Theme: Why?

TEDxOakKnollSchool spent its pilot year intellectually evaluating one of Earth’s simplest questions: “Why?” In exploring this theme, speakers focused on many different aspects of their lives that can be questioned, among these are celebrity worship, competition, hierarchy, and happiness.

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child
44 Blackburn Rd
Summit, New Jersey, 07901
United States

Anam O'Brien

Student

Anam is a junior who, among her many talents, has recently been elected Oak Knoll’s next Student Body President. She is creative, passionate and objective, and her passion for public speaking piqued her interest for participation in Oak Knoll’s TEDx club.

Augusta Imperatore

Student

With involvement in concert choir, forensics, tennis, and lacrosse at Oak Knoll, Augusta proves herself a very active member of the Oak Knoll community! Having joined TEDx as a sophomore, Augusta has come to most admire the way TED enhances public speaking and writing skills.

Curran Stockton

Student

Curran is a sophomore who is no stranger to TEDx. She brought the idea of TEDx to OKS last Spring, having thoroughly enjoying her participation for two years at her former school. Curran plays ice hockey and tennis, and one day aspires to be a lawyer.

Emma Shirkey

Student

Emma is a determined, happy, outgoing sophomore of many talents. With cross country, basketball, and golf being only a few of the things among her extracurricular, there’s hardly anything she cannot do!  

Haley Georgen

Student

Haley is a sophomore who joined TEDx to improve her public speaking skills and share her thoughts on different topics with others/. Being an involved teen who enjoys ice hockey, lacrosse, and surfing, she offers interesting insights to her topic on teenage stereotypes today.

Maeve Quinn

Student

Maeve is a sophomore who enjoys playing the clarinet in the New Jersey Youth Symphony, as well as participating in the Oak Knoll forensics and soccer teams. She saw TEDx as a platform for discussing largely unexplored topics, and certainly was successful in doing so.

Meghan Schlageter

Student

Meghan is a sophomore who is very excited for her participation in TEDx this year. She admires TEDx because of the chance to explore a topic of her interest, and because of the low stress levels of which participation ensues.

Nathalie Beauchamps

Student

One of the older members of the TEDxOakKnollSchool community, Nathalie has certainly earned her place as one of the strongest. She explores her topic "Why Hierarchy?" by comparing the effects of hierarchy over centuries.

Sabina Criqui

Student

Sabina’s talk is certainly fitting to her athletic lifestyle and aspirations! She is an opinionated and hard-working freshman who plays field hockey and basketball for Oak Knoll, and later wishes to pursue a job in sports.