured. There's also the music structure. The Brazilian samba is in 24 time signature like you just heard and is designed for carnival. Well, how is the actual music structure besides for

02024? We have the heavy use of percussions. Samba often uses drum kits as you might know from your Portuguese classes. Not only that, they use steady repetitive rhythms. Uh samba consists of lots of layers and lots of rhythms being played at the same time, oftentimes to create very simple harmonies. Speaking of simple harmonies, samba music uses simple chord progressions that often emphasize the melody. There's also a call and response vocal. Most samba songs consist of a vocal soloist trading lines with an ensemble group with at least eight background singers, but there could be more. Next, we're going to talk about Karma Miranda. Karma Miranda was a Brazilianb born singer uh and actress who helped make samba popular internationally through her Hollywood career in the 1930s and 1940s. Oftentimes she was seen as a beacon of

021light because a lot of people looked up to her because she was often times seen in movies during the World War II. Oh, I am Emma and this is how I'm making waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Emma, for sharing your love of music and cultures. Our last presentation for period 1 is Invest Thing: The Path to Financial Freedom by Jack Silva. Jack is a junior here at DHS who is a three sport athlete. He is a member of soccer, winter track, and spring track teams. Additionally, Jack is the class treasure for the class of 2027, and he's on the math team and forensics team. He is also a firstear member of TEDex. Jack wanted to participate in our TEDex DHS conference because he has been interested in finance for a long time and

022he wants to share his knowledge about how to gain financial freedom. Please welcome Jack Silva. >> Now, if you're like me, you've probably heard somebody say something along the lines of, "I remember when I was a kid buying a burger for 10 cents or a quarter." But now, if you go somewhere, even if it's just McDonald's, the price of a burger can be four, five, six, or even more. Okay? Now, this pattern isn't only consistent across burgers. This rise in if you look at anything, the price of it 20 years ago was probably cheaper than it is now. Whether that be toothpaste or anything else that you use in your everyday life. Why is this? Well, this is because of something called inflation, which can be defined as the constant increase in the price of

023goods which leads to the devaluation of money. Now, to help you visualize this, here is a graph showing what happens to the spending power of your money with inflation. Now, inflation is constantly changing, but currently it's about 2.7% per year. Meaning that every year, the price of goods is about 2.7% more than it was the year before. And therefore, your money is worth about 2.7% less. So, take a $10 bill for example. A year from now, it's going to have 2.7% less spending power or about 27 cents less. See, you can see this pattern on the graph on the right, which shows that each year your money is having progressively less and less spending power as a result of inflation. Now, many of you here probably have jobs. And if you do, you probably have

024a bank account, too. And one thing that banks often talk about is the fact that they pay out interest, which is essentially just money that they give to you for holding money in their accounts. However, these interest rates are often far below the rates of inflation. Take Bank of America for example. They have an interest rate of 0.01%. 01%. Which means that if you had $10,000 invested in one of their accounts, you would only make $1 in interest by the end of the year. So, while it's great that you're gaining interest off these accounts, your money is actually still technically losing spending power because these interest rates are far below the rates of inflation. Now, you might be asking, "What can I do about this? How can I make sure my money isn't devalued by

025inflation?" And luckily for you, one very straightforward strategy that people use to beat inflation is called investing, which is when you put your money into an asset, which is something that you own with the goal of making income off of it or having it appreciate in value over time. Now, there are many different types of investing, but I'm going to go over two of them in this presentation. So, first of all is real estate. In when you're investing in real estate, you're buying property, whether that be a house, a rental property, or just land, and you're trying to make money off of it by appreciating value, appreciating in value, or you renting it out. Now, some cons of this are that it requires a lot of money to start investing in real estate, and you

026have to pay money to maintain it over time. Next is investing in the stock market. Now, a lot of us have probably heard of investing in the stock market, but not not all of us really know exactly what it is. Now, when you invest in the stock market, you're buying small pieces of companies called shares, and you're trying to make money off of the appreciation of those shares or dividend payouts from those shares, which I'll talk about more later in this presentation. And some pros of this for high schoolers like us who might not have a lot of money is that you can start with as little or as much money as you want, and it's much more accessible. Now, for the purpose of this presentation, I'm going to uh focus solely on the stock

027market because it's much more accessible for high schoolers like us who might not have enough money to invest in real estate. Now, how can you invest in the stock market? Well, first of all, before you do any investing at all, you always want to research the companies that you're thinking about putting your money into because while you can definitely make money off of the stock market, you can also lose it just as easily. Now, this includes things like looking at the brand of the company. Now, what does the company do? What is their mission? What is their goals? And after you've done that, you can look at certain metrics of the company. Now, there are many different metrics, and some people spend their entire careers learning about this and learning how to apply it to

028stocks. But essentially, these can tell you about a company's valuation, growth, and more. And you can also look at how the company's spending their money. If they're spending more than they did this year than they did last year, if they're spending too much, if they have if they have debt, how much they spent last year, etc. After you've researched your companies and chosen which ones you want to buy, you choose how much of that company you want to buy. Now, you can either choose how many shares of this company that you want, or a new thing that's come up in the last few years is that you can choose how much money worth of a stock that you want to purchase. So, each stock has a share price. Let's say it's $100, for example. You

029if you bought four shares, that would be $400. But let's say you don't have enough money for four shares, but you still want to buy more than three shares. Well, you can buy three and a half shares if you want. Next is you execute the trade, which you can personally do by logging into your own personal stock account and simply clicking a button or executing a command to buy the stock. Now, how do you make money off of the stock market? Well, every stock has a share price as I said before, and you can make money off of this share price appreciate appreciating over time. Essentially, when more people are buying the stock than selling it, this creates demand for the stock and the stock price increases. Conversely, when more people are selling the stock

030than buying, the demand goes down and the share price is going to decrease. However, one common misconception that people have about this is that when your stocks are worth less or more than they were when you bought them, you've actually gained or lost money. Now, while it is true that the asset you have is worth a different amount than it was when you bought it, you never truly make or lose money until you sell the stock. So, while people tend to panic when their stocks are down, one thing that you have to remember is that you never lose money until you sell the stock. Next, the next way to make money from the stock market is through dividends. And what dividends are is they are essentially a reward that the company's paying you out in

031return for holding their stocks. And it's done to attract shareholders and get more people to buy their stocks. Now, dividends are paid out per share. So, the more shares of a company that you have, the larger your dividend payment is going to be. Just to show you a quick example of this, here's how investors made money from Apple stock last year. Now, in terms of appreciation, Apple had a great year. They appreciated by 19.3%, which means that if you had put $100 into Apple at the end of at the beginning of the year, you would have $119.30 by the end of the year. Now, in terms of dividends, Apple also paid out a dividend of $1.3 per share. Meaning that for every share you had of Apple, you would have gotten a $1.3 over the

032course of the year. Now, to show you the average return of the market, here's a graph of the S&P 500, which is essentially a compilation of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in America, which means companies that you can buy stocks of. And over the course of its history, it has averaged a return of about 10% per year, which is great. And it gets even better when you look at the fact that it returns about 6% above inflation per year. Meaning that if you have your money invested in the S&P or the market, not only is it being protected from inflation, but it's actually gaining spending power over time. Now, one common question or a few common questions that people often ask is, why should I start now? Why don't I wait until I get

033a job? Why don't I wait until I get out of college? Why don't I wait until I'm adult? And the main reason for this is because of something called compound interest, which can be defined as interest which is earned on both the initial money that you put in as well as previous interest that you've already learned that you've already earned. And this is so powerful that somebody who I consider to be pretty smart, Albert Einstein, has actually referred to it as the eighth wonder of the world. Now, to show you how this works, here's a chart and a graph. Now, as you can see on the chart, you're gaining 10% interest every year. Now, off of $1, 10% is only 10 cents. However, the next year, you're still gaining that 10%, but now you're gaining

034it off of $110. So, that's going to be 11 cents. And over time, this grows more and more and more per year. And as you can see on the graph on the left, this is exponential growth. So, the more time you have your money in the market, the more time you give it to reap the rewards of compound interest. Now, just to show you something that could happen in your own life, let's say you started investing at the age of 15 and you wanted to retire at age 65. Now, this gives you 50 years of growth. And let's say you got 9% returns every year and you only just put in $5 a week or $20 a month. Now, you would have contributed $12,000 to this account by the time you're 65. And this amount

035would be worth a little bit over $200,000 by the time that you turn 65. Now, let's say you waited 10 years. Now, you only have 40 years of growth, but you're still getting that same 9% return, and you're putting in five $5 a week or $20 a month. Now, by the time you by the time you turn 65, you're going to have put in $9,600, but you're only going to have $84,000. This is less than half of what you would have had if you had started 10 years earlier. Now, let's say you waited another 10 years. Okay? Now, you only have 30 years of growth, but you're still getting that same 9% return, and you're putting $20 a month into the market. You've put in $7,200 by the time you turn 65, and you only

036have $34,000. So, while waiting 5 years or 10 years might not seem like a big deal, it can actually cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars by the time you turn 65. Now, aside from making you more money, what is this going to look like 40 years down the line, 50 years down the line when you decide to retire? Well, it's going to help you build wealth. It could help you retire earlier than you ever could have without investing. And what I personally think is most important is that it can help you reach a higher level of financial freedom. Now, in terms of building wealth, as we just saw before, investing in compound interest is going to allow your money to grow to much larger amounts than it ever could have without investing. And this

037wealth, you can use it on anything you want, whether that be spending it on your kids, spending it on hobbies, or helping yourself retire earlier. Which leads me into my next point of an earlier retirement. Now, as I just talked about, you're going to have more money. And when you want to retire, the amount of money that you're going to need differs from person to person. It could be changed based on your lifestyle, where you live, your spending habits. But the one thing that stays constant is that the more money you have, the earlier that you can retire. In addition to this, dividends, which I talked about before, are going to be able to help you can become an income source during your retirement and can help you replace your income. Now, it might not

038be as large of an income as you had before retirement, but it'll be it'll still be something that you're getting. And this is important. Now, it can also help you live a more enjoyable retirement. As I talked about before, you're going to have more money. So, you'll have you won't have to worry as much about running out of money during retirement. And in addition to this, you'll have more money to do what you love, whether that be traveling, hobbies, philanthropy, or whatever you want to do. Next is reaching a level of financial freedom. And financial freedom can be defined as being able to pay for your lifestyle and what you want to do without having to worry about money. Now, one way that people reach financial freedom is from dividends. Now, dividends are a form

039of passive income, which means that once you click that button and buy the stock, you never have to do anything again. those dividends, you're going to automatically make them. And in addition to this, you can reinvest these dividends and they will have the same compounding effects as your money would as like I talked earlier. So, let's say you had $100 and you made $5 of dividends off of that. Well, the next year you're going to be making dividends off of $105. So, this can make sure you don't have to worry as much about where that next paycheck is coming from and running out of money. Now, at this point, some of you might be asking, how can I invest? And since a lot of us here are under the age of 18, our options are

040somewhat limited, but there are still great ways that we can invest in the market. First of all is the Fidelity Youth Account. Now, this is a program that was started by Fidelity in 2021, and it's for teens aged 13 through 17 to invest in the market. Now, there's no minimum amount that you have to put into this account, and your parents also have to have an account at Fidelity in order for you to have this account. And now in addition to this, there are some tax exemptions since you are a teenager. Once you turn 18, this account will transfer will turn into a regular brokerage account and it will no longer be a teen investment account. Next is a custodial account. This is an account that is managed entirely by your parents, but the money

041inside of it belongs to you. And again, once you turn 18, this will turn into a regular brokerage account, which is basically just an account that you can use to invest in the market. Lastly is a Roth IRA for minor. IRA stands for individual retirement account. And this is an account that has tax exemptions because it's a meant for retirement. However, some drawbacks of this is that you have to wait to withdraw the money from this account until you're 59 and a half years old because this account is meant for retirement. And in addition to this, this might not be as big of a problem for us high schoolers, but there is limited amounts of money that you're allowed to contribute per year. You're only allowed to contribute up to $7,500 per year. And once

042you turn 18, this account will also turn into a regular Roth IRA or IRA. Investing is how I can make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you Jack for a very informative presentation on investing. Uh this concludes our period one uh presentations. So thank you very much. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. No. Oh, he's escorting your parents in. Okay. Morning everybody. If you could take your seats so we can get started. Please put away all your phones. I don't want to see any phones. >> Okay, Miss Custod, are you ready? Ready. Thank you. All right. Welcome. Uh, welcome to our 11th, yes I said 11th TEDx DHS event. The TEDex DHS club is thrilled to present to you this exciting event here at Dartmouth High School. This is an independently organized event. This year we

043will have a live audience and of course we will also be broadcast live stream via DHS TV media productions. Our theme this year is making waves for a better tomorrow. Now you may be wondering who this TED guy is. But realistically there is no TED guy, right? Instead TED is an acronym for technology, entertainment, and design. The TED organization has covered many ideas worth spreading in various fields of study. You will see the same diversity in the topics being presented to you here today. Before we begin, we would like to ask our audience to please be respectful of our presenters by keeping electronic devices silenced and refraining from talking during presentations. They have worked very very hard on these presentations. Please respect that. Our first presenter for period 2 is Taciana Dilva who will be

044presenting from chalk to smartboards. Taciana is a senior here at DHS and is a secondyear member of the TEDx DHS club who has gained a lot of confidence from her presentation last year and is enjoying public speaking. She had a great experience and has chosen to return and we are so happy to have her back. Taciana is currently an afterchool teacher at a local preschool and hopes to make elementary education her career. Upon graduation, Tacosiana plans to attend Gordon College this coming fall to major in elementary education. She chose her TEDx DHS topic because of her passion for education and we believe that Taciana will make a wonderful future educator. Please welcome Taciana Dilva. Technology today is all around us. Not only do we carry one of the most powerful devices in our pocket, but

045it's also all around us in the classroom. In this school, we have more Chromebooks than students, a Smartboard in every classroom, and when we want to talk to a teacher or see our assignments, we simply go to Google Classroom or Aspen. And this is clearly a national phenomenon. In this past fall, New York Times conducted a study on the amount of times the amount of time that students spend on devices in the classroom. For elementary schools, this is a lot less, averaging around an hour or less. And this is mostly because of a move to keep younger kids off of devices so that it doesn't alter their development. And this is something that I have personally seen working at a daycare where device time on devices for students is strictly prohibited. However, when you get

046to middle and high school, this goes out the window with three plus hours spent on a device in school, not including the time that the teacher is using technology or your own personal use. And this is something that teachers have mixed opinions on. For example, Mr. Mr. Chapas, a second grade teacher from New Orleans, says that even though he's seen them, talking about his students, do incredible things with technology at astoundingly young ages, he's also seen attention spans decrease dramatically. And our own teacher in the same study, Mr. Lima, says teachers are constantly competing with their Chromebooks for attention. So, how did we get here? To start, I'm going to go all the way back to 387 BCE with Plato's Academy. This is one of the first schools of thought with older men going to

047to pursue higher learning. This is where Aristotle both learned and taught. However, this was a very small group. The Socratic method of teaching that you might see when you do a Socratic seminar once a year was their only method of teaching. Their group of 12 was their entire school. And this was again only for adults. When education started coming to children, for example, in ancient Egypt, it was only for children of the royals to prepare them for higher positions. And as uh education started going across the world, it moved in the same way. For example, Shishi High School, one of the oldest schools still operating in China, started in 141 B.CE. but was started by a governor and only for the top ranking men from each family. Then the king's school 597 AD still only

048for the oldest boys and smartest boys from each family. And this was in Canterbury, England. And even when schools started coming to our own neck of the woods in 1635 with the Boston Latin School in Massachusetts, it was still only for young men in order to prepare them for college. It wasn't until the 1800s that the idea of a public school system came into thought. And this started with Massachusetts very own Horus man who became the 1837 secretary of education. He proposed a common school much like our public school the basis of our public school system. Now this is the first proposition of taxf funded schools and teacher trainings so that education would look more universal across the board. However, school was still much different than it is today. Corporal punishment was generally accepted as

049okay as well as punishment that left kids humiliated in front of the classroom. And while things like the duncap might be a little bit over dramatized in the movies that you see today, things like having to walk in front of the to the chalkboard and write I will be good over and over again were definitely reality. It wasn't until the 1800s and early 1900s that they started to bring early school supplies in. For example, the noises slate to reduce paper use, the spelling stick in the reading charts to help teachers in front of the classroom, and dictionaries that were made specifically for students. As you can see, it even advertises use in the common school. And school supplies is what I'm going to focus on. We don't see technology as a part of this until

050the early 1920s. With the popularization of film cameras, when Kodak's film cameras started to become more popular, he branched into making what he called the Eastman classroom films. These were very short films in black and white that were used to advertise things that were happening around the world. For example, when the Panama Canal was created, an Eastman classroom film was created about it to teach kids about the importance and what it really was. However, most schools only had about one or two different films on hand, and this would just be cycled over and over again for the students. Additionally, students students also enjoyed listening to the radio. However, this wasn't really something that could be worked into curriculum as again it was only on current events. Then in the 60s and 70s, color came into

051technology with shows like Sesame Street that were being watched both in the classroom and at home and the iMac one and two or the Apple computer 1 and two which came out in the 70s. This is Apple computer 2 right here which used floppy discs to play games like Oregon Trail that brought educational fun. And this Apple computer also brought computers to be more mainstream because they weren't as big and bulky and you could have them in your homes and possibly in your schools. In the same time, what you mostly did for work was typing class. So which was required for you to be on your typewriters and to make copies. There was no copy machines. There is what was called a mimograph with people which people also call a crank machine or a ditto

052machine using purple ink to press onto these papers to make copies. In reminiscing on school in the 70s and 80s, Joe Sylvia, a New Befford resident, said in New Befford Guide how it was only on lucky days that they got to wheel in this big film projector to watch movies or go to the computer lab and all wait to work and play around one computer that they all shared. Their incentives were also nothing to do with technology. Instead, it was things like these little scratch and sniff stickers that got them excited. And the biggest reward was being able to go wheel in the TV cart to watch a movie, watching things like Magic School Bus and Bill Nye, which you might recognize as well. But this was a big moment for them to be able

053to go and bring in this big TV cart. It wasn't until the 1990s that we started using smaller technology and technology more on the computer with the overhead projector, the first overhead projector and the launch of the Google search engine. However, this Google search was not the 5-second search that you're used to. This was a little bit more like computer science class, having to type your commands into DOSs and figure out what you were trying to tell the computer to do. However, in 1999 with Mosaic search engine, there was a little bit more userfriendly with pictures and bookmarks that helped make it a little more exciting. However, this was still something that everyone was learning. Teachers were learning it at the same time as their students. Another big break during this time was the iMac

054G3, which you might recognize from the movie Mean Girls. And a big part about this device coming out was the impact that Apple made with it. In an article by Medium, they talk about how for many millennials, this computer was very exciting for them. Seeing the pop of color, the cool shape and size, this is what they remember when they think of Apple. And this is what has led a lot of them to stick with Apple as technology has continued. Then we go into the early 2000s. Now we really are into the more compact projectors and typing class going from typewriters to your personal computers instead. And this is when we start seeing educational games that I'm sure you guys remember such such as Cool Math Games, Brain Pop, and ABC app. Getting into the

0552010s, we've officially gone into more personalized learning with our computers using things like Google Classroom, IXL, Con Academy, and the first Chromebooks to be able to really focus on the individual student with each learning process. However, it wasn't really until 2020 that this became a full takeover of the classroom. In an article by Brooking Research, they talk about how one of the most immediate and visible changes of the pandemic was the technology takeover of the classroom. Because of course, technology was present before then, but it was more being eased into the classroom. But in 2020, there was no option except to do everything through technology, which is what brought learning management systems such as Google Classroom and understanding of things like Zoom and educational software that they had to learn almost overnight. So this brings

056me back to my question of technology and its effect on the classroom. It's clear that technology has brought immense resources to the classroom, but it has also increased dishonesty in assignments and around the classroom. It has brought personalized learning for each individual student. However, it has also created a lack of social skills and less interaction from student to student. It has increased communication, being able to reach out to your teachers whenever you need help or even get personalized help. However, it has also created a distraction. And honestly, this is a question that there's no one answer to. Some schools like Sweden's Karolinska Institute have gone completely back to paper, saying that they believe that this is the only way for students to completely learn and that this is the this needs to be the focus

057to truly gain knowledge. However, not everyone agrees with a university in New York saying that it's going to be a better bene benefit in the long run to use technology. So, I'm going to end this TED talk without a clear answer, but that one thing remains true that education is at the formation of this all. And that education, as Malcolm X says, is the passport to the future. For tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Thank you. That is my way for making waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Tiana. That was a really wonderful nostalgic view of education. Made me think back to a few things. All right. Our second presentation for period 2 is Beyond the Tantrum by Leila Hijazi. Laya is a senior here at DHS who is presenting her

058second TEDx DHS talk. She is president of the multicultural club, an officer in our DHS orchestra, a member of our sailing team, and a member of our black student union group. Ila plans to study health sciences upon her graduation. She chose her topic because she believes it is very important to produce independent and confident children. Please welcome Leila Hijazi. So I am a camp counselor for little kids over the summer. And as the day went on, as I checked into my work, I was tired. I was hungry. I was honestly thinking of quitting. But I looked to my left and a little kid is on the floor screaming, crying because somebody used the swing before him. Now, I don't know what to do in this situation. Would I start crying? Would I run away? And

059you might be thinking, what did she end up doing? But I will get to that later. So parents deal with these types of situations 247, but how punishment is delivered is up for debate. So I was at Target this one time and I look into one of these aisles. This woman is screaming at her parent at her child saying things like, "If you don't stop crying, I'll give you something to cry about. So this behavior did not change after she said this. So do these spanking and yelling strategies really work? So parents often say, "Well, I turned out fine or what's the problem? It works." But children need connection. And you break that by physically and mentally hurting them. This is a huge cost to pay for your child to be compliant. So overall, the

060child learns that connection is conditional based off good behavior and they're labeled as bad children, even though that's just how big their brains are. Number three, they learn that in order to be safe, they have to make other people happy. This causes depression, anxiety, and language processing disorders. So on the other side, the same situation. A kid is screaming in Target, throwing things on the floor, and the parent ignores it, picking up the toys, putting them back on the shelf, saying things like, "Oh, let's not do that." There's no boundaries in this. And overall, this teaches the child that they don't need impulse control or to regulate themselves and they can't deal with disappointment. And they become very entitled. So, no one teaches a parent how to parent. You need a license for a firearm.

061You need a license to drive a car. All these things make you responsible for other people's lives. But what do they do for parents? So recently parenting has went from one extreme to another. It started with authoritarian parenting which is rules, power, and do as I say. I'm sure most of the older generations have experienced this. And now they've overcompensated it for it and swung to the other side to permissive parenting. Permissive parenting has no boundaries, no leadership, and lack of structure. So overall, what is the middle ground? According to Dr. Becky from Good Inside, these parents need to be the pilot. So what does it mean to be the pilot? Imagine you're a passenger on a plane and it gets so turbulent. So turbulent that everybody is freaking out. Let's think about three different

062things a pilot could say. Announcement number one. Stop screaming. You're making a big deal out of nothing. Stop being so dramatic. I'd be thinking, is this pilot even feeling this turbulence? This is the thing that happens when we can't give children ice cream for breakfast. I know that might seem not a big deal for us, but it's the end of the world for them and we cannot connect to the child. So, this is probably not the announcement you want. Number two, oh no, there's turbulence. I'm opening the doors. Someone please help. The pilot loses themselves and they see the child's emotions as our own. So this is what happens when we say, "Fine, just have the ice cream. Stop crying." We feel the child's emotions and internalize it. This is probably not the announcement we

063want. Pilot number three. I know it's bumpy right now and I know that's scary. I've got this situation on a lock. I've done this before and I will get us through this. The child knows they're safe. The child knows the parent is in control. And for me, this is probably the announcement that I would like. So, there are two things a strong pilot does. They see the child's reality as real while not overwhelmed by it themselves. So this all comes down to emotional regulation. So you can be as angry as you want. Never show frustration, disappointment in your child. It makes them feel bad. And when they feel good, they do good. And when they feel bad, they do bad. So this shows that blaming brings out the worst in the child. When you get

064pulled over for a speeding ticket, the cop doesn't say things like, "You should have known better." They know not to say that because they're trained to know that blaming brings out the worst. So the second part of this is redirection. And redirection is moving the children's behavior from negative to positive. So here are some alternatives. You can't have this, but you can have that. We're not playing with the paints right now, but we can play with the blocks. Next is first then first clean up your toys, then get the ice cream. So, we want to teach the good behavior outside of the tantrum. So, if a child likes to watch TV, you could say, "We're only watching one episode tonight." Because when they're in the tantrum, they do not have the right frame of mind

065to be learning new skills. So using these hearing no is not the end of the world. They can handle it because it's associated with good things. So the best advice that was ever given to me is all emotions are valid but all behaviors are not. So emotions are always valid no matter what emotion it is. We do not blame children for having feelings. Behaviors have limits. So we need to teach the child to separate their feelings from their actions. Make them feel safe to express themselves but make them responsible for choosing the right actions. So, what do we do when the tantrum occurs? Number one, safety and space. Make sure no one is in danger and that the child has enough space to process their emotions. Number two, get yourself in check. We tend to

066overreact and we don't want to react. We want to respond. Reacting is full of emotions and responding is thought through. Number three, model the wanted behavior. If you go up to your kid all anxious and yelling, that's what they're going to mirror. Number four, offer choices. Personally, I like the candle method. To teach the kid to regulate their emotions, I make them breathe in and out and blow the candles out, pretending they're birthday candles. So, no parent is perfect. So, at times I do blow up at these kids at the camp, but I use this as a teaching moment. Say, "I'm sorry. I'm working on being calm just like I tell you to. So, you might have forgotten about my situation at camp. So, this kid is on the floor screaming, crying, and I just

067walk away. Well, that's what I wanted to do. But here's what I actually did. I broke it up into steps. I made sure I was calm. I connected with the kid. I got on his level and held his arms in my hands. Next, I used the candle method and I used it to calm the child. Next, I addressed the behavior. I told him, "It's not okay to hit, but it's okay to be angry." So, when he is angry, I told him, "Here are some alternatives. You can stomp your feet or you can ball your fists as hard as you can, but we still do not hit. So, in the end, this kid, I gave him options on what to do next. Either wait in line for the swing or play with other toys. So, looking

068back on this hot summer day, I wasn't just teaching the kids how to deal with a swing. I was teaching myself how to deal with the world. And I realized I can't control the turbulence or the tantrums, but I can control who we are as the pilot. And we don't just change the child's behavior, we change how they feel about themselves. And that is worth every bit of effort. And this is how how I make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Ila, for that wonderful presentation on child psychology. All right, our third presentation for period 2 is Finding Your Rosetta Stone by Kaden Ramos. Kaden is a senior here at DHS who is a firsttime member of the TEDex DHS club and we are so happy to have him. Kaden loves to travel and

069is fascinated by foreign languages. Kaden plans to attend attend Bridgewwater State University in the fall to double major in secondary education and history. He wants my job. Uh Kaden will be a wonderful future educator. No doubt about it. Please welcome Kaden Ramos uniovita. This is a quote by Italian screenwriter and film director Fedrico Fellini and it roughly translates to a different language is a different version of life. I felt this quote was important to start my TED talk with due to its simplicity and its truth. Learning a new language allows you to unlock new perspectives that you might have not known otherwise. It allows you to see a new version of yourself and the world and often allows you to see different ideas, emotions, and even humor. Each language carries its own values, traditions, expressions,

070and perspectives that reflect the people who speak it. But its culture, identity, and perspective are also seen throughout. It is the foundation of how we understand the world around us. And this newfound perspective is often found during childhood. Have you ever wondered why little kids seem to unlock language learning so much quicker than adults? This is actually something that linguists and scientists have been uh studying for years. The parts of the brain responsible for language processes include the Brocus area and the workey's area. The Brocus area is found in the left frontal lobe and is responsible for speech production and articulation. And the workey's area is found in the left temporal lobe and is responsible for language development and comprehension which is found here. When we are young, our brains are far more flexible and

071adaptable. Children have a much easier time unlocking new language skills such as um accents and stuff like that. When we grow older, those things become much more challenging, especially for new-time language learners who only know English as their first language. Seen here is a Japanese sentence that comprises of I like Japanese. Different languages have much different language patterns than English with this one following the uh order subject, verb, object. I'm subject, object, verb with English following subject, verb, object. If this seems a little confusing, you can think of it as Yoda, where his sentences are a little bit more mitchmacked than English is. Another problem that is commonly faced with English speakers is accent troubles such as pronunciation. In English, we do not have the same sound of R as in Italian or Spanish. In

072Spanish, the tongue is forward and lifts to the front of the mouth, while in English, the tongue is pulled back and braces against the teeth. I've collected some data from DHS community students and some of the hardest parts about learning new languages would be the grammar rules as seen as the top quote and at the bottom quote it shows the different tonality that is very confusing when new or learners are learning a different language. Some learning pains that always interrupt new town learners are the time it takes which you need more patient for. you need to become more patient for or just the overall stress of learning a entirely new language. When we think of the global language, we often think of English because of how much it is prevalent in society. It is found

073very um prevalent in media influence with over half the languages in the world or in the web being comprised of English as the default language option. Even though only 20% of English speakers are native English are native to English with much of the other ones being Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish and standard Arabic but still not being as nearly as close as English. When we see English, we see it in the world, the apps we use, and even the business we use with most things being centered around English as the prominent language. But the reality is a little bit more complicated than that. When we think of English, we again think of it as the global language. But the reality is it's not for native speakers that actually belongs to Mandarin Chinese. As you can see

074behind me, you can see how language evolves, especially from places such as England, China, and even Portugal with places we all know such as Brazil, Cape Verde, Korea, Australia, and the US. These things can be caused by migration, colonialism, and war. These are the three main reasons languages develop. Some of the ways that have some of the examples of ways this has happened in the past is through the Haitian Revolution and the Trail of Tears. During the Haitian Revolution, African slaves were on were sent to French territory in the Caribbean. this after the um liberation of Haiti, Haitian Creole became the standard language there and because of this a brand new dialect developed and this may seem like a good thing which it is but not all of them were with the Trail of Tears

075being very negative. Due to the Trail of Tears, many indigenous languages were lost due to the migration and this is not a good thing. As we learn new languages, we should pay special respect to the tradition, food, and culture of the places that we are borrowing them from. And when we are on social media, that is one of the main ways that we find new experiences. But we should be careful when indulging in these so that we do not participate in cultural rebranding. Cultural rebranding is when we simplify or change a traditional aspect of a culture to fit our local preferences. This can be especially seen in social media. As you can see, there are much many different things that have been culturally rebranded, such as blanket dumplings for one and cowboy caviar. These may

076seem harmless now, but over time this can cause the culture and language to be forgotten. Like when you're looking at the blanket dumpling trend that's currently on Tik Tok, most people don't even know the original name, which is Schumai. While participating in these, we should be careful to make sure we pay homage to the actual names because once we start to change our perspective, we can often say things that we don't mean, such as the quote here, I'm going to need you to stay off my for you page eating all this crazy stuff. This can cause the cultural item to be have stereotypes and negative connotations attached to it. And this makes people's first identity or perspective on the food a negative one. I've ga gathered some quotes here that talk about their experiences with

077this with one student at the top talking about certain trends they've seen on Tik Tok such as brothy rice, a Chinese time in my life, and the ube Starbucks misprononunciation. These things can make people upset because their cultures are being changed and or negatively impacted by it. And another one is one that we are all accustomed to, the Portuguese feast, with this one student saying that our feasts aren't as much about appreciating our culture to people our age and is now seen as more in a party. When these traditions are seen as something that can be easily discarded, it can change the perspective that we personally have on it. And don't think that people of foreign cultures or different languages do not want to share their language or culture. They just want it to be

078respected in a way where everybody has a nice experience. Some other quotes I've gotten here from different DHS students are ones with one student wanting to share their stories in mythology of Nea, Wukong, and Changi. And another quote from a DHS student wanting to share a more personal matter to their lives with them talking about their mom's love for traditional food and how her her cooking and baking were very influential to her and she would love to share it. Sharing culture is a very important thing that has been happening for generations. But recently there's been a lot of appropriation of these cultures where we're changing them and not giving credit to the people of those that culture. We want to appre we want to participate in culture appreciation not appropriation. Now I've talked about all

079the logistics and research and facts about it. I want to offer some things that I personally love to use to find new languages and cultures. And the first one I will be talking about is music with its influence in society especially in groups as K-pop, regatone and Bollywood. So the first thing I want to talk about is the K-pop aspect with the group Twice a Korean-based girl group with nine members. They mix Korean pop and um English pop to make a nice mix between the two cultures. When they speak Korean and English in their songs, it is very easy to pick up on certain words that are repeated multiple times, such as the title of the song or just basic phrases that are said. Another group I would like to talk about is BTS. BTS

080is a Korean-based boy group that is very popular here in the States, if not one of the biggest ones. They have had multiple promotion promotions with places like McDonald's or appearing in movies or even having their own toy line. BTS takes a lot from American culture such as rap, rock, and pop. And with all these different styles of music that they participate in, it is very easy to get dragged into the K-pop scene due to its familiarity. The next genre I would like to talk about is regatone. With the recent Super Bowl halftime show of Bad Bunny, many Americans were introduced to the world of regatone. Bad Bunny mixes a lot of traditional Puerto Rican music with American R&B and rap. Bad Bunny's influence is also very easily to get into due to the beat

081and the rhythm of his songs. You do not necessarily need to know the language to vibe with the music. Another regatone artist I would like to talk about is Daddy Yenki. He is very influential for millennials and Gen Z alike being often seen in the party scene or just at hangouts. His take on the Latin culture and slang is also very prevalent and we can easily see that through his music and connect with it. And lastly, the last form of music I would like to talk about is Bollywood with one of my first person personal favorites Singh. He mixes um Hindi Pakistani traditional music and R&B alike to make a very nice mix between the two. This makes his music if you are not too keen on regular Bollywood music, it makes it very easy

082to listen to due to its slow nature and relaxed bass. Now I would like to talk about television. Oh, sorry. I would like to talk about the global lens of Katsai. Katai is a new hit girl group that offers a multitude of different languages and cultures with each girl having their own unique ethnic um backgrounds. Seen here you can see all six girls with them speaking German, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Hindi and Korean. this their popularity has come a lot onto the younger generations and allowed for many little girls and little boys alike to like put their foot into the water of different types of music. Now I would like to talk about television. The recent hit um series Squid Games has been a lot of people's first introduction into Kdramas. Kdramas are a Korean drama

083that is heavily used as Korean and often not English at all. With this new found experience, especially with my own mother, I watched this and we now have bonded over the new Kdrama and it has influenced her to watch more and more. Another one I would like to talk about is Studio Gibli. Haya Miyazaki is from Japan and has come to America to show off Japanese culture during the 20th century. With his hits like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Todoro, Ponyo, and Grave of the Fireflies, he shows off Japanese culture and language, especially after a time of anti-Japanese rhetoric due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Now, I want to talk about some video games that offer a very nice cultural experience. Overwatch being one of those. It is a first-person shooter game that invokes strategy

084and team play with every single one of the 50 plus characters speaking a different language and having a different ethnic background. This is very important to see especially in video games that are so prevalent among our generation. Another game I would like to talk about is Genchin Impact. Ginchin Impact takes a lot of um takes a lot from other cultures for its charm with places in the game in the in-game world being based off China, India, Russia, France, and Germany to name a few with even the characters names such as Huttowo, Nouvlet, and Mavika being drawn from real world cultures. And lastly, another video game I'd like to talk about is Valerant. Valerin is very similar to Overwatch with how it involves language and culture into the game, whether that be talking to teammates or

085talking to enemy teams, but it also allows for in-game I mean real life experiences with the um allowing people from different countries to come and play together for to represent their own country and win. Okay. After all the media I've talked about, I want to talk about physical media. such as fashion and makeup. With the rising trend of the Chinese bonsu knot jacket, it allows for a lot of people to become more familiar with Chinese culture. The bondu knots are traditional Chinese knot that were found over a thousand years ago. And then with more Japanese apparel and Korean skincare, the names of these products allow you to physically feel and see the culture and the language. Now, I bet we've all heard of Duolingo before. We've probably either downloaded it or just seen it in

086Tik Tok or social media. But is it really good or bad? Well, Duolingo, I bet we've all had a streak of about 5, 10, 50, or maybe even 100 days. But have you ever actually learned something? Dolingo is not the right app for language learning, at least in terms of long-term language learning. Duolingo puts you into a payw wall uh puts up a payw wall for language learning offering many subscriptions and inapp purchases to trigger advanced learning. Now these advanced learnings are not actually well they do not they do not show proper technique or conjugation or even characters for non- Roman languages. So now I will recommend some apps of my own that I personally have used for language learning with them being Airlearn, Hello Talk and Bonfo. Airlearn is very similar in Dualingo to

087its interface meaning it is very simple to use and it offers a lot of different studying techniques and even when you're learning the language in the lessons, it offers cultural experiences that may influence why the language was created. Another one I personally love is Hello Talk. It allows you to talk with people from around the world for a language matters. So let's say you want to learn German very badly. You could go onto the app and set your preference for German and you will find a bunch of German people who want to learn English. There are inapp translation features that allow you to talk with one another and provide a cultural exchange. And then Bono is also another app I like due to its video learning style and it having in-app tutors that you can

088also pay for it but it mostly focuses on East Asian languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Now I the reason for my TED talk today was to promote cultural togetherness. I think during this time of div division, we should all love everyone, no matter their race, their ethnicity, their language, or their accent. And I want everyone to learn the universal language of love. And this is how I'm making waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Kaden, for that wonderful reminder that we need to be culturally respectful and hopefully learn a new language. I think I'm going to try one of those apps. All right, our final presenter for period 2 will be presenting the shifting tides on women's rights and that is Reese Alves Ford. Ree is a senior here at DHS who

089is participating in her second TED TEDx DHS conference. Reese is a member of our field hockey team and is also on both the winter and spring track teams. She is a member of black student union and the women's empower empowerment club, excuse me. Upon graduation, Reese is planning to attend university to study international politics with the glo the goal of becoming an international lawyer. I think she'll do it. She chose her topic because she wants to spread awareness about how various women around the world are not given the same opportunities and rights as women here in the United States. Please welcome Ree Alves Ford. What is women's empowerment? Women's empowerment, the process of providing women with agency tools and equal opportunities to make life decisions, participate in society, and achieve economic independence. As you can

090see with this map, the blue nations are more developed countries. They're primarily in North America and Europe as the red nations are less developed countries primarily in south in subsaharan Africa and Southeast Asia. This stems from longlasting imperialism and colonialism in these areas. So you might be thinking what is a more developed country? A more developed country also known as an MDC are nations with mature economics, advanced technologies, infrastructure and high standards of living relative to others. It plays a central role in the e in the global economy. technological innovations, international policy and these are heavily industrialized nations. So for my presentation I want to focus on two MDCs that are most should be familiar with you. The United States and the United Kingdom. So women's rights in the United States. I want to focus

091on key figures in um the United States that have helped promote women's rights. First is Serena Williams. She's a 23 Grand Slam singles title winner and she helped push the barrier for women athletics. And also most recently, we have the 2026 Olympic gold medalist team who won against Canada to 2 to1 in um the last Olympics. And then lastly, we have former vice president Kamala Harris who was the first vice first female vice president to be inaugurated in the United States. So in the 20th century, women were fighting for more suffrage and suffrage and basic rights. So the right to vote like with the amendment in 1920 with the women's right to vote. But now in the 21st century you see a shift to more to rights with more complexity like the right to bodily

092autonomy and high level of governance. With this graph, you can see that women when given the opportunity in education can outpace men when it comes to receiving bachelor's degrees with 47% of women compared to 30% of men in um that receive bachelor's degrees. So, what's happening in the United States right now? So, we have Congresswoman of New York, Alexandria Okazio Cortez. She's from the House of Representatives, and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. With these graphs, you can see that there's been a 44% increase from a decade ago of women's involvements in Congress. You can see at the House of Representatives that there's been a massive increase as women are given more opportunities to education and and polit politics. And you can see the same um trend in the Senate. As of early 2025, women occupy 150

093seats in the Senate and House of Representatives combined, which consolidates to about 28% of the total seats in the the US Congress. Next I want to focus to the UK and I also have some influential women. So first we have Adele who won 16 Grammy awards pushing the barrier for women in that woman artists across the world. And then you have the 2020 Tokyo bronze medalists for artistic gymnast gymnastics that helped push the barrier for athletics. And then lastly you have famous British actress Emma Watson who helped promote women's rights to mental health in Hollywood. So, same thing with the US. Um, in the early 20th century, the UK focused primarily on suffrage for basic rights like the right to vote. And now you see a shift towards more complex rights like bodily autonomy and

094level of government governance. So, the 20 2024 election saw the highest number of women elected, which was 263, an increase from 220 in 2019. With this graph, you can also see just like in the United States, the members of Parliament from 1918 to 2024, there's been a massive increase in women's participation in politics when given the opportunity. So now I want to shift over from more developed countries to less developed countries. So you might be thinking also what's a less developed country? A less developed country, also known as the LDC, are low-income nations facing severe structural impediments to sustainable development characterized by low human assets and high economic vulnerability to environmental external shocks. Its role in the economy is that it's a resource-rich and global trade, most often requiring specialized international support from developing nations.

095So with this you can see the UN recognizes 44 countries as less developed nations. Just like in the map I showed before. Most of these nations are in subsaharan Africa and Southeast Asia with 33 of the countries out of the 44 being in subsaharan Africa. So I want to focus on two less developed nations. First Haiti and then Myanmar. So Haiti an island in the Caribbean. In Haiti, 14.9% of women aged 20 to 24 years old are married or in union before the age of 18. The maximum recorded representation of women in H in the Haitian parliament was approximately 11.11% in 2010 compared to 2.7 today, which is heavily increased. I mean decreased, sorry. So this primarily stems from an increased gang violence. Um this increase in gang violence is heavily seen in the 2018

096Haitian election where women were targeted by gangs. Um they were heavily targeted by gangs for their polarizing ideas in um politics. So even with this, even with all these setbacks from the Haitian, from Haitian, against Haitian women, Haitian women still fight to to against severe the severe crisis of gender based violence, systematic corruption, and deep-seated inequality. So next I want to focus on Myammar, which is an country in Southeast Asia. So Myammar is a patriarchal society. So a patriarchal society is a social structure where men hold primary power in a society. As of 2021, Myammar has been in control by a brutal mil military regime known as the state admission council. Patriarchal cultures cultural values still shape women roles in familial relationships, contribute to gender divid division of labor and limit women's participation in decision-making

097at all levels. As you can see that most all of these people in the parliament are men and there are no women. 185 women die per 100,000 live births due to pregnancy related causes in Myammar showing a decrease in healthcare for women and 34 of every thousand girls aged 15 and 19 give birth in Myammar in 20 this is from 2023. This heavily relates with the other slide as many of these women that die during childirth are aged 15 to 19. Adult literacy levels in BMR are nearly the same among among men and women. As this may be true, when you hit low income, there's there's a huge gap with only 73 72.3% of women being able to read compared to the 84.2% of men. So even with all of this, women still fight against

098this brutal military regime. woman o woman women worked to overthrow military dictatorship, restore democracy and dismantle the deeply entrenched patriarchal society. So I want to talk about the comparison between MDC's and LDC's. This this being an MDC and this being an LDC. So there's one comparison when we look at both these nations. There's a there's a gender inequality pay gap and it's still a problem today. Most recently from the Census Bureau, women working full-time year round now earn 81 cents for every dollar men earn. This is down from 83 cents a year ago and 84 cents the year prior. So, we actually have an International Equal Payday on September 18th. This represents the long-standing efforts towards the achievement of equal pay for work of equal value. Just having an international equal pay day shows that

099there's a problem with equal pay across the whole entire world. Across all regions, women are paid less than men with the gender gap with the gender pay gap estimated around 20% globally. How do advancements in women's rights help women in LDC's? So, I want to talk about three pillars and the first pillar being access to education. When women are given access to education, they can break the cycle of poverty and rely on their own checks. Next, access to healthcare. When women are given the access to healthcare, they can ensure physical autonomy and their safety. And lastly, access to basic rights. This provides women with the legal framework for equality. Okay. What is a sustainable development goal? Sustainable development goals are a set of 17 integrated objectives adopted by the UN member states in 2015. I

100want to focus on number five, gender equality. The UN aims to achieve gender equality and empower females across the globe by 2023. This is obviously not true as it's 2026 and I just mentioned all of these things that are wrong across the world. While it's while they are working hard while it hasn't been achieved, the UN is still working hard and countries across the globe are working to achieve gender equality. So promotion of International Women's Day across the globe serves as a reminder that the fight for women's rights is not over. International Women's Day helps link women all across the world, no matter if they're LDC or MDC, to fight for their rights. As you can see, the fight for women's rights is not anywhere near over. It's our jobs as the next generation to

101change women's rights for the better. And this is how I make a This is how I make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Ree, for a wonderful presentation. We appreciate your respect. Please head directly to your pace periods. Thank you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Heat. Heat. Heat. What? Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Okay, welcome to our 11th TEDex DHS event. I'm Senor D Suza and I'm one of the adviserss along with Miss Drew. The TEDex club is thrilled to present to you this exciting event here at Dartmouth High School. This is an independent organized event. This year we have a live audience and will also be broadcasted via live stream by DHS TV media productions. Our theme this year is

102making ways for a better tomorrow. You might not you might be new to TED and you might be wondering who is uh this TED guy, but I'm here to tell you it isn't a person. Instead, TED is an increment for technology, entertainment, and design. The ter organization has covered many ideas worth spreading in various fields of study. You will see the same diversity in the topics here pres presented today. Before we begin, we like to ask our audience to be respectful of our presenters by keeping all electronic devices silenced and refraining from talking. The students have put in a lot of work. We're going to start with our presenters for period three. Our first presentation of period 3 is from trash to treasure, reimagining our oceanceans's future by Sienna Souza. She loves to cook and

103explore nature. This is her first TEDex talk. Um we are so happy that she chose to be part of our club. Sienna chose her topic because she loves the ocean and believes not enough people understand the impact our actions were having on the rapid decline of our climate. Please welcome Sienna Souza. Now, I want everyone in this room to imagine life in 20 years from now. You and your family have decided to take a summer trip back to your home on the coast of Massachusetts because truly nothing could compare to the warm hug of your hometown beach. Think about the smell of the fresh salt water and coconut sunscreen hitting your face. Taking that first step into the hot sand that melts between your feet and soaking your tan skin on the chilly ocean shore

104that sends a tingling sensation down your sunburnt back. A perfect beach day that feels like a nostalgic breath of fresh air. You think about how lucky you are to have grown up in a place as beautiful and as peaceful as this. It's a good feeling, right? But what if I told you that in 20 years, our local beaches and waterfronts that were once something this town took pride in would be filled with trash, have high levels of toxic chemicals, and polluted water filled with thousands of bacteria harmful to many species. A recent study shows that by 2050, over 35% of the world's beaches could become inaccessible to the public due to unstable conditions. Now, what some of you may be thinking is, what does this mean for me? You know, the beach isn't everyone's favorite

105place on Earth. But not only is marine pollution taking out most of the world's beaches over the past decade, but it also puts urban populations living on the coast at risk, especially us. That large red dot along the east coast of America represents the 10 million plus citizens whose lives will be at risk by 2050 due to unstable living conditions. Much of this pollution is caused by human human activity. Landbased activities create over 94% of ocean pollution and nearly half of that comes from chemicals released by industrial plants. But this pollution doesn't just affect us. It intensely harms the millions of unique species in the ocean. The ocean is their home, and unlike us, they have nowhere else to go. But the good news is, it's not too late to help. By understanding the problem,

106we can help protect the ocean that covers over 72% of our Earth. And in my presentation, I'm hoping to open your eyes to a newer and healthier environment. Now, what is marine pollution? Most people may picture a piece of plastic or trash floating in the ocean, but it actually goes way deeper than that. Marine pollution is the introduction of harmful substances in the ocean that damage marine ecosystems, wildlife such as land animals, and even humans and local communities. These materials affect over 41% of the ocean, destroying marine habitats, food sources, and the overall colorful aura that the ocean carries. Toxic agricultural chemicals are straining the bright and vivid life out of the ocean's atmosphere. Oil spillage is coating marine wildlife in toxic sewage and sludge. But the biggest outlier above all polluters is something that

107is used in everyday items all around the world. Something that is mass- prodduced and overused in numerous ways. Plastic making up 80% of marine pollution. Plastic is an issue that keeps on growing. 400 million tons of plastic are produced every year. That means over 1 million tons of plastic being produced every day. and less than 10% of them are being recycled. That means over time plastic just enters the ocean and without being properly cleaned out. Plastic gets broken down over time into invisible pieces called microplastics. Unfortunately, in most cases, microplastics are far more dangerous since they cannot be seen and transport through currents faster. This gives them a higher chance to be consumed by marine species. With all of these causes of pollution working hand in hand, they tend to sabotage the ocean's environmental resources

108such as seafood, our drinking water and many coastal tourist locations, as well as destroying essential marine habitats, disrupting food webs, and causing widespread death among species in the ocean. So, what are the major causes of pollution? In order to solve this problem, we first need to understand where it's coming from. One of the biggest causes is plastic pollution. Plastic can easily reach the ocean through wind, rain, and waterways like rivers and storm drains. Once plastic enters the ocean, it travels through gys, which are large circular currents created by the earth's wind and rotation patterns. There are five major gys in the world. The North Pacific Gy holds the most plastic pollution out of all five. It is located here between California and Japan. This gy is also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It

109holds over a 100,000 tons of plastic. However, it's not a solid island like most people would expect, but it's more so a highly concentrated soup of floating plastic. And most of this pollution comes from things like microplastics and fishing gear such as nets and lines. Fishing industries and aquaculture farms are what play a major role into this pollution. The distribution of toxic chemicals in the ocean is another effective example. These chemicals can damage marine environments in many ways. A well-known example is the Great Barrier Reef located off the coast of Queensland, Australia. This reef was once a vibrant and colorful home to millions of marine animals. But due to severe stress and loss of coral from pollution, the Great Barrier Reef has been declared dead and it cannot be restored. This is often seen through

110coral bleaching, which is causes the reef to lose its color over time. The major cause of coral bleaching is chemical runoff. This happens when rain washes fertilizers and pesticides from farms into the river, which eventually reaches the ocean. Another major result of this is algae blooms, but they're also known as dead zones. While normal algae supports marine life, too much of it can become very harmful. Algae blooms are caused by excess nutrients in the water which create toxins that can harm marine mammals, fish, birds, and even humans. This is why these areas are called dead zones. Another source of pollution is oil drilling. Oil is a highly demanded energy source which leads to constant drilling in the ocean. This process involves drilling into the ocean floor extracting oil and toxic gas, but it often results

111in pollution. Oil can leak slowly or spill in major disasters like the Deep Water Horizon spill which happened in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil is extremely harmful because it coats marine animals in toxic layers of sludge making it difficult for them to move, breathe, and even survive. So, we're starting to see a pattern here. Many of these harmful pollutants are caused by human activity. So, what are we actually doing to marine life when we pollute the ocean? This pollution has a huge impact on both marine animals food sources and their habitats. Coral reefs are home to more than 25% of marine animals, including over 4,000 unique species of fish. Often called the rainforest, oh, often called the rainforest of the sea, reefs provide food, shelter, and breeding grounds for many species. But today, many reefs

112like the Great Barrier Reef are being severely damaged by pollution. In many places, conditions are becoming too harsh for marine life to survive. Without healthy reefs, studies show that up to 75% of fish populations can decline after severe coral bleaching. And it's not just reefs. It's the ocean as a whole that's being affected. Without proper cleanup, trash and plastic build up in the ocean every day. Large pieces of floating trash are a major threat. They can trap animals causing entanglement or suffocation. Plastic is also often eaten by marine animals. When animals mistake plastic for food, it can block their digestive system and lead to death. And when plastic breaks down, it doesn't disappear. It turns into microplastics, which can still be extremely harmful to marine mammals. When marine animals ingest these tiny particles, it can

113cause internal injuries and chemical poisoning. Because of pollution like this, many marine species are now at serious risk, and some are even on the verge of extinction. For example, Hawaiian monk seals are located in the Hawaiian and Pacific islands. But today, fewer than 700 of these species remain. Albatross are large seabirds located in the North and South Pacific. But now some populations have dropped to as few as 3,400 individuals. Another example is the North Atlantic right whale. Only about 366 of these species remain and less than half are females. This makes it very difficult for the population to recover. And marine pollution doesn't just affect ocean life. It also has serious consequences for humans. The ocean is our huge part of our environment and it provides us with many important resources. In many ways, the

114condition of the ocean can directly affect our food and water quality. A major impact is on our food supply. Around the world, over three billion people rely on seafood as a major source of protein. And for some, it's also a key part of their culture. When fish and shellfish consume harmful chemicals and microplastics, these pollutants build up in their bodies and move up the food chain, eventually reaching us. In fact, every person in this room has microplastics in their body. Studies estimate that the average person consumes between 74,000 to 120,000 microplastics a year. And although it may seem like a big number, it's hard to notice because of how invisible these microplastics are. And this number continues to rise as pollution increases. Once microplastics are inside the body, they accumulate in organs like the lungs,

115liver, and bloodstream. This can potentially lead to inflammation, cell damage, and hormone disruption. Our water sources are also being affected by pollution. Ocean water can contain harmful bacteras, chemicals, and toxins. When people swim in or come into contact with contaminated water, it can cause illnesses like skin infections, stomach problems, and respiratory issues. To end my presentation, I want to bring it back to us. What can we do to help our ocean before it's too late? One simple but very powerful act is recycling. Recycling helps reduce the 17.6 billion pounds of plastic that enter the ocean each year, protecting marine life from entanglement and ingestion. Even small habits like this can make a huge difference. There are also local organizations working to help protect our ocean. The Buzzard Buzzards Bay Coalition is a group that focuses

116on habitat restoration, reducing nitrogen pollution, and conserving land to pro to improve ocean health. Another local organization is the Lloyd Center for the Environment. They protect coastal ecosystems through research, outreach, and education. Their work includes monitoring water quality, studying marine species, and educating students and residents about protecting biodiversity in local areas. Because these organizations are nonprofit, they rely heavily on community support. Donating, volunteering, or even spreading awareness can help make a real difference in protecting our oceans. In many ways, pollution works like a cycle. The more humans harm the ocean, the more the ocean returns that harm back to us through the food we eat and the water we rely on. But the more we are able to help rejuvenate the ocean we rely on, our environment and lifestyle will get arguably better. Breaking the

117cycle of pollution is how I'm making waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Sienna, for being very informative on our environment. Our second presentation for period 3 is two houses, one childhood re redefining family after the split by Noel Mitosumo. Noel is a junior here at DHS was part of the school council. This is Noel's first TEDx DHS talk and we are thrilled to have her with us this year. She has various interests in topics such as forensics, science, psychology, and family law. Noel chose her TEDex DHS talk because of her personal experience. Noel is driven to be the advocate that she once needed and wants to help people change the conversation about custody issues from legal battles to emotional resilence. Please welcome Noel Mitoso. >> Imagine an image of the perfect nuclear family. You

118probably thought of a dad, a mom with two kids. You would never imagine a family of a single parent or the same gender or even a diverse family. We need to move away from society's 1950s nuclear model to today's modern family and start believing that there is other ways to succeed in life than just being believing that the 1950s nuclear model is the only way to we can succeed. The title parent is earned through trust, loyalty and being there emotionally rather than through a biological status. Unified parenting regardless of the parents if the part parents are together separated whatever the situation is it creates a psych psychological safety blanket for the child. Unified parenting also allows the child to stop being a messenger for both one or both parents and simply lets the child be

119a child. In these next few slides I'm going to be focusing on a collaborative mindset between both parents in successful co-parenting that we have created. Parents need to stop viewing themselves as former partners and start acting like teammates for life to make sure their kids don't get caught up in any conflict. When kids see their parents actually working together, it gives them a sense of stability and helps them feel way less stress when moving between houses. Family is really more about the consistent positive things you do people do for each other every day rather than who they are related by biology. Next, I'll be going through the different types of custodies that society has made. Joint legal custody is one of the most common custodies out there. One of one where both parents have an

120equal say in the big stuff like what school the kid goes to, what religion they have, and what doctor they get to go see, etc. Soleal custody is when only one parent has the legal right to make all the major decisions for the kid and they don't really have a say in what to do and check in with the other parent before doing it. Joint physical joint physical custody is when the kid spends a significant amount of time with living with both parents' houses so they can stay close with both them. Though it isn't always a perfect 5050 split. Sole physical custody is when kids live when a kid lives with one parent full-time while the other parent usually just gets scheduled visits or parenting time. Phys primary physical custody is when the kid lives

121with one one with one parent most of the time but the other parent still gets regular overnights like every other weekend. The bird's nest custody is kind of unique because it the kid stays in one house while the parents swap in and out on depending on whose turn it was and what time. In 2025, mental health studies show that 80% of kids in joint physical custody have better mental health compared to only 67% of kids who live with just one parent. Kids in shared care setups usually deal with fewer stress related issues like constant headaches or stomach stomach aches because they feel more balanced. Keeping a solid constant relationship with both parents acts like a shield that helps kids deal with the trauma of a breakup much better. The new standard courts are now pushing

122for things like required meditation and therapy to make sure the kids stay stable instead of just letting parents fight in the courtroom. It's much important for a kid to have actual inner peace and stable relationships than just following court rules. So things like their culture, health, safety from any kind of pressure by supporting going through to therapy isn't seen as a bad thing anymore. It's actually a huge help for parents and kids to stay stable and healthy for the long run. Instead of just doing what the parents say, now courts are now forcing the focus to shift towards whatever the unique kids needs are and actually needs to be happy and successful in life. Courts are now requiring written proof that they're putting the kids specific needs instead of doing what the parents said. Emotional

123impact happens when parents get into a fight or divorce. It usually h hits kids really hard and making them feel super sad, angry, constantly worried what's going to happen next or if they're going to be left behind. Wait. The mental and emotional strain happens when little kids sometimes fall into magical thinking where they actually start to self-lame themselves for the breakup while constant fighting happens between both parents, forcing kids to choose sides of which parents they want to go with. Not having a Oh my god, I keep doing that. Not having a stable home, it can really have messed with kids, making little ones act younger than they are, leading teens to get more aggressive and start making risky and bad decisions. When kids are dealing with all that emotional stress, it's really hard for

124them to focus on school. Between the lack of steady routine and the constant distractions, their grades often slip and they're less likely to graduate on time. The future relation impact. Even though kids of divorce are 50% more likely to deal with their own relationship struggles later on life, it act it's actually fighting between parents is usually way more damaging to their growth than the divorce itself. The path to resilience. The good news is that most kids actually bounce back and do just fine as long as their parents stick to a steady routine and keep them far away from any adult drama. In 2025, we have came up with new ideas for co-parenting apps. Specializing co-parenting apps are the the be are became the go-to rule tool for the study split families that help everyone stay

125on the same page with schedules while keeping their digital paper for both digital paper trail for both parents. The legal consistency UCCCJ JA which stands for uniform child custody enforcement act in by 2025 there's been a major push for UCCCJA which Massachusetts is working to adopt to ensure custody rules stay their same stay the same even if the family moves states it basically stops parents from judge shopping in different states and keeps the ch things stabled for the kids the law is finally finally catching up to reality by ensuring that adoption and s shuy provide the exact same legal rights to same-sex couples and all different types of family structures. Instead of just trying to survive the day, the goal shifts from actually chasing personal goals to finding real happiness and fulfill fulfillment for the

126long haul. It's not about toughing it out anymore. It's about building healthy ways to cope so you have a solid foundation for your mental health that actually lasts. This makes staying healthy both mentally and physically a lifestyle choice to make every day rather than something you only had to worry about once. You've already burned out. Restored agency is about moving from feeling like life is just happening to you to actually making being the one in the driver's seat making making the intentional choices. Development investment happens when custody shouldn't be treated like a social service to just fix a problem. It should be seen as an investment in a kid's future and who they will become as an adult. By focusing on kids needs and staying proactive, we aren't just fixing a temporary problem. This is

127how I believe we can make waves for a better tomorrow. Our third presentation for period three, the power of the single step translating track to life by Jack Mtoso. Jack is a junior here at DHS and this is his first time participating in TEDex DHS. He joined her club because he found it very intriguing. Jack is a member of the spring tech team and enjoys running very much. He chose this topic because of his love for running. Please welcome Jack Mutoso. All right, the misconception. People think running is a hobby, but really it's a mental clarity hidden in every single stride. What is track and field? Track and field is a sport with a wide range of events from 100 meters to 2 miles to 4x4s, hurdles to jumps to throws, track brings people together

128for teamwork and individual peak performances. Here's a breakdown of what both indoor and outdoor track is. Indoor track and field starts off with sprints, hurdles, and the relays. Sprinting you have the 55 meter and the 300 meter dash. For hurdles, there is only the 55 meter. Now show off that teamwork skills and show for 4x 200 and 4x4. Jump over those hurdles. Let's move to mid distance and long distance. Mid distance contains of 600 m, 800 m, and 1,000 m. Long distance you have the one mile and two mile. Don't like to run? That's okay. Indoor track has field events. Indoor track field events contain of high jump and long jump. Throwing you have shock shot. Weather is getting nice out there. So, let's sprint our way to outdoor track. Outdoor track starts with sprints,

129hurdles, relays, and 100 m 200 meter dash. Let's jump to hurdles. You have the 100 meter girls and 110 m boys. For relays, you have the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x4. We sprint to mid distance and long distance. You have the 400 meter and 800 meter. For mid distance for long distance, you have the two mile. Don't like to run? There are field events. Field events consist of long, triple, and high jump. For throwing, we have shot, discus, and javelin. PR. What does it mean? In track and field, PR stands for personal record. A PR is you jumped, ran, or thrown better than you have before. This is an ultimate goal for athletes to focus on yourself rather than beating the opposing team. Coaches will help athletes by setting up practices to help them get a

130new PR. Starting blocks. Starting blocks is a special adjustment equipment used by the sprinter to brace their feet at the start of the race. Track teaches us that power comes from the small adjustments. Starting blocks are used at by an athlete to maximize their acceleration. When a sprinter sets up their blocks, they make sure the blocks are perfect because one wrong adjustment, it can mess up the race. Your starting blocks in life, your starting blocks is the mindset at the beginning of the day. In the end of the day is your finish line. The race not begins not with the sprinting but with a single step out of the box. What are your starting blocks in life? It's your decision to begin and commit to the starting blocks. Discipline means following a set of rules

131or plan to reach a goal. Discipline is doing what needs to be done when the motivation has vanished. Transitioning this to life means trusting the process during the invisible season when no one is watching. Big moments. Every practice you finish alone builds a person for big moments. When everyone sees your success, they are seeing all of the progress, the steps you taken when no one was watching. They see all the countless hours of training and putting forth effort. The last lap. The last lap is the hardest one of them all. Your body telling you to stop or just quit. Your mind telling you to keep going and almost done. You must block out the pain and just focus on what's go you are going to accomplish. The race will finish when the race finishes, not

132when you're done. This is the lap where you define who you who who your true self really is and what you're capable of doing. The athletes mindset. An athlete knows that growth only happens at the edge of discomfort. A truth that applies just to much as to life as to track. Whether facing the final lap or personal hardship, success is found in the quiet discipline. Athletes mindset part two. Required to show up when you're tired just means you're trying. This is the way of thinking turns every tough run into a lesson of how to stay strong. By pushing throughout the hard times, you learn to stay how to handle any problem thrown your way. The relay effect. The paton pass is commonly known as a metaphor for leadership and trust. Having a mindset of trust

133means having the confidence in yourself before the baton is passed to you. Leadership is knowing when to hold on and even so when to let go. Having leadership as a character trait means you're capable to have trust in leading your team to success. Athlete secret. Acknowledge. Accept the pain as a data point, not as a stop sign. That means you're trying and you're reaching your limits. Reframe. Change the I can't breathe to my lungs are working for me. Shift the narrative. And lastly, anchor. Focus on the very next hurdle or 100 meters, not the finish line. Win the moment. The 1% advantage. An elite performance is the gap between gold and nothing is oftenly less than 1%. That 1% is entirely in ability to quiet that mental chatter and focus on the immediate action. By

134training your inner voice, you unlock the winning. You unlock the ability to push into the final winning margin. On the track, this 1% is where you own your stride rather than letting the physical burn and exhaustion take over. It's when you ignore the urge to slow down and trust the thousands of laps that prepared you to finish the straightaway strong. Track transformed my life. Track and field has been a transforming effect in my life. Before starting track, I struggled with a lack of motivation and avoided any physical activity. I would oftenly socially withdrawn and just kept to myself. However, joining track completely changed my future. Throughout joining throughout training, I created multiple friendships and multiple PRs. Track helps me stay active and helps me manage my anxiety. Track and field support transform my life by

135having me come out and be motivated to stay active. What's your next step? The race doesn't end on the track. Some track athletes continue their track careers in college. Athletes can get recruits from co coaches from colleges and universities. If you're even lucky enough from colleges and universities, they would offer you a scholarship. So just as we train our bodies to endure the final straightaway, we must train our minds to carry the same resilience into every hurdle life throws our way. Much appreciation to the track team. Dartmouth High School has a lot of outstanding and record-breaking performances from track athletes. Dartmouth track and field team has put much effort into have being the team they are today. I would like to give much appreciation to every track athlete for trying their best into every meet

136and putting forth all their effort into practices. Now for coaches. Thank you to coaches. I would like to say thank you to coaches Peter Bro, John Bro, Coach Carrera, Coach McCarron, Coach Soua, and Coach Sports for being supportive coaches in helping track athletes be successful. This is how I show making ways for a better tomorrow. Thank you Jack for that uh wonderful presentation. You know I I know a little bit about track myself. Um our last presentation for period 3 is clean energy community revitalization by Andrew Monise. Andrew is a senior here at DHS and is joining the TEDex DHS conference for the first time. and Andrew has had participating in TEDex as his bucket list uh activity for his high school career. Additionally, Andrew is the president of the class of 2026 as well

137as an associate editor of the Spectrum, our school's newspaper. He is a member of the marching band and has been on the unified track team. Andrew plans to major in either political or environmental science in college. Please welcome Andrew Monise. In the last few years, we've heard a lot about clean energy, whether that's wind, solar, or nuclear. In fact, in the United States, we've seen major investment in clean energy. The Inflation Reduction Act passed in August of 2022 by Congress was the uh historic investment in clean energy, infusing 3.6 billion into the industry. And some of the target goals of this legislation was to revitalize communities like this one pictured here, which is actually real images of Detroit, Michigan. These communities had faced urban decline and through the investments of the inflation reduction act uh

138community leaders hoped that clean energy could revitalize it. Now let's understand what causes urban decline in the US. There are many causes of urban decline but here are four major causes. The first one being de-industrialization. This is first the loss of industry and as a result then the loss of jobs and household income and then forcing people to relocate out of the city to seek alternative job opportunities. Then the interstate highway act passed in 1956 which for the first time allowed the upper and middle class to be more car dependent and relocate outside of the city shrinking cities tax bases as the number of people within urban cores dwindled. It also created physical divisions within communities that created real divides on the physical landscape. Moving on, we have we see suburbanization which is just the

139continued movement of these upper and middle class people to the suburbs and further reducing the significance of the urban core and reducing their tax base. And finally, we get uneven investment which is really a uh a product of the previous three uh causes here. So we see that cities are forced to invest in the areas that will give them the maximum return due to declining tax revenues and as a result they uh may have some areas of the city that receive less attention than others leading to uneven development. Here it can be viewed as a cycle. We get the population shifting to the suburbs and the city budget declines due to tax revenue declines. Services are cut. Businesses leave. There are fewer customers and the neighborhood declines, forcing more people to move to the suburbs

140and continuing on this cycle of decline. Now, this leads to something called urban blight. Blight is just a general term to describe the contamination, abandonment, or vacancy of properties in urban neighborhoods. Here are some examples of what urban blight looks like. So we see decaying industrial buildings, dilapidated historic buildings. We see aging highway and road infrastructure boarded up and abandoned housing within neighborhoods. Now you may be asking, what do these images have to do with me? Well, they're actually of your own community, New Befford, Massachusetts. To understand how Newfford dealt like this, let's look at a brief overview of New Befford's economic history. So first we get the whaling era. New Befford is very prosperous and it is actually the richest city in the world uh per capita uh due to the whaling industry and

141it is a very vibrant city. We see um a big center for the abolition movement and moving on to the decline of whaling 1860 to 1920. Kerosene replaces uh whale oil as the primary fuel for lighting in homes. And as a result, there are lots of wealthy boat owners that now have to divest their resources into other areas. So they decide to invest into textiles and manufacturing in general. So the city sees a renaissance economically from this. Then between 1930 and 1950 we see commercial fishing begin to rise again primarily through scolops and flounder. And at the same time after the second world war particularly the manufacturing and textile manufacturing in the city start to see some uh competition from the south and overseas. Then between 1960 and 1990 we get economic decline in the

142city. This decline is as a result of over fishing beginning to catch up with the commercial fishing industry and that competition that we spoke about before with manufacturing becoming more intense. This all culminates to the period between 1990 and 2010 for the city where we get the perfect storm of economic consequences and this leads and this caps off with three major events. the collapse of the ground fishery which was the result of the over fishing, the North American Free Trade Agreement or better known as NAFTA which led to many factories that were still existing in the city uh out uh offshoring to Mexico or Canada and then the great recession capping this all off which led to very high unemployment. So this takes the city from prosperity to blight. Now, here are some numbers to

143show you. So, by June of 2009, unemployment rate was 11.6 in the city of New Befford. And manufacturing employment dropped from 23.7% in 2000 to 15.7% in 2005. And there was also environmental consequences because when these factories closed, yes, the business left, but the building stayed and so did the property. And as a result, there was contamination that was left from these factories production. And this was by way of something known as legacy pollution, which is chemicals that are produced by industry that remain in the environment long after they were produced. This leads to something called brownfields, which is just a broader term to describe uh contaminated properties that are seeking to be redeveloped. So a lasting consequence you see of this environmental degradation is if any of you like to fish you know that

144you can't you can't actually fish in the Kushnet River because the fish are contaminated with something known as polycllorinated bifphenols that are known as PCBs and there were of course social issues uh in in 2008 New Befford was ranked eighth in violent crime and population declined from 120,000 in 1920 to 95,000 by 2010. But you may be wondering, is this the same city that I take the ferry to the vineyard in and I go to restaurants and and shops and see a show at the Z? It is. And in fact, there has been significant progress in the city. We see that between 2010 and pre and to the present, the population in New Befford has actually grown by 7,000, up from 95,000 people to just over 101,000 people. The downtown area attracts 1.4 million tourists

145every year and household income has increased by 10.24%. So we see hotels, restaurants and retail and arts and culture. And this all begs the question, how did Newf do it? Now back to our example with clean energy. The vineyard wind project, which was recently completed, could be an answer, and it has had major economic impact in the city. Over 3,700 part or full-time jobs over the decade of development were created, and 1.9 billion in local economic output has been to date. And it seems that ever since the city broke ground on Foss Marine Terminal, which is the construction and uh staging port for the offshore wind turbines, the city has seem to have been on an upward uh trajectory. But what if I told you that the reason for New Befford's forward progress has been

146a little bit more complicated and pro and part of a broader plan than just this one project. And it's actually as a result of something known as urban sustainability. Now, sustainability is often a word that's thrown around in a lot of different contexts, but at its core, sustainability just means to uh meet the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of future generations. In the urban context, this also uh goes to social, economic, and environmental concerns as well. So, what does this look like in a city setting? Well, we we get walkable neighborhoods, compact housing, mixed land use, and urban gardens. These are some of the ways that cities can uh be more sustainable. And in New Befford, through the NB resilient plan, they have divided their sustainability goals into six focus areas.

147climate and energy, public health and safety, transportation and land use, economy and jobs, natural resources, infrastructures in infrastructure, utility, utilities and waste. And here's a look at some projects in each of these areas. So, as we talked about, offshore wind is a project that falls under this sustainable focus area, but there's also solar projects that the city has undertaken, such as this installation of solar canopies at the park and ride in the north end of Dubford that also fall under this category. So, it's not just the vineyard wind project or other offshore wind projects that are part of their sustainability goals. It's part of a more broader plan. Under the next area, New Befford Public Schools recently unveiled their new central kitchen, which aims to meet the nutritional needs of those in the city and

148in communities that face food insecurity for transportation and land use. The city has developed their blue lane over the last two decades. And many of you have probably been on the harbor walk above the hurricane barrier and that's one part of the blue lane. They're also in the process of developing the river walk which goes up the Aushnet River. for economy and jobs. New Befford has recently unveiled plans to build an advanced manufacturing campus on Hathway Road on the site of the Whailing City Golf Course. And this aims to create a thousand jobs in a more sustainable way because advanced manufacturing is different than typical or traditional heavy manufacturing because it it does not release as many uh emissions as traditional manufacturing does. So this is a more sustainable techbased research and developmentbased uh manufacturing.

149And for natural resources, the Kushnet River cleanup, we talked about it being contaminated. This is a major effort that the city has undertaken over the past two decades in partnership with the EPA to return this area back to the residents of the city and allow them to use this natural resource. And for in infrastructure, utilities and waste, the replacement of the new Befford uh vioaduct, which is just the bridge structure that brings traffic into the downtown area, is a major transportation project that the city has undergone. And what makes this project sustainable rather than just being a regular uh highway upgrade is that as you can see kind of as you can see here in this area um they're building a park and installing drainage and all that below the highway which adds to the

150sustainability of the project. So you may be asking what can I do because all of this seems pretty high level government not really based in the community. Well there are actually many things you can do and the the best thing that you can do not everyone in here is 18 but many will soon be. The best thing you can do is advocate uh for policies that uh support sustainability and vote for politicians who promote sustainable goals. And here are some daily practices that you can uh implement in your daily life to live more sustainably. So I'll leave I'll leave you with this. How can you live more sustainably? Because this is how I make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you Andrew Mice for your uh informative and presentation on clean energy and community. Um

151that concludes our presentations for period 3. Thank you very much. Okay, welcome to our 11th TEDex DHS event. The TEDex DHS club is thrilled to present to you this exciting event here at Dartmouth High School. This is an independently organized event and this year we will have both a live audience and we will be broadcast via liveream by DHS TV Media Productions. Our theme this year is making waves for a better tomorrow. You may be new to TED and may be wondering who this TED guy is. Well, there really isn't a TED guy. TED is an acronym for technology, entertainment, and design. The TED organization has covered many ideas worth spreading in various fields of study. You will see the same diversity in topics being presented to you here today. Before we begin, we would

152like to remind our audience to please be respectful of all the hard work that our presenters have put into this. We ask that you keep all your electronic devices silenced and put away. That includes earbuds and refrain from talking during presentations. Okay. Our first presenter for period 5 today is going to be presenting the influence of mental routines on athletic performance and that is going to be Finn Sperry. Finn is a senior here at DHS. He is captain of the sailing team and is joining the TEDx GHS club for the first time. Finn wanted to combine his love of sailing with his love of presenting in an authentic experience and he thought that being part of the TEDex club would be a great way to accomplish that. Finn has been sailing since his childhood. He

153has competed in local Cape and Islands circuit and moved on to national and international competitions all over the United States. Upon graduation, Finn plans to take a gap year to work with companies such as New Bedford Research and Robotics and More Brothers Fabrication and Engineering. He also plans to sail from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal and eventually to Tahiti. I want to go. Uh after his gap year, Finn plans to study aerospace engineering and wants to be part of his school sailing program. Please welcome Finn Sperry. Have you ever wondered what makes sports entertaining? What gets you nervous and excited about watching something you might not even understand? And I'm not talking about the flash or the fireworks of a Penn State game because people showed up to watch curling matches in the late

1541800s without any of that. I'm talking about why you would show up to watch a sport in its most basic form. If you paid any attention to the Winter Olympics this year, you would have heard that Lindsay Vaughn, one of our top candidates for gold in women's downhill skiing, shattered her leg on a run and had to be airlifted off the mountain. Now, because of Van's reputation as a top skier, this incident generated as much, if not more media coverage than the actual medalists. A similar upset occurred during the much anticipated performance of Ilia Malinin, aka the quad god, when the athlete fell during a routine, he has a reputation for executing perfectly. So, what do these two examples have in common? Well, apart from the media covers they generated, both these athletes were expected

155to dominate their competition. But it was these expectations that put them under a crippling pressure while the whole world was watching. On the other hand, figure skater Alyssa Lou came out of retirement simply because she loved her sport, saying, "If I if there's no one else on earth, I would still skate." Lou was just returning to the game after retiring due to burnout. So, she decided to just be herself and have fun. And using this mentality, she was able to excel under pressure and win two gold medals. I would argue that the essence of sports that makes them attractive to watch is their unpredictable nature. But the irony of the matter is athletes spend their whole careers trying to avoid exciting incidents like this. You drill and practice every day so that you don't make

156mistakes. But as you get better, so do your competitors. And this can create a cycle that seems difficult to break. And many athletes are perfectly comfortable in this cycle. They're the ones that just play for fun in high school or get through college but don't declare for the draft. But it takes a bit more bravery and determination to break this cycle and become an outlier. And this is where people begin to fold under pressure. It's tough to be an outlier in anything you do. And it might surprise you to hear that there were 29 other women on the ice that night that were just as qualified as Alyssa Lou to win that gold medal. The only difference is that Lou was the only one that was able to perform perfectly both physically and mentally. So,

157how do they do it? How does a top athlete like Michael Phelps break this cycle and win 23 gold medals? Two years ago, I was lucky enough to learn what it feels like to be in this position and what it takes to hold it. In the summer of 2024, I walked up to this pedestal with Peter Hurley, my teammate in the two person club 420 sailboat and was named national champion. But when I returned the following year, I didn't even make podium. Now, you might be wondering, hold on a minute, did he just go backwards? My answer would be yes. It didn't feel great. Of course, the next logical question is why? What was the difference between how I race in 2024 versus how I race in 2025? To answer this question, we need to

158step back in time. For the past 3 years of my junior racing career, I attended an event in Newport, Rhode Island called the Brookens Advanced Racing Clinic. The purpose of this clinic is to expose junior sailors to some of the most advanced coaching and facilities available in the United States. To attend, sailor have to submit a resume of their sailing achievements and stand out in a competitive pool of prospects from across the country. One of the main highlights of this clinic occurs on the second night of training when a guest speaker gives a talk on a topic they've mastered. In 2023, this guest speaker was 18 time national champion and three-time world champion Steve Hunt, a figurehead of the sailing community. Hunt described how he and his team prepared for worlds. How they tested their

159sails to see if factory imperfections would yield a different air foil when stretched under wind load to how they stowed every item in specific places so that their boat's weight was perfectly distributed in the water. But ultimately, Hunt made the point, why does all this matter if you can't deal with the pressure of a world championship while you're racing? You know how to do a perfect maneuver, but so does every other worldass sail you're racing against? Hunt ultimately believed that the difference between volatile messy finishes and consistent podiums is your ability to maintain flow state. And as we saw with Alyssa Louu, the trick to being able to make this flow state repeatable is by having a healthy, stable mentality. And according to Hunt, the key to being able to make this mentality repeatable is

160by using a mental routine. Now flow state is a key term to understand in the study of athletes in the study of mentality and athletes. Steven Cutotler an avid writer and researcher on this topic was my inspiration to further study flow and use it to my advantage while competing. He wrote a book called the art of impossible which takes a deep dive into the science behind flow state and its roots in academia. And he also made a 7-minute YouTube video that gives you all the information you need at a glance. It's important to understand that flow state isn't just a popularized term for concentration. It's actually a biological response that can be triggered by little bursts of dopamine in everyday activities. And this can happen to people without them even realizing it. This is the

161biggest misconception about flow state. It's not just something that professional athletes know how to access. You do it every day. The trick is learning how to access it when you really want to. Take Tik Tok for example. I'm sure we all know the feeling of being so engrossed in our phones that we can't even tell when someone's trying to talk to us. And while your mom might find it incredibly frustrating, the science says you're actually in a flow state. Tik Tok is giving you a little burst of dopamine, which is keeping you by design engaged and focused. Now, imagine if you could take the fixation you have with your phone and apply it to your sport. Some people I know would probably be in the Olympics right now if they did this. And this is

162where a mental routine can come in to give you the mentality to thrive in that environment. Think of a mental routine as a tool you can develop to access your flow state whenever you want to. And if you develop this tool enough, you can accomplish this like you're flipping a switch. One of the most important mental routines I did was during the often overlooked period between races. After a 45 to 60 minute race, it's easy to cross the finish line and lose all focus. To combat this, my teammate and I would instantly debrief and decompress after the race to avoid any builtup tension that could negatively influence our following starting procedure. And then we would typically spend the remainder of our time in near silence, mentally rehearsing and going through our mental routine for the

163before the next race. The premise of the routine we developed was to minimize variables and stress. Think of a variable as something that can change during your race, something that can go right or go wrong or cause other things to go right or wrong. And as you begin to minimize and manage your variables, your success should begin to increase. Ironically, sailing as a sport based on adaptation to two constantly changing variables found in the wind and the waves. Add in a teammate whose ability to do the right thing at the right time is 50% responsible for your success in a race. And you can understand why we're trying to control as much of our environment as possible. Having a routine allowed us to reset and eliminate any emotional variability that could negatively influence our following

164race. It allowed us to wipe our slate clean, act like we were going into the first race of the day with nothing behind us, and have a neutral, stable mentality. Visualization was also a key part of our routine. And I got to the point where I would envision every step of every maneuver in the order they would occur during the hourlong race. and I wouldn't break focus until I'd mentally rehearsed crossing the finish line. Peter and I even got to the point where we refused interviews from the media boat because we saw no point in changing a mental routine that was getting us consistent top five finishes. After two years of training following the clinic with Steve Hunt, we had perfected a routine that allowed us to stay focused and level-headed over 3 days of

165racing with up to seven hours of racing each day. But it wasn't until the summer of 2025 that I began to appreciate how key Steve Hunt's advice really was. Peter had graduated from junior sailing, so I was competing at open nationals with my twin brother Sam. In sailing, nationals consists of two days of qualifying racing and one day of metal racing. Going into the start of metal racing, Sam and I were tied for first with a team of sailors from California, which is actually better than where Peter and I had been placed going into metal racing the previous year. We were focused and had solid mental routines considering we'd only been sailing together for a couple of months. Going to the last race of the day, the podium was up in the air. Sam and

166I were in a position that had the potential to place us in first overall because our top competitor was behind us by about 13 boats. Unfortunately, as we crossed the halfway point, dozens of coaches streamed into the racing area and began to notify the competitors that the race had been called off due to course corrections and would have to be rerun. That race was then rerun over eight times due to false starts. Sam and I were extremely frustrated that a national title might have just been stripped away from us. And this coupled with a mentally and physically taxing repeated starts in grueling conditions caused us to break our flow while our friends from California managed to stay focused. After an absurd amount of starts, we finally got a race off. Sam and I had a

167good start, but began to struggle on a leg of the race that we were typically the fastest on. With frustration at a peak and all mental prep thrown out the window, we hit a large wave at the wrong angle and nose dived. We lost about 40 boats while recovering and finished in the mid-30s, dropping us off the podium to a tantalizing fourth place. It's extremely difficult to do the right thing at the right time if you're crippled under pressure and exhausted. And while physical while exhaustion might be solved by physical practice, operating under pressure is much more of a mental game. And the ability to do this is something that sets athletes apart or causes catastrophes like Lindsey von's crash. A fact that you might have missed due to the crash. the craze over her

168crash in the Olympics is that Lindsy Vaughn actually had a similar crash in the World Cup a couple months prior and was not oblivious to the whispers that she was getting too old to be competing at that level. Similarly, Simone when Simone Biles famously dropped out of the Tokyo Olympics mid competition, she blamed it on her loss of air awareness. But I'm willing to bet that the pressure that comes with her position as an outlier in gymnastics had some negative influence on her mentality in that moment. Conversely, in order for her to constantly repeat that flow state that was so lucrative, I would hazard a guess that every time Alyssa Lou went out on that ice, she gave herself a little reminder to just be herself and have fun. And that is an example of

169a basic mental routine. Now, you can't rely on a mental routine to increase your performance if you are missing the fundamentals of a sport. If I were to go up to bat against a major league pitcher, I know I'm not going to hit anything because I'm simply outclassed. I like to represent this concept as a pyramid where mentality is the peak and everything else that is specific to your sport is the foundation. And the peak of this pyramid is the same for every sport. It doesn't matter whether you're playing golf or you're a tight end. If you can't do what you need to do under pressure, you will never reach your full potential as an athlete. And this doesn't just go for sports. take tests, interviews, a TED talk. I'm a senior, but I'm taking

170more SATs over my gap year, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to squeeze more points off that test. Now, I'm not saying you have to envision every letter you write on your next pop quiz with Mr. Lima. But if you think a couple of deep breaths would have helped you on that last FRQ you bombed, then why not try it? So, what does it take to break the cycle? What does it take to be an outlier and critically keep that cycle broken? Steve Hunt, a man who has dominated his corner of the sailing world for decades, believed that the secret to breaking out of the pack, is in your mentality. I proved the importance of flow state to myself in my experience at nationals when Sam and I neglected our mental routine. I

171was unwittingly a guinea pig in my own experiment, but I'm going to use the knowledge I gained from making mistakes to my advantage in the future. And after this presentation, I hope you will, too. This is how mental routines influences athletics via mentality and flow state. And this is my wave for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Finn. Can you please stop that? Thanks. Uh, all right. Thank you, Finn, for a really wonderful presentation on Flow State. We appreciate you. All right. Our second presentation for period 5 is The Cost of Wanting More by Noah Velozo. Noah is a senior here at DHS who enjoys fishing, thrifting, the outdoors, and listening to music. This is his first TEDx DHS talk, and he chose his topic because of how much consumerism impacts our society. Upon graduation, Noah

172plans to attend Endeott College, although he hasn't confirmed what his major is going to be yet. Um, oh, he hasn't confirmed Endeott yet. Whoop! Big secret. Uh, to study business. Please welcome Noah Velozo. 1.28 trillion. That's how much credit card debt is in America. When the credit card was first introduced to Americans in 1950s, the idea was buy now pay later. This instilled the desire for Americans to buy a lot of products. If you've been on the internet in the past year, guarantee you've heard of this. It's a Lebu created by Chinese artist Caseing Long. The Labu was first created in 2015, but last year due to their online presence, they blew up in popularity. They'll come in these little blind boxes, so you never know what you're going to get. If you wanted a

173certain Lebu, you have to buy a lot of these boxes, try and get the one you wanted. All this is a direct result of consumerism. The Oxford dictionary defines a consumer as a person who purchased goods and services for personal use. So all of us are consumers. Consumerism on the other hand is the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods. Basically meaning that society makes us believe that if you want to feel good about yourself, you need to buy things. A phrase I'd like to introduce everyone here is keeping up with the Jones Jonases. This phrase basically refers to the idea that you want to keep up with your neighbors soioeconomic status. say they buy a new car, you might feel a need to buy an even better car, almost creating a sort

174of competition. So, why do we want what we don't have? And what is the driving force behind wanting to purchase goods? First off, consumerism is something that's very hard to avoid. Places like malls promote it and are constantly trying to make you buy something. If you go to the mall, you might want to buy even a little product just to feel like the trip was a success. Online shopping has taken the spot as to where many people do their shopping nowadays. Places like Amazon and Walmart are places where a lot of people want to buy products. Now 75% of Amazon shoppers have a Prime membership which is a monthly membership you can buy where you get products faster. According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of people prefer to do their shopping online and 34%

175of people at least buy one thing online a week. Holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are big events where companies want you to go out and buy a bunch of things. The main reason is that these items go on sale. So, if you want to buy a bunch of things, why not buy it now? One big reason that we like to buy things in general is instant gratification, often tied to dopamine. Dopamine is a feel-good chemical released by your brain in situations where you feel pleasure, whether it's eating a meal you love or watch a movie you enjoy. Apps like Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube have scrolling options which allow you to watch videos around 10 seconds long that release dopamine at a very concerning level. Advertisements are also a big reason we end

176up buying things. If a product doesn't get advertised to you, how do you know if you want it? Super Bowl is one of the main places that companies buy out commercial spots to advertise their products to you. Famous ones such as the Dunkings and the ad where Mr. Peanut dies gained a lot of traction for these companies online, which caused more attention to the company. Collaborations are also another reason that we end up buying things. Take Crocs for example. Crocs is a very famous shoe brand and when they collaborate with something such as KFC or Shrek, fans of both of the products may feel a need to want to buy the shoe. Another reason that collaborations is because of influence. Many of you might remember the Travis Scott meal which was a collaboration between Travis

177Scott and McDonald's in 2020. Travis Scott was a very big rapper at the time and his fan base most likely likes McDonald's, but when they collaborated, McDonald's actually had a shortage of ingredients and their quarterly revenue rose by 4.6%. Just like Travis Scott, influencers are one of the main reasons that Laboos grew in in popularity yesterday or last year, excuse me. People like Kim Kardashian or Rihanna were seen with Laboos and fans of the celebrities saw this and thought, "I can buy a Lebu. Maybe I would feel as famous or as rich as one of them." The internet has the power to make things trend really, really fast. Stanley was just an an ordinary brand. They would make cups and thermoses, but a couple years ago, they blew up online mainly from Tik Tok. Store

178exclusive Stanley's such as the pink one from Target had people running to go try and grab it and cause insane resale prices. But after the hype died down, you can easily buy Stanley now. Trends go by fast and now the big water bottle is a wala. I guarantee many of you in the audience either have a Stanley or an Aala that you've been drinking from all day long. If you've been on the internet in the past couple weeks, I guarantee you've heard of Punch the Monkey. Punch is a Japanese monkey where a video of his blew up where he was being bullied by his fellow monkeys. He only found com comfort in this plush, but it's just a simple IKEA plush, but the internet has the power to make nothing into something. And this plush

179is now sold out because of Punch the Monkey. Another phrase I like to introduce to everyone here is the Dero effect. The dero effect is where you when you end up buying one nice thing, there's an impulse decision to buy more things to match it. Say for example, you have a living room that might feel a little outdated. You might buy a new couch, then everything else looks a little worse around it. So you end up buying new carpet, a new table, maybe change the paint on the wall, but then you might want to change it again. And by the end, you have a bunch of things that you don't need and you're a lot poorer. As I said with Stanley, the internet has the power to even make old brands famous again. New Balance

180and Carheart have gained a lot of traction in the past couple years, mainly due to their presence online. New Balance wasn't really a desirable shoe brand a couple years ago, but now they're one of the biggest shoe brands. The current consumer market always wants us to keep buying things, but never let us feel truly feel satisfied. Funko Pops and Pokémon cards are just like Laboos where they have that feeling that you want to collect them all. These are much cheaper than Laboo, so you can buy more of them. Since these are targeted towards younger audiences, they're more prone to buy it. I've talked about the psychological effects of consumerism, but one thing a lot of you might not consider is the environmental impact of it. Fast fashion is one of the main reasons that the

181earth is polluted. Online fast fashion brands like Sheen, Romwe and Timu sell clothes at a very cheap rate and are producing countries where the labor practices are not that good. Even online places like Hollister, H&M or Paxon are fast fashion brands. But they continue to raise the prices even when the quality goes down. Higher prices don't always equal higher quality. Fast fashion is responsible for 10% of the total carbon emissions that the world produce. That's more than international flights and maritime ships combined. So what can we do to combat these issues and how can we stray away from the consumer trap? First thing is be appreciative of what you have around you. Just because your neighbor buys a new car doesn't mean you need to match them. And if you want new clothes, maybe don't

182go to a place like calls or H&M. You can try thrifting instead. Thrifting has become a very common hobby, especially within Gen Z nowadays. Thrift stores such as Salvation Army, Savers, and Goodwill are places where you can buy a lot of clothes for much cheaper than you would buy at a retail store. Local thrift stores, such as the one at Dartmouth's Council on Aging in St. Mary's church have a lot of highquality clothes that you can get at a very cheap price. Another way that we can combat these issues is personal experiences. So looking back to the Dartmouth Mall, let's say you're hanging out with your friends. A place you might want to go to is the Dartmouth Mall. But instead of the Dartmouth Mall, try watching the movie, getting a hole in one at

183Catty Shack, or getting a strike at Wonderbolt. These experiences facilitate personal learning and can help you grow as a person. George Carlin famously once said, "Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body." It may seem like a funny quote at first, but it really is our reality. So, next time you go to a store and you see something such as a Lubu, I want you to ask yourself, do I really need this? Where will this item be in 2 weeks? Will it end up in a box in my attic or will it be useful to my life? That's how I'm making waves for a bear tomorrow. Thank you, Noah. Really good lesson on what to do with your money. All right, our third

184presentation for period 5 is when will I ever need this? Now by Ahmed Ramy. Ahmed is a junior here at DHS and this is his first TEDx DHS talk. Since elementary school, Ahmed has been interested in programming, science, and especially math. He regularly puts time into learning new skills that help with his hobbies, especially things relating to math. He uses what he learns to program robots, write simulations, and navigate curiosities he finds in everyday life. Please welcome Ahmed Ramy. Okay. When will I ever use this? This may be a question you've heard before in your math classes. Uh in this presentation, we seek to understand why people ask this question and come up with an answer to it. The first reason why people ask this question, uh they're asking about the utility of what they

185are learning in math class. Uh so any answer to this question has to prove that math is useful. Moreover, they are asking when how long can I use this? They aren't looking for oh you're going to use the math you learn on the next test. They're looking for how how can I use the math I learn in school long term. So any answer to this question has to convince students that they will will be learning using the math that they learn for a long time. And finally and most importantly uh individuality. Uh you have to convince the students that the math that they learn is useful to them. If you come up with an answer that says okay this math is really useful in for example engineering that isn't going to help our students who

186want to say become artists or store clerks uh understand why they have to learn it. Okay. The main reason people uh tend to overlook the utility of math in math classes is they are thinking of their future goals in those math classes. So people want to pass the next test. They want to get good grades in their math class and they want to secure a future job for themselves. And often times the way the math class is built it feels like an obstacle instead of a tool. So you feel like you have to overcome the math that you're learning rather than using it in your seeing how practical it is and using in your future life. Uh part of the problem here is that math in school is often focused on teaching singular concepts one

187at a time and it doesn't uh very often connect these concepts to real world applications. Uh here is an example of a good question. uh it is from the mathematic uh curriculum. It is for algebra 1. Uh the nice thing about this curriculum is math students uh will go in they will get to play with an easier problem like this for a little bit and they will get to understand the concepts uh before the teacher formally teaches them uh the concepts uh which leads to them being able to build intuition and more easily see why it is useful. However, in this specific question, there is still the problem of uh it being set up slightly weirdly. You wouldn't really ever think of a scenario where you have a specific amount of money and then another

188specific amount and have to figure out the prices of two uh objects just based on the totals. This doesn't come up that often. Uh so the way you would solve this question uh if you're uh a student intuiting this for the first time is you would play around with it. You would notice that there are two bags of pretzels in this problem uh that are extra and then you would use that to figure out the price of each bag of pretzels and after that you can use the price per bag of pretzels over here to figure out the price of the gum. Now, this question was built uh to be pretty good, but often times you will find questions that are not as great. For example, on the SAT, you often see questions like this.

189You have a limited time to answer these questions, right? So, right now, I'll tell you the answer to this question is 45. Uh now it may seem surprising that uh you're able to get the answer to this question really fast but the best way to answer this question is to memorize a specific rule. Uh basically what you have to identify is that this function is a quadratic meaning that it uh is U-shaped and it is symmetrical right and that these two numbers are the zeros of the quadratic that means they're at the same height. Once you know that the you have you know that the minimum has to be in the middle of the two solutions and you can get this question in under maybe five seconds. But this presents the problem. You aren't when

190you are studying something like this you aren't really putting in the effort to understand why it works. You would simply memorize a rule and understand that it works just to inflate your test score. this there are worse questions right this is a harder SAT question uh it's built on two functions right so the way that is the easiest to solve this question is to not even attempt any of the algebra yourself right you basically note down each of the important pieces of information right you need um to find the y intercept in this case and you need to find uh that from two functions uh and the relation relationship between this one function and this other function is right over here. And one of these functions is linear. So you already know what it's going

191to look like, but you don't know these coefficients. The way you would solve this is by putting it in simply putting the table with the numbers into your calculator and then telling the calculator that the function f is linear and then using a regression which is uh where the calculator tries to numerically find the exact solution to a function given some restraints and using this you can get the answer really quickly. uh but you you really don't learn too much about how to use uh a tool like a regression in real life. Uh you simply memorize a rule for understanding how to do a test question really quickly. Math in real life is pretty different from this. It often requires many connections between different subjects to actually answer a question and it requires experimenting with

192each uh problem thoroughly before you can actually find a solution. Uh to contrast uh these previous test questions from a real life example, we're going to do one right here. So say you have a specific amount of extra credit that your teacher has given you and you want to spread it around to a bunch of assignments so that your grade goes up the most. So the problem is how would you do that? Uh and we can actually solve this with math. Uh the easiest way to go about a problem like this is to start with a simpler version of the problem. Uh so in this case re real grades in the grade book are a weighted average but we can gain a lot of insight by simply modeling it as a simple average before moving

193on to the more complicated case. So we know that the formula uh for a simple average is the average is the total of all of the grades that means you add them all up and divide it by the number of grades you have in the grade book. Right? So if you reason about this really quickly, uh that means the total has to equal uh the average you have currently times the number of grades that are in the grade book. Another thing that you can reason about is the total. It doesn't really matter what grade you put the extra credit on. The total will increase by the same amount no matter which one you put it on. Right? So now that we have this information, we can calculate that when you add the point the extra

194credit points to your grade, the total will go up by this much and the new average will be this new total divided by this uh the new the number of grades that you have in the grade book. And if you simplify it out, it actually comes out to you're adding something to your existing average, right? So, your it's your extra credit points divided by the amount of grades you have in the grade book. Now, we're not quite done yet. Uh, as we established earlier, the grades in the actual grade book are weighted. That means each category averages individually and then you add them up in a way that is weighted, right? But this is really fine because we already know that each category is an average of itself. Right? So since we did the simpler

195example, we know that it doesn't matter which grade we add it to in a category. It only matters uh the only change to the equation is that we multiply everything by the weight. which means that uh the true change in the grade would be um the amount of extra credit points you receive uh times the weight divided by the number of grades in the book. So now what insight we can gain from this is if you have a problem like this, you can simply just put all of your extra credit points into the great uh into the category that has the highest weight divided by the number of grays in that category. This wasn't too tricky of a problem. Uh but it still required a lot of thinking and a lot of uh experimenting with

196the problem to figure out. This is really different from um the math in school because in the math in school we had a few simple concepts and we had a lot of different rules we had to memorize to solve problems. But in the math in real life uh we have to investigate systems and we have to play around with the problem in order to actually like figure out the solutions. Uh this is why uh actually playing this is why actually like learning how things fit together is really important. Using learned math concepts to solve real world problems is how I make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Ahmed. I'm glad you can show us how math works in life. Uh, all right. Here we go. Here is our last presentation for TEDex DHS 2026,

197improving medicine one gene at a time by Ashton Spardella. This is Ashton's fourth time. Yes, fourth time participating in our TEDex DHS conference and we are so happy to have him with us for this last time. It's really bittersweet right now. Um Ashton is a member of our marching band and indoor percussion. He is also the president of the robotics club. Ashton plans to attend Western New England University this coming fall to study pharmacy. Please welcome one last time Ashton Spardella. Headache, nausea, drowsiness, fatigue, anxiety, vomiting, insomnia, vision changes, depression, anaphilaxis, seizures, liver damage, death. These are all possible side effects when someone has an adverse drug reaction, which is usually due to medical professionals using the one-sizefits-all approach. This is when doctors treat patients based on average outcomes. They apply standard diagnostics and treatments

198to people who suffer from the same disease. While this method has been efficient in general care, it's ignoring important aspects of the individual such as genetics, environment, and lifestyle, which can cause differences in how people react to medication. In the US, over 1.5 million people visit the emergency room a year due to errors with medication. Of those, about 500,000 usually require hospitalization. So, what's being done to prevent this? Pharmarmacology is the study of how chemical agents interact with biological systems. And genomics is the study of an organism's complete DNA sequence and how genes interact with each other and the environment. When put together, they make pharmaccogenomics, which is how an individual's unique to genetic makeup determines how they will react to medication. Currently, it's being used to optimize therapy, minimize the trial and error process

199when prescribing, and reduce adverse drug reactions. The human genome consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes, each containing DNA. This DNA allows our bodies to build cells, tissues, and organs to ensure proper development. No humans except for identical twins share the same genome. In 2003, for the first time, humans were able to map almost the entire genome, excluding 8% which is considered to be difficult and repetitive. In 2022, though, the first ever completely mapped human genome was released to the public. There are three common ways to get phiccogenomic testing done. The first is a blood test where a sample is taken by a healthcare professional. Another is via saliva sample where a patient will provide a sample or it will be collected via swab or pad. And finally, a cheek swab where a swab is used

200to collect cells from the inside of the cheek. After a sample is taken, it's sent to a lab to look at four main things. Drug receptors, drug uptake, drug breakdown, and drug development. Drug receptors are proteins on cell membranes or in the cell that specific molecules bind to. The number and type of receptors you have are determined by your DNA. Some people have a lot of receptors, meaning they need to have a higher dose for some medications to be effective to make them have a good strong response. On the other hand, some people have small amounts of receptors, meaning a lower dose will be more efficient to not cause buildups of the medication in your body. If the medicine still has a weak effect, then a medicine that doesn't require receptors would be a better

201option. There's also the possibility of having no receptors, meaning the only way to ensure a good response is by using medicine that does not require them. The type of receptors on your cell is also important. Not all medicine can bond to all receptors. If medicine isn't able to bond to your receptors, then it will build up and cause an adverse reaction. If this occurs though, a different medication that works with your receptors or one that doesn't require receptors would work best. Breast cancer and the use of the drug TDM1 is a more common example of this. Sometimes people with breast cancer produce too much of the HR2 receptor that helps the cancer spread and develop at a much faster rate. TDM1 attaches to HR2 receptors on cancerous cells and kills them. It's likely that if

202you're diagnosed with breast cancer, your doctor will run tests to determine the amount of HR2 receptors on your cells. If there's a higher amount, it's likely TDM1 will be described. But if you don't have a lot, then TDM1 will not work to help minimize the cancer. Drug uptake is when medication is taken into the tissues and cells that they act in. How quickly drug uptake occurs is determined by a DNA. Decreased uptake time can cause medicine to work poorly, but also build up in other areas causing an adverse reaction. Uptake time also includes how fast medication is removed from the cell. If medication is removed too fast, then it might not have enough time to effectively work, meaning a higher dosage or taking it more frequently would work more efficiently. If medicine is removed slowly,

203though, then taking a lower dosage or taking medicine less frequently would allow the medicine to work more efficiently. Statins are medicine that work in the liver to lower cholesterol, which is when a fat-like substance builds up in arteries, causing someone to be at risk of stroke or heart attack. Statins have to successfully go through uptake to be transported into the liver which occurs by a protein made by the SLC1B1 gene. A mutation in this gene can cause little amounts of a statin called svastatin to be taken into the liver. When taken in a high dose, this will cause a buildup of statin in the blood which causes muscle problems such as weakness and pain. Tests can be done to determine if svastin is the best statin to use and if it is, which dosage you

204should take. DNA also affects drug breakdown, which is how fast a medication is broken down inside of your body. If medicine breaks down fast, then the drug will exit your system faster, meaning a higher dosage or a more effective drug is better to help you. Opposite of that, if your body breaks down medicine slowly, then a lower dosage would be required for medicine to function properly. When treating depression, the CYP P2D6 and CYP2C19 genes can affect the breakdown of the anti-depressant amatrippalin. Some people break down the medicine too fast, meaning a different medication or higher dose would work best. If you break down amatipptalin slowly, then a smaller dose may be required or a different medication to prevent an adverse reaction. Drug development is when medication is used to treat an underlying problem rather than

205just the symptoms as sometimes disease is caused by mutations in genes. Although these mutations can have vary and have different effects depending on the individual. This could include a protein not being made properly or not being made at all. The medication given will be based on how the mutation affects the protein and any medication for a specific gene would only work for a very specific genetic mutation of that gene. Cystic fibrosis is caused by a genetic mutation in the CFTR gene which affects the production of CFTR proteins. This protein forms channels that act as passageways to move chloride across cell membranes and go from the inside to the outside of the cell. When the protein is made correctly, the channel is able to open and close. But the genetic mutation that causes cystic fibrosis can

206result in a channel that is always closed. Ivactor is a medication that forces the channel open. Some people with cystic fibrosis though have a different genetic mutation that causes the channel to not be made at all. Meaning the ivacater wouldn't work. Pharmaccogenomic testing is not currently available for all medications or conditions. Right now it's most often used for blood clot prevention. A blood clot is when blood thickens to form a mass of blood cells which can stop the flow of blood in the body. Several gene variants require a lower dosage of medications to work efficiently. It's also being used for HIV, which is a virus that attacks the immune system and destroys our body's natural ability to fight infections. A variant in the HLAB gene causes people to be at high risk of having a

207severe skin reaction to a backabir. And a variant in the CYP2B6 gene can affect the nervous system when taking epoparents. Muscle sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath on nerves. variants in TM TPMT or NUDT15 can cause a suppressed immune system in response to aathoprene. It's also being used for very specific treatment decisions. A normal dosage of mercapurine which is very commonly used to treat leukemia which is a blood cancer where high amounts of abnormal white blood cells are produced can cause severe side effects in the in if the individual has a mutation in the TPMT gene. If someone with colon cancer, which is when a tumor forms in the large intestine, has a variant of the UGT1A1 gene, then iron could cause severe side effects and increase

208their risk of infection. It is also starting to be used more for those who have recently undergone organ transplants. After someone underos an organ transplant, they have to take lifelong amunosuppressant medications to prevent their body from attacking the new organ, which the body sees as a foreign object. If a medicine is not working post-rplant or causing severe side effects, then pharmaccogenomic testing is becoming an option. Pharmaccogenomics is constantly growing. While it's not available for all medications or conditions, it is becoming more available and more reliable. Researchers are constantly identifying new interactions between medicine and genes while also looking at factors such as lifestyle, environment, and other medications and conditions in hopes to make pharmaccogenomics a more used factor when making treatment decisions. headache, nausea, drowsiness, fatigue, anxiety, vomiting. All medications come with a risk and

209we've accepted the trial and error process as a part of treatment. But pharmaccogenomics offers an end to this. It offers the right medicine at the right dose for the right genome. This shift in medicine is becoming stronger, smarter, and more precise. And by choosing to move with it is how I make waves for a better tomorrow. All right. We have obviously um whole bunch of thank yous. So here we go. Um clearly we can't do this on our own and we uh yeah we have a lot of people to thank. So here we go. >> Hold on. Hold on. I know. Go ahead. >> Okay. We would like to thank the following people. DHS administration, DCTV Media, and especially Mr. Peter Chase extraordinaire, uh, whose work with sound has been pivotal to the last decade

210plus of TEDex. And we appreciate you so much, Peter. Uh, Mr. Rob Paratt and his DHS TV media students, Daniel Hart, Germaine, Harper Thiido, Alexis Chimera, Sydney Sears, and Mason Bourgeoa for their help with the filming of the conference and the live streaming of today's presentation. a crew that is working uh hard behind the scenes. Sydney Melo, Bren Mosquita, and Harper Tibido and Annabelle Zarf for their help with tech and lighting. Instructional technology special Jess Birmingham for our help with the technology. Librarian staff uh Cat Monise and L Jill Linds for their assistance with our posters and allow us to use the LMC for the rehearsals. DHA's cafeteria staff for their help with the food and for for the today's um event. Our custodial uh staff uh led by Richie Pereira for their help with

211many logistical needs. All right. Our biggest thank go um biggest thank you goes out to our presenters. Without your hard work and perseverance, this entire conference would not have been possible. We are extremely proud of your efforts and look forward to the underassmen joining us again next year. Thank you and have a great weekend. Yay.