In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDxKids@Yerevan 2013, the second TEDxKids@Yerevan took place at the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies on Saturday, June 1, the International Children’s Day. This year, for the first time, the event was livestreamed online on TEDxKids@Yerevan’s website.
Twenty-five speakers, ages 10-18, took the stage for the course of four hours to share their most challenging, rewarding, and memorable experiences and ideas under the theme Think Like a Kid. The kids focused on the variety of topics from bullying in schools, computer games, the art of film watching, to the importance of believing in your dreams and not giving up the hope.
“It was one of the coolest things that happened to me during my 14 years. Working on my talk, I have gained some great friends and got exposed to wonderful ideas and insights,” said a thirteen year old speaker Harut Sargsyan. Teamed up with his best friend Hrach Sargsyan, Harut talked about how they have decided to create a small garden in their backyard and teach small kids to appreciate and care for the nature.
A twelve year old Siranush Papyan touched the kids and adults alike with his heartfelt talk on a lack of ramps for disabled in Yerevan, a problem she faced every day, while Anna Poghosyan, despite having hearing impairment, took everybody’s breath with her graceful dance.
Another young speaker, Julia from Gyumri talked about her time in boarding school. Not being able to provide a living for their children, Julia’s parents were forced to place her in a boarding school. While the experience was quite traumatic for Julia, she has learned her lesson to never give up her hope for a better future.
“The event was awesome! For the first time I was watching speakers as part of the audience, and it was a complete different experience. Everybody’s talk was great, because they have reached their audience,” said a 15 year old Vaneh Andreasyan, who talked about bullying in school. Vaneh has got interested in the subject of bullying, after witnessing a group of people beating up a kid in her school in Tehran, where she came from.
The event included dance musical performances from TUMO Garage Band, an interactive theater performance, where the audience had a say in how event should unfold, as well as a surprise performance from Union of Magicians. Open mike session was held throughout the event to encourage the audience to share some of their ideas and insights.
TEDxKids@Yerevan 2013 was attended by 300 kids across Armenia. The US Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern and his wife Libby Heffern were among the special guests at the event. As always, the videos of the talks will be available within a month at http://kids.tedxyerevan.com/
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