Annual TEDx conference spotlights the “Politics of the People”

The event featured a diverse selection of speakers, from students to scientists

What happens when you combine world-class researchers, highly motivated students, and a passion for storytelling and discussion? This year’s TEDxYouth@ TheNuevaSchool conference sought to answer that question.

TEDx conferences bring the classic TED talk format to the local level. On March 25, Nueva’s conference returned inperson for the first time in three years with the theme of “Politics of the People.”

“We wanted something to encapsulate issues close to our community,” said Anya M. ’24, co-lead of the TEDx club.

The leadership team also wanted to challenge common notions surrounding the theme of politics.

“Often, people think politics is limited to the government, but it’s something that can cover all kinds of occupations and people,” Anya said.

Noor Z. ’24, also club co-lead, agreed with Motwani; she pointed out how politics can apply to people from “all walks of life” and is relevant to student audiences as well.

“The theme was broad enough where we could invite a lot of different speakers, but also had specificity and direction to it,” Noor said.

For example, Valentine Chirokoff, a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, presented on the neurological and psychological factors of addiction and relapse. Later that day, Colin C. ’26 discussed the systemic inequities of the Hepatitis B Virus in front of a captivated crowd of students, faculty, and families.

What this diverse array of speakers— including three upper school students— held in common, Anya said, was the ethos of making an impact.

While planning the event involved many logistics from securing TEDx licensing to speaker outreach, the monthslong effort was ultimately worth it.

“People were impressed by how these are students at our school and they have such touching stories to share,” Noor said. “I hope the audience resonated with at least one story shared and it left them pondering more or connecting [the topic] to their own lives.”

Anya recalls seeing audience members mingling between talks and discussing presentations with one another.

“That was really moving to see,” Anya said. “I think our audience took away a lot from the event.”

Next year, Noor hopes to recruit more speakers and potentially host the event twice a year.

“After doing it once, we have a better idea of how to do it again and do it better next year,” Noor said. “It was definitely a learning experience for us.”

Research students attend prominent science conference in Seattle

Students in the XRT class present at biochemistry conference following months of research

STORY Samara B.

Paul Hauser

Upper school Experimental Research Teams (XRT) students attended the Discover BMB molecular life sciences conference held at the Seattle Convention Center March 25-28. Approximately 30 XRT students presented their in-progress research.

This year’s conference focused on biochemistry.

“[The conference] was an opportunity to think about everything we’ve done so far, where we want to go, and test our science in the real world,” said Lauren S. ’24, who leads a team exploring schizophrenia and the effect of antipsychotic drugs. Every student who has contributed to the projects are cited as authors.

Given four hours, the teams presented their findings to meandering scientists, including graduate and undergraduate students. Not only did students present their own work, but they also listened to and learned from other scientists.

“Anyone can be a change-maker,” she said. “That was evident from all the speakers we had.” future projects.

“A lot of the scientists [there] have years of experience in the field you’re working on and their experience gives them insights we don’t necessarily have,” said Anoushka K. ’23, a lead of a team studying codon optimization and gene editing.

Students utilized the conference to connect with researchers outside of Nueva, answer and ask questions, and bring back feedback to implement in their current and

“Even when we had hiccups in our presentations, everyone was so supportive and ready to give tips and advice,” Anoushka recalled. “It was just an amazing experience connecting with people we could see ourselves as down the road in terms of working in a college lab or conducting research.”

Guidelines are guided by the school’s core values

Upper school computer science teacher Wes Chao previewed some ChatGPT guidelines that he and upper school division head Liza Raynal are in the process of developing during the upper school’s last faculty meeting of February.

Although the guidelines are still in early drafting stages, Chao stressed the importance of the term “guidelines” instead of “rules.”

Nueva-Doshisha exchange program to Japan returns after pandemic

experiencing each other’s cultures

with their Japanese host students where they practiced speaking Japanese, experienced different school environments, and connected with their new classmates.

After a three-year pandemic hiatus, the Nueva-Doshisha exchange program returned for upper school Japanese students. Fifteen students flew to Kyoto in mid-February, stayed with host families, attended school in Japan, and visited historical sites such as Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, and Himeji Castle. Following this trip, in late March, they hosted Japanese exchange students who came to experience the life of an American high school student.

The ten-day trip, led by upper school Japanese teachers Chris Scott and Yoko Penniman, exposed Nueva students to different cultures and family dynamics.

Beyond living with host families, the students attended Doshisha high schools

“It was interesting to see how studying and academics can be different across countries past switching the [language],” said Kira F. ’23, a Japanese 5 student.

For the next couple of days, Nueva students engaged in traditional Japanese activities such as braiding kumihimo silk into cords and making Japanese sweets and matcha.

“We talk a lot about learning by doing and learning by caring at Nueva. There’s no substitute for that than by going to Japan and actually learning by doing,” Scott said.

For Japanese 5 student Sasha G. ’24, it was not only the hands-on activities that made the trip memorable but also diving into

Hiroshima’s history as one of the atomicbombed cities.

“We all walked away from Hiroshima having found resonance about what happened and what needs to happen in regards to nuclear disarmament,” she said.

Their day at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum also connected to their education at Nueva regarding Japanese history.

“It was one thing learning about it on paper,” said Noah Y. ’24, a Japanese 4 student. “But talking with hibakusha [one of the atomic-bomb survivors], having that personal interaction with them, walking around, and seeing the different pieces in the museum… you don’t feel it [the sense of grief] unless you’re there.”

After the ten days, upper school students flew back to the Bay Area. In late March, it was now the Japanese exchange students’ turn to visit the U.S.. The exchange students enjoyed an eight-day homestay and spent three days attending classes and extracurricular activities with Nueva students. While some toured landmarks such as Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, others took a local trip to Hillsdale Mall.

“We mainly did activities based on our buddy’s interests. My exchange student and I both liked shopping, so we went to a bunch of malls,” said Japanese 3 student Emmy L. ’25. “She really felt like a sister by the end [of the program] and we made so many memories together.”

“Right now we don’t have rules,” Chao said. “We have guidelines, and the guidelines reflect our thinking.”

During a Zoom discussion about AI with other traditional and progressive schools around the U.S., Chao realized Nueva’s guidelines should be focused around the school’s principles and beliefs.

“Our grounding question is, ‘What are the values important to us as a community, as a faculty, and as an institution?’” Chao said, reflecting on his discussions with the schools. “It turns out when I started to look at that, a lot of the questions began to answer themselves. One of the principles is love of learning, student agency, and student choice.”

Yet, due to the rapid pace at which ChatGPT is developing, it will take time to develop the school’s own guidelines.

“It’s difficult to know when we are done,” Chao said. “Technology is changing really, really fast.”

Chao aims to acquire faculty’s opinion to revise the guidelines throughout the process. Eventually, he plans to seek student feedback as well.

“My hope is for students to see a clear line to the values [of the school] that came up with [the guidelines],”

Chao said. “There may also be specific things such as, ‘This conclusion doesn’t make sense’ or ‘I don’t think this is in line with actual student behavior,’ and we’ll adapt policy based on that.”

The guidelines are expected to complete a round of revisions during May, but they may face more rounds due to rapidly evolving technology.