By Sara Lieberth, Standard Correspondent
Woodstock Union High School senior Ada Mahood learned about Paris from her grandmother’s many stories, pictures, and even French lullabies she’d sung to her as a child growing up on Hartland Hill Road. In April of this year, she had her chance to see the famed city for herself on a student exchange trip. And that awe-inspiring experience led her to write the winning essay in a contest for the chance to present at the upcoming TEDxHartlandHill conference taking place this weekend at Billings Farm & Museum in Woodstock.
“Ada is the winner of our ‘What Is Awe?’” student essay contest,” explains Deborah Greene, executive director of TEDxHartlandHill, now in its third year. Yet 2024 is the first time the committee solicited entries for a writing contest from area high schoolers.
Ada Mahood will present her award-winning essay at the TEDxHartlandHill event this weekend to a live local audience and on a global platform. Photo Provided
“We decided to up the ante with the essay contest,” Greene states, explaining how she has worked with Mahood to expand her essay’s primary points into a format for presentation. TED talks typically range from 10-18 minutes but can be intimidating for first-time speakers, Greene acknowledges.
“Whether you’re an experienced speaker or not, there’s something about being on the red dot,” she says, referencing the colored carpet circle on which presenters must stand to be filmed in the three-camera shoot, in addition to the live audience present. “You spend months preparing and asking yourself, ‘What do I want to say at this meaningful moment?”
For Mahood, Greene notes it will be extra special considering her distinction among the slate of presenters as the youngest to participate.
“It’s a big deal for her,” Greene says, “and I know Ada is thrilled to have this opportunity.”
“I’m so excited,” Mahood told Standard this week. “I love to write, I thought this was a cool topic, and public speaking is definitely challenging but a skill everyone should learn.”
At 17, Mahood is currently in her fifth year of French language classes, which she credits with helping her navigate the trip to Paris better than many of her peers.
She says her experience reaching the top of the Eiffel Tower was a pinnacle moment of awe for her, and brought perspective to her otherwise small-town sensibility, as an excerpt from her essay describes:
“Standing on the Eiffel Tower reminded me of standing on a small mountain called Mt. Tom,” she writes. “When you’re standing on Mt. Tom you can see the entirety of Woodstock, very similarly when you’re standing on the Eiffel Tower you can see all of Paris. So similar, but so, so different. That is the beauty of Awe.”
Global perspectives, local viewpoints
All independently organized events that are guided by the global TED Conference are termed TEDx, wherein the “x” distinguishes them as wholly independently organized, and one that is locally-focused.
The daylong series of talks scheduled for this upcoming Saturday, will span an array of perspectives on the theme of ‘Awe’, what inspires it and what it means to experience it — while Greene suggests the impetus for this year’s theme was born out of necessity.
“Choosing ‘Awe’ felt right because we need it right now,” she offers. “It will be a day of wonder, of wow, of appreciating the interesting and the beautiful in our world.”
Greene, along with her committee team, reviewed more than 200 applications for the 2024 event, and selected speakers, artists and performers that have come from all over the world to participate.
She says videos of past TEDxHartlandHill have garnered more than one-million views worldwide, underscoring the platform’s audience reach.
“Our goal is to celebrate locally-driven ideas and elevate them to a global stage,” Greene states.
In addition to the one-day event, some of the featured presenters from around the country will spend time in and around Woodstock at various experiential events. Greene says in partnership with the Pentangle Arts Council, chosen artists will visit WUHS on the Monday following the program, while headliners Tuck & Patty — a genre-crossing vocal/guitar duo — will hold a special Masterclass on Sunday, Sept. 15 for interested adults.
Major sponsors of the 2024 event include the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, Woodstock EDC, Billings Farm & Museum, The Woodstock Inn & Resort, Twin Farms and The Rauch Foundation, which specifically makes up to 35 free tickets available to local teachers.
Educators take ‘ideas worth sharing’ back to classrooms
According to Greene, there are still tickets available via the “Tickets for Teachers” Program, and interested educators at any level are encouraged to contact her for details prior to this weekend’s event.
The original TED Conference tagline, “Ideas Worth Sharing,” inspired Greene and her fellow organizers to find sponsorships and reach out to local school teachers because, as Greene asks, “Who better to share ideas than teachers?”
The program is intended to broaden the appeal of conference topics, spark discussion or further inquiry/research, and encourage the educators to take new ideas and fresh perspectives found in the event’s presentations back to their classrooms.
Area teachers who would like to attend the conference on Saturday can email hello@tedxhartlandhill.org to learn of remaining availability.
For a full schedule and tickets please visit https://www.tedxhartlandhill.org/.