Students, Guest Speakers Set for TED Talk at Benjamin Middle School

The Benjamin Middle School in North Palm Beach will be presenting a TEDx Talk event in the Barker Performing Arts Center on Friday, March 24. TEDx are independently licensed TED Talk events. The Benjamin Middle School - not the high school - is located at 11000 Ellison Wilson Road in North Palm Beach.

"The theme for this event is Muthos, which is the Greek word for public authoritative speaking that has the power to effect change," says Cristina James, a dean at The Benjamin School. "Our TEDx talk event will run from 8 am to 3 pm and feature numerous talks, some given by students and others by elite guest speakers."

The official page for this event can be found at www.ted.com/tedx/events/20209.

"While our TEDx Talk is indubitably a celebration of the voices of our middle school writers and orators with 27 students speaking on everything from having big hair to living with the eye condition Nystagmus, from using Aristotelian logic to get your parents to buy you a Golden Doodle to being in 8th grade and sharing a name with the iconic Michelle Pfeiffer, it is also a forum for some elite guest speakers," adds James. "And, if the guiding principle of our Mission Statement is correct - that the best schools attract the best people - then we must, indeed, be the best considering the guest speakers coming to our school!"

"We hope that interested people will join us for this celebration of The Benjamin School's commitment to honoring creativity, diversity, project based learning, 21st century skills, and strong resonant voices sharing Ideas Worth Spreading," declares James.

TEDx Talk Guest Speakers:

John Hockenberry - Emmy/Peabody Award-winning journalist and host of the NPR news show The Takeaway who, despite being in a wheelchair since age 19, has been a foreign correspondent, reporting for The New York Times, The Washington Post, et al.

Alison Hockenberry - An Emmy and Peabody award-winning journalist. She has worked at ABC news and made documentaries with Christiane Amanpour. She is a producer at Freakonomics and produces the NPR show Ask Me Something I Don't Know.

Laurie Coots - Former Head of Chiat/Day, now CEO of The Hawn Foundation and Mindup, the mindfulness program for children in schools globally which is teaching children about the functions of the brain and how to moderate their own behavior and choose optimism and self directed compassion.

Cynthia Lowen - The writer and director of the 2011 documentary Bully, Lowen is now working on a film called Netizens about the lack of legislation to protect women from being cyber-stalked.

Steve Caras - Former New York City Ballet dancer under George Balanchine, world-renowned dance photographer, keynote speaker, and subject of the Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary, Steven Caras: See Them Dance.

Tina Reine - Her business degree in hand, at age 41, she decided to become an aerialist, and she will speak and perform at the event. Marlo Thomas featured Reine in her book about 60 formidable women, It Ain't Over 'Till It's Over.

Ashley C. Harris - Young adult author of the best selling Troll, Harris is also a filmmaker. Her film Lines was the first to be captured completely on Air Macbooks.

Benji Gans - A 7th grader from Meyer Academy, Benji was diagnosed with autism and his parents were told he would never speak. He now is a master orator and the subject of numerous viral online articles.

Nathan Ginnetty - A career teacher and a professional songwriter that performs around South Florida, Ginnetty will talk about his journey as a musician and educator.

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