On February 10, 2024, Deerfield Academy’s ninth annual TEDxDeer-field event featured ten speakers who spoke on the theme of “Discovery.” Talks ranged from the art of sumo wrestling to the science behind color blindness to Black women’s mental health.
Compared to previous years, this year’s event had the greatest number of outside speakers, with presenters traveling all the way from Australia and California to participate. Co-organizer and Scroll Co-Managing Editor Justin Ahn ’24 said, “Usually we have more than three students do it. Or at least, in addition to students, most of our speakers come from the Pioneer Valley, and this time they didn’t.”
Non-student speakers discovered TEDxDeerfield through online communication and ties with the Pioneer Valley community. For example, Tufts University and University of Massachusetts Amherst Adjunct Professor John Heffernan, spoke about educational curricula and student learning. He applied to the event after coming across a notice put out by Frontier Regional School Teacher Kevin Murphy. Over email, Heffernan wrote, “I have been wanting to share my ‘best of ’ 30 years as an educator and some amazing moments.”
The TEDxDeerfield 2024 organizers consisted of Language Department Chair Dan Houston, Ahn, Scroll Op-Ed Editor Henry Zhang ’24, Emma Wilmott ’24, and Scroll Associate Editor Avery Zakowich ’25. Last year, since organizers did not obtain the TEDx license in time, they rebranded the event as “IDEAS” to continue providing a public speaking platform for Deerfield students.
This year, the group applied for the official TEDx license several months before the event. Ahn said, “Compared to the other TEDx we did, I think this was much more logistically streamlined…[and] we were able to…work closely with speakers.”
After obtaining the license, the organizers posted speech application forms and interviewed applicants. “We got loads of submissions from people not in Deerfield, which is really unusual,” Zhang said. “We were kind of shocked.”
At first, the organization team believed non-student speakers had applied because they mistakenly anticipated that Deerfield would pay their lodging and expenses. After realizing that was not the case, Zhang said, “I guess they wanted something on their resume, or the opportunity to travel to the US or another state to speak and have their video posted by the official TEDx.”
To coordinate the event, the organizers asked for funding, spoke to Deerfield Communications to publicize the event, organized catering with the dining hall, set up recording material with Mr. Murphy and a local Greenfield studio, and collaborated with speakers to edit their speeches.
Many speakers applied to share their discovery-themed research and ideas. For instace, Shogo O’Connor ’25 spoke about his research into the history and cultural significance of sumo wrestling. “I wanted to spread a message that was important to me… that [sumo wrestling] is a form of art that I greatly value…it’s not as insignificant as some people make it,” O’Connor said. “There’s a lot more meaning, there’s a lot of cultural significance…that’s tied to sumo.”
Similarly, Zohan Subhash ’26, who spoke about his experiences with color blindness, hoped to spread his ideas, especially after lacking similar opportunities when he was previously homeschooled.
The speakers enjoyed sharing their stories with their Deerfield friends and family, as well as outside speakers from diverse backgrounds. O’Connor said, “saw my friends walking in at one point for my speech… it’s a very humbling thing… some familiar faces made the experience worthwhile for me.”
Presenters, organizers, and audience members alike emphasized the storytelling aspect of the event. “I was inspired by hearing all the stories from all the different speakers from across our community and beyond,” Zhang said. “And I really wanted to…highlight underrepresented voices and bring to light these stories.”
Scroll Associate Edtior Yoonsa Lee ’25, who performed viola as a soloist during the event, highlighted Andy Chen ’25’s speech on math and music theory. She said, “[Andy] pulled everything together from music and math to AI. As a musician myself… it helped me think about music theory in a way that I haven’t really thought of before.”
Ahn also appreciated the opportunity to have a TEDx event at a high school, saying, “It’s a forum to organize discourse not only for people in this area but also for people coming outside of this area…it draws out a lot of cool stories.”
Presenters hoped their speeches could inspire audiences, broaden perspectives, and engender deeper appreciation for ideas worth spreading. Heffernan wrote, “I would love if my TEDx talk gets some traction in the education world and inspires teachers to create open-ended challenges for students.”
Ahn hoped TEDxDeerfield could “encourage audience members to broaden their horizons, open their minds to new experiences, and think about how they themselves are critically engaging with the world.”