The organizing team for TEDxMC2School would like to extend our most sincere gratitude for the phenomenal outpouring of support and enthusiasm for our inaugural event this past Saturday. This July, six MC2 Charter School Students took on the task of curating an entire virtual TEDx event in 15 weeks, and celebrated our community spirit with nine speakers who gave six thoughtful talks.
We’d like to thank again: Jac Clark, Emily Martin, Katrina Nugent, Dr. Yves Gakunde, Karen Carrien, Jude Grophear, Sarah Foucher, Laura Garrett, and Jamison Curcio for helping us build community together. We’d also like to thank Corinne Marcou from TEDxKeene, and the team at the Hannah Grimes Center for making everything possible.
This event’s theme, BUILDING COMMUNITY TOGETHER, will inspire and challenge youth in the greater Monadnock Region to get more involved in their local environment. We are looking for stories, performances, and experiences that shed light on topics in a unique and unexpected way.
The TEDxMC2School found diverse and engaging presenters who could deliver a brief but powerful talk or performance of 12 minutes or less. Our team of students sought presenters from all backgrounds with unique perspectives, unheard stories, and ideas worth spreading. Whether you’re a speaker or in the audience, we want to hear your thoughts on these questions (and topics):
How do we serve/support each other? (COVID-19, service, volunteering, business)
What and how do we celebrate together? (arts, events, festivals)
What are our community ideals? What is our ideal community? (philosophy, law, religion/spirituality, COVID-19)
How does information build or harm the community? (journalism, politics, social media, health care/COVID-19)
Who are the truth-tellers? What do they have to say? (journalism, mental health, homelessness, racial equity, elderly, environmentalism)
How can technology bring us together? (COVID-19, innovation, online communities)
Who are the missing voices? What do they have to say? (mental health, racial equity, homelessness, ageism, COVID-19)
What spaces shape our community? (city planning, architecture, environmentalism)
2020 Speakers We are amazed and grateful for the community partners willing to share their talents and ideas on our TEDx Stage. Make sure you join us to hear the following speakers:
Yves Gakunde:
Introspective, Small Steps for Making a Difference
Dr. Yves Pacifique Gakunde currently works for the City of Keene, New Hampshire. He is a member of many organizations including the Keene Elm City Rotary Club, the Regional Network for Conservation Educators in Albertine Rift (countries including Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda), and the National Geographic Society Explorer family.
Dr. Gakunde enjoys sharing his knowledge, serving his community, and he only wishes there were more hours in a day to do more activities. If you cannot find him, a high probability is that he is watching a good movie while having a glass of wine, or he is in the woods hiking or biking and connecting with Mother Nature.
Sarah Foucher, Laura Garrett, and Jamison Curcio:
“Holding US”
Sarah Foucher is from the monadnock region of NH and currently a student at Goucher College in Baltimore MD. As a moving artist and performer, she has a passion for socially engaged art and uses both dance and visual art mediums in her work. She recently started a group called The Pod Project as an effort to remain in collaboration with artists and continue to support and inspire each other and our communities.
Laura Elaine Garrett (she/her) is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is a recent graduate from Goucher College (2020) where she earned a BA in Dance and Spanish with Cum Laude honors. She is a dedicated choreographer, dancer, videographer, and curator. Her work, Junto a ti, was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Brooke Pierce Award in the Fine Arts and was chosen to perform in the American College Dance Association’s National Gala. In March of 2020, she directed, produced, and curated an art gallery and performance called “Mujeres Fuertes”. For this production she brought together ten different Latina artists and performers from Baltimore to showcase their work centered on the theme of honoring influential Latina women from history. Now, as a choreographer and teacher at Moving Arts Española, Garrett continues to explore how dance is a tool to empower and uplift voices who are far too often overlooked.
Jamison Curcio (she/her) is a movement artist, choreographer, community curator, and multipotentialite. Making the connection between activism and art, Curcio created her own major and graduated with a BA in Performance Art for Social Justice from Goucher College. During her time at Goucher College, Curcio co-founded the Dancers of Color Coalition (DOCC) which provides a safe space for dancers of color and worked as a Program Assistant at the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity (CREI). In her senior year, Curcio’s dance work Aheym was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa Brooke Pierce award. This work asked the cast members and audience to engage in conversation around patriarchy, mainstream and intersectional feminism. In October of 2019, Curcio moved to Washington D.C. to dance with Christopher K. Morgan and Artists, a contemporary dance company and teaches with CityDance DREAM. Currently, Curcio’s work draws from themes around Black feminism, collective liberation, and truth.
Karen Carrien and Jude Grophear:
“What’s Going On for You?”
Karen is the Assistant Program Director of Monadnock Area Peer Support Agency in Keene, NH and has been working with teenagers for the past few years. She is a Keene State College alumnus and holds an undergraduate degree in History. She has experienced both clinical and non-clinical mental health and understands what it’s like to be a teenager and struggle with a diagnosis. She is a group facilitator and is trained in WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) and IPS (Intentional Peer Support).
Jude focuses her life and work on social justice and is a creative soul who loves animals and nature. As someone who has had lived experience with mental health from a young age, she has found her place in the nonclinical peer support world. After college, she went on to become a NH State Trainer Advanced Level WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) Co-Facilitator, an Organizational Trainer in IPS (Intentional Peer Support), a Hearing Voices Network-USA Facilitator, and a Monadnock Youth Peer Support Organizer.
Jac Clark is a theater educator, poet, aspiring “forest witch,” and new step-mom living on “Bapple Hill” in West Brattleboro, VT, land that had been known as Wantastegok by the Sokoki Abenaki people. She has followed her calling for being in and creating spaces for sacred self-expression, particularly with young people. Theater, Renaissance faires, DJing queer dance parties and drag shows, gardening, writing poetry, and supporting leadership training have all been places she has had a lot of practice. She is currently working with Building a Positive Community in Brattleboro, VT as the Youth Programs Coordinator. You can find her wandering local Southern Vermont mountains and forests writing poetry, touching wild water, leaning back with some trees and maybe some other humans, or howling with the wind and coyotes. Many times, she will be joined by her Love, Rose and/or her step-daughter, Robin.
Emily Martin:
An Investment in Knowledge Pays the Best Interest
Emily is a mechanical engineer in the life safety industry and a debt specialist-in-training. She lives in Rhode Island with her family and is a Harrisville, NH native.
Katrina Nugent is an educator who provides a compassionate and realistic approach to learning. She believes youth can accomplish anything when given knowledge and a voice. Currently, Katrina is working on building empowerment with MCVP: Crisis & Prevention Center, domestic and sexual violence crisis center, where she serves as the Prevention Education Program Director. Katrina holds a master’s degree in Education from Franklin Pierce University and a bachelor’s degree in English with a certificate in Leadership and Women’s studies minor.
It’s an exciting time to be coordinating a virtual hybrid event- we are doing our absolute best to honor the safety and distance needs of our speakers and audience. It’s a great challenge to have so many partners interested in working with us!
We’re still working out the details, but this is what we hope to accomplish on November 7th:
Our MC2 Team is led by Elizabeth and Wendy and runs on the efforts of James, Ava, Irina, Elijah, Matt, and Rayven. Big thanks to Corinne Marcou for being our mentor and guide in this endeavor.
Our MC2 Team is led by Elizabeth and Wendy and runs on the efforts of James, Ava, Irina, Elijah, Matt, and Rayven. Big thanks to Corinne Marcou for being our mentor and guide in this endeavor. 