Payson Junior High Wows Nebo School Board of Education

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

Mrs. Maddy Bragg, English teacher, addressed the school board last Wednesday evening explaining Payson Junior School's association with TEDx.

She stated, "The English teachers at our school decided we wanted to give our students a more authentic assessment, so we had them write TED Talks. If you are unfamiliar with TED, they are an organization that is devoted to spreading good ideas throughout the world through short speeches. Our students asked hard questions, researched answers, and presented TED Talks with their great ideas in them. We applied and were approved to have an official TEDx license. With the help of the broadcasting team from Payson High School, the best of each of our classes presented their talks for an international live stream on the TEDx website. Our students videos are now available on the TEDx Youtube page.  

This year we aren't doing TEDx again, but working with a different branch of TED called TED-Ed Clubs. We will have a very similar event with a live broadcast with the best of the talks that are currently being worked on and given in our classrooms.The spoken word is very important at Payson Junior High:Poetry is an ancient art form that our school thinks should be heard as well as read. We keep it relevant by having every student in the school perform typically original poems in poetry slams in our classrooms. Similar to TED Talks, we send the best of our rooms to a school Slam, and our best from there go to the district-wide Poetry Slam. We are always floored by the talent and dedicated these students show." 

Three PJHS sutdents then presented TEDx and poetry. First, Cole Mattson gave his TED talk entitled "Do Sports Strengthen Your Education?" about how sports and school go together! He did a great job. Then, Case Kunz and Mindy Riding presented their poems for the poetry slam, "Outside the Lines" and "This Is Not My Poem" respectively. All three students represented our school extremely well. The presentation was a success and many of those in attendance commented on the great things happening at Payson Junior High.

 

Attributions
Alesha LeMmon