Bios
Our 7 speakers of TEDxYouth@DoyleAve 2020!
Avery Chalmers
Age: 16
Grade: 12
School: Kelowna Secondary School
Favourite TED Talk: This is what happens when you reply to spam email - James Veitch
Title of Talk: Resilience Through Sport
Bio: Avery's passions are basketball and volleyball. In the winter, she is out on the slopes skiing and snowboarding. During the summertime, you can find her out on the lake water skiing and paddle boarding. She is bilingual in french and english and is looking forward to furthering her education in both languages. She also loves travelling and spending time with her family and friends.
Ashley Ciardullo
Age: 14
Grade: 10
School: Rutland Senior Secondary
Favourite TED Talk: This is what happens when you reply to spam emails - James Veitch
Title of Talk: How Youth are giving Sustainability a Second Take
Bio: Ashley is a grade nine student at Rutland Senior Secondary school. She is very passionate about opening up new opportunities for youth. She helped implement Operation Take Two at her school. Come watch her talk to find out more.
Olivia Orlewicz
Age: 13
Grade: 8
School: Dr. Knox Middle School
Favourite TED Talk: The Ostrich Effect - Ed Winters
Title of Talk: The Issues of Youth Censorship
Bio: Olivia's passions are horseback riding, writing creative stories, drawing, archery, and sharing her beliefs and opinions on animal rights and agriculture. She loves listening to music and editing videos. Olivia's favourite music artist is Billie Eilish. She loves watching movies and her favourites are (almost) all the Star Wars movies. Olivia achieved her junior black belt in Kung Fu in December of 2018. Her favorite subject in school is English because she enjoys reading and writing. Olivia became vegan when she was 10 because she realized that she loves animals too much to eat them. She is very energetic and outgoing but can sometimes get nervous when meeting new people.
Paul Steigenberger
Age: 11
Grade: 6
School: Oyama Traditional School
Favourite TED Talk: Why pasta comes in all shapes and sizes
Title of Talk: Make the Connection
Bio: Paul goes to Oyama Traditional school and his favorite subject is math. In his free time, he likes to read, play board games, dance, and be outdoors. Every Saturday, he volunteers at the Warren Peace Bunny Sanctuary. Paul's responsibilities are cleaning the cages, feeding the animals, and taking care of the sick ones. Sometimes he fosters sick guinea pigs at his house. The owner of the farm continues to teach Paul a lot about the animals, animal care and their natural habitats. She was the one who inspired Paul to become vegan, because she told him how the animals are being treated in factory farms and slaughterhouses. Since then, Paul has been more aware of the horrific situations for farm animals. He wants to help raise awareness about the origin of animals products.
Alyssa Sundstrom
Age: 16
Grade: 11
School: Mount Boucherie Secondary School
Favourite TED Talk: “Locker Room Talk” Says Who? - Alexis Jones
Title of Talk: Shaping Tough Times and Becoming a Happy Human
Bio: Alyssa is an energetic and easy going person. She likes meeting new people and travelling. Alyssa loves to sing, dance and play trumpet. She has always been a fan of country music. Alyssa always enjoy spending time with friends and finding different ways to make people around her smile. When Alyssa is older she wants to be a nurse and find new ways to help others make an impact in someone’s life!
Karah Hopgood
Age: 20
Grade: 3rd year
School: University of British Columbia
Favourite TED Talk: Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable - Luvvie Ajayi
Title of Talk: I Want to be a Leader
Bio: Growing up we are asked time and time again what we want to be when we are older. For some of us this answer has not changed for years, for others this answer fluctuates daily. As an undergraduate student at University, Karah addresses this question and highlights the pressure of focusing one's identity on their occupation. With reflection to a personal experience in the form of a project called "Humans of Boucherie", a project created in her final year of high school that has had a continuous impact on her life today, Karah challenges the nature of the answer to this question. Through a narrative of story telling, Hopgood explains how her personal experiences has allowed her to view this question with a fresh perspective.
