Come early and stay late at TEDxMileHigh 2013: Values+Instincts. Your ticket not only gives you access to a stellar programming lineup, but it also gets you access to the TEDxMileHigh Exhibits Lounge, situated around the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, including the Galleria (outside) and the Studio Loft. 

At the Exhibits Lounge, TEDxMileHigh 2013 ticketholders will be among the first to test new products and take in creative works that are developed right here in Colorado. The Exhibits Lounge is a space for event attendees to engage in social environments, participate in thought-provoking projects, and interact with innovators and entrepreneurs.

Open to TEDxMileHigh 2013: Values+Instincts attendees: Saturday, June 15th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.; during intermission from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.; and again from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m.

What’s inside the Exhibits Lounge? Here’s a preview of the featured spaces:

• Parkour. How do we view movement? As art? As exercise? As play? The team from Apex Movement will be demonstrating and teaching parkour, and engaging in conversation about how we value movement.

• Support Local. Who do you turn to when you want a trustworthy recommendation? What does Local mean to you? Get ready to share your opinion and values while learning about this innovative app. 
  

  Last year’s Exhibit’s Lounge

• The Floodlight Project.  If you summed up your life in 6 words, what would you say? The team from Floodlight will be combining technology and wordplay to bring your life to light, simply, beautifully, and succinctly.

• Delicious Food. You’ll get a taste (pun intended) of what local, community-minded food is all about. Get excited and stay tuned for more details!
  

  Courtesy: Josh McNeilly

• Artisanal Coffee. To cap off your experience, get your caffeine fill from coffee made and brewed by Denver’s top baristas and roasters. Coffee innovators NOVO and Public Coffee will be there, to get your buzz going and conversation flowing!

Intrigued? If you already have your tickets, be sure to come early to take in the full TEDxMileHigh experience. If you need to get your hands on tickets, there are still some available. TEDxMileHigh 2013: Values+Instincts tickets are available at http://tedxmilehigh2013.eventbrite.com.

We look forward to seeing you at the Exhibits Lounge!

The first, Jandel Allen-Davis, is the VP of Government and External Relations for Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Allen-Davis is board certified in obstetrics and gynecology and after 25 years of taking care of patients, transitioned from a physician leader to Kaiser Permanente’s Health Plan Leadership team. Dr. Allen-Davis believes health care will improve when all the primary stakeholder groups — clinicians, patients, elected officials, community leaders, and employers — can collaborate effectively to put the patient at the center.

The next is Russell Muren, an experienced thermal analyst having modeled and validated thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power (CSP) applications.  Read more by clicking on their images below and see the complete (announced) lineup!

Who are you excited to see at TEDxMileHigh: Values + Instincts? Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

Jandel Allen-Davis, Health Maven

Russell Muren, Thermal Engineer

Shannon recently returned from Afghanistan, where she’s been working with local leaders and athletes to help organize the Women’s National Cycling Team.  She and a crew successfully funded a Kickstarter called “Afghan Cycles,” which raised money to support a short documentary film that “follows women through their practice sessions, riding the backroads and highways outside of Kabul…and getting an intimate look at their lives when they’re not on their bikes; documenting their lifestyles, home life, and their role as a woman in the male-dominated country.”  On the trip, her nonprofit, Mountain2Mountain, also delivered 5 brand new racing bikes for the women’s team from Liv/Giant and over 350+ pounds of cycling clothing and equipment for the men’s and women’s teams.  Read more about Shannon’s story, her idea, and what’s next on her bio here!  All photos below via Mountain2Mountain and Shannon Galpin.

View more photos and read more at Mountain2Mountain.  Are you excited to hear Shannon’s story and big idea at TEDxMileHigh? Grab your ticket if you haven’t already! 

Update 5/10: Today, we’re announcing three new speakers for the #TEDxMH13  lineup!

The time has come!  We have received hundreds of nominations from the TEDxMileHigh community and have been searching high and low for fresh talent and big ideas from across the state. Now, we are thrilled to announce the first names to be featured at this year’s TEDxMileHigh: Values + Instincts.

Our June presenters include: a skilled political operator known as one of the most powerful women in the state—and the only gubernatorial chief-of-staff with a divinity degree, a philosopher known for his wit, candor, and incisive social views, a filmmaker promoting pop culture, an civic entrepreneur hiring the unhirable, a permaculturist working in a food desert and the most polluted zip code in Colorado, and a hip-hop artist with a law degree with his sights on the future of media and technology.

More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks. Checkout the initial list of presenters and join us at TEDxMileHigh 2013!

Adam Brock, Urban Permaculturist

Adrian Molina, Artist

Alexandre Philippe, Filmmaker

Michael Huemer, Philosopher

Tamra Ryan, Entrepreneur

Roxane White, Political Steward

Who are you excited to see at TEDxMileHigh: Values + Instincts? Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter!

This is what Chris has to say about the concept, and the creation, of the piece:

“My vision was to draw a connection between TEDxMileHigh and the search for answers through quest and discovery. The TEDxMileHigh origin of that connection is the background tapestry, cast with iconic Denver locations. I wanted to fill scenes with the thick lifeblood of a classic Denver experience. We follow the main character on a linear and realistic journey from Mile High Stadium, through downtown and finally arriving at Civic Center Park. His quest is to unravel the mystery of an unknown object that essentially manifests itself in the end as the spirit of TEDx. In the finale, we observe that there are other people that have discovered the same objects and supposedly arrived at the end of their own journeys. Those characters were designed to represent my impression of some archetypical Denver folks who would be identifiable to the TEDxMileHigh community. On the technical end we designed the production carefully to be able to incorporate heavy 2D visual effects. I set my sights very high in terms of the visual look I wanted to achieve. I am very proud of this piece and hope that it inspires the mind’s eye of the TEDxMileHigh community.”

Watch the video below:

And that was just the first floor. In the learning labs upstairs (called Action Labs), kids interacted by writing poetry, building 3D collages, learning how to compose a dub-step beat, dance a haiku, and get a glimpse of exploration gear from Antarctica. All labs were very fun and perfect for younger students, but the juniors and seniors seemed a bit glazed as they had limited ground to tread, and for that I hope that TEDxYouth@MileHigh develops more dynamic engagement for these well-developed youthquakes.

In the auditorium, we heard from a broad swath of speakers and performers: Emma Hutchinson, a teenager and environmental activist who spent $7 on a letter-writing campaign to ban single use bags in Boulder, which resulted in a ban and a top-notch recycling program in her school; Swathi Kompella, a 12 year-old who is designing a neurological stimulator for stem cells to combat Parkinson’s Disease; Easton LaChappelle, a 17 year-old who has built and designed animatronic, low-cost prosthetic limbs from a 3D printer; DJ CaveM, a hip hop performer who raps about being an organic vegan farmer as a revolution; Jonathon Stalls, a man who lives life at 3MPH who walked across the country to raise money for KIVA loans;  Eric Larson, a polar explorer who engaged kids in environmental awareness and personal preparation; 25 year-old Ryan Ford, a movement artist and practitioner of parkour who said, “There are no obstacles, only opportunities” as he told the story of a mom and her two kids coming together to learn to play in order to overcome their disabilities and difficulties; Amelia Earhart, the emcee of the event, who is a pilot and news broadcaster starting a non-profit to teach young women to fly; and Ballet Nouveau Colorado and Lighthouse Writer’s Workshop, who did a mash-up of dance and poetry.

The theme for the event was Values + Instincts. You don’t need to teach a kid to be interested (that is the unlearning of adulthood where there has to be results and reasons for work); kids are simply more effectively curious. But you do need to engage with them about the Values and Instincts that create our concepts, ideas, and cultures. The startlingly coherent young minds that presented solutions to real-world problems were jaw dropping, and the messages held by the curious explorers and movers who told of building a team, developing trust, living in your body, taking a walk, and being persistent were equally so. Those are the values, and developed instincts, that kids need and from that, they can do and design anything. This year, TEDxYouth@MileHigh continued to develop a rich tapestry to grow the minds that will design a complete overhaul of society from it’s industrial dust. As said by a reader from Lighthouse Writers: “Maybe we are just mirrors for miracles.”

This is a guest post by blogger and Denver-native, Crystal Clear, a host, producer, and media curator. Her project, myculturalrehab.com is a continuing examination of the ails and cures to the calamity of self-realization in our cultural soup.

Last year I wrote a report for the advocacy group, A+ Denver, on “arts education” even though my own experience from kindergarten to senior year had left me rolling my eyes. Mentions of “art education” produced flashbacks of my 5th grade water-color originals that looked like some kind of Rorschach test designed by our schnauzer, Boris. Arts-in-school was a random assortment of classes offered to entertain, distract, and apparently to introduce us to the most beautiful of all instruments: the recorder. In other words, arts education was a bunch of unrelated filler classes.

Leading up to last November’s election that would raise $11 million for the arts, rumor had it that the state of arts education in Denver Public Schools was very mixed, depending on the school. In some places, it was even worse than my pinch-pot filled experience. In some schools, teachers who’d been hired with tax dollars earmarked specifically for “arts” were actually being used to hire PE teachers who had some certificate to teach dance (but weren’t). Or a teacher with a certificate to teach arts education was replacing a history teacher so he or she could be paid from the “arts” pot. In other words, there was a lot of talk that the arts (in at least some schools) were taking a backseat to almost everything else.

By the time A+ Denver published the report, it was evident that some of the rumors above were true, and there were a lot of schools offering fairly low-quality arts programs. The bad news was that overall, low-income kids didn’t have the same opportunities in the arts as middle and upper class kids—which is mostly a function of having less access to private lessons and camps, and lacking consistent access to strong programs in school.

Low-income students in Denver are under-prepared to compete for coveted spots at top arts schools like Denver School of the Arts. For example, in 2011 twenty-six students completed the 6th grade orchestra audition, but just two were from DPS schools and neither was qualified. DSA has not consistently admitted DPS students from a single school west of I-25 for at least three years.

Part of the reason for the inconsistency, and lack of rigor, across school art programs is that the district has typically played a support role instead of a prescriptive one.

The good news is that the “wild west” approach to arts education (as one art teacher put it) had yielded some very unique, innovative, and powerful arts programs in pockets around the city. Some examples include: a mariachi club at Bryant-Webster elementary, theater program at East HS, a new school devoted to the arts in SW Denver, and a visual arts program at Brown. Talented entrepreneurs have begun moving into the space.

My favorite example of innovation in arts education is El Sistema [1]. El Sistema Colorado launched in Jan 2012 at Garden Place Elementary, a school where 98% of kids qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. An orchestra and choir program for 200 students (pre-school through 4th grade), it is free for all students. It is, however, quite rigorous, requiring more than 10 hours each week after school and on Saturdays.

El Sistema is modeled after the famous Venezuelan program now teaching ensemble music to 350,000 of the country’s poorest children, and is making a mark in other countries around the world. It was founded by (TED speaker) Jose Antonio Abreu (see TED talk below).  Less than two years from its inception, El Sistema Colorado will expand to almost 500 students at three Denver Public Schools:  Garden Place Elementary, Swansea Elementary, and Bruce Randolph Middle High School, all in a severely low-income region of Denver where 35,000 children live in poverty, or are at-risk.

I had an opportunity to hear (another TED speaker) Sal Khan talk about Khan Academy during trip to Palo Alto this winter. He said something that made me a bit teary (and hopeful), which I think is relevant to this blog.  Bill Gates said that Gates’ kids had used many Khan Academy videos to learn math concepts. “We know we’ve accomplished something remarkable when the poorest kids in the world aren’t getting a watered down version of the education Bill Gates’ kids are getting,” he said. “They are getting the same education.”

El Sistema is one example of a handful of exceptional programs around the country where kids aren’t just getting a watered down version of an arts education—they are getting the same one.

DPS just raised $11 million from taxpayers to invest in its arts (and PE) programs. We have an opportunity to reimagine the way schools teach the arts — or the opportunities we create after school. But DPS will need more entrepreneurs willing to reimagine what we mean by arts education, so that students graduate from high school having been through a spectrum of what’s available, and possible.

The theme song for this blog was composed and performed by my 5th grade cousin Ruben, who reminds me that kids can do remarkable things—if we can provide them a way to do it.

Featured image ©Piton Foundation/Brigid McAuliffe

[1]  Since this film was made, March of 2012, Sistema Colorado at Garden Place has grown to include 32 four year olds during school and 70 first, third and fourth graders after school. Fall of 2013, Sistema Colorado’s program at Garden Place will be at capacity, adding close to 50 students, serving all grade levels, pre-school through 5th grade. A total of 220 students.

We will be livestreaming the event on TEDxMileHigh.com/livestream tomorrow from 1:45-5:30pm MDT.  TEDxYouth@MileHigh is at capacity and not open to the general public (only youth and youth-serving organizations), so tune into tomorrow on your computer, tablet, or smartphone to catch the action live!

Without further ado, here’s the lineup for TEDxYouth@MileHigh!

“You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed ―

#$%@! Even in the future nothing works!

― Dark Helmet, Spaceballs ―

I have six year old twin boys. As far as I’m concerned, whoever can figure out how to safely turn them off for 30 minutes at a time once or twice a day will go down as one of history’s greatest innovators (yes, I’m talking to you Elon Musk).

I don’t need more gadgets or apps. I need people to solve my problems, real problems. The way turn-by-turn directions on my phone, through some divine intervention, keep me from getting lost or fumbling around with 6-inch Thomas Guides while driving.

So when you ask if technology will revolutionize education, I say no. Not unless it can solve education’s problems, real problems.

Our kids need to be more creative, learn how to do things!

Me: “Get off the couch. Go do something with your hands. Be creative. Make some friends!”
Son: “OK, where’s your iPad?”

So DIY.org is all the rage in my house these days. It turns out the key to getting the twins to be curious and do interesting things is giving them an endless library of projects to do courtesy of DIY. My son recently grew crystals in an eggshell and shared his project with the DIY community – all of a sudden eight other kids wanted to know how my son grew those crystals. Talk about motivating. “Doing something” connected my six year old to a vibrant, like-minded community, a skill that he will hopefully use time and time again throughout his life.

I want my kids to make things, be curious, get things wrong the first time and try again. It turns out rich online experiences can facilitate even better offline experiences. Thanks for solving my problem. [Also see Khan Academy Projects, Make Magazine, and Instructables]

We need more students to “succeed” in high school!

Max Fischer: “Dr. Guggenheim, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job. But the fact is, no matter how hard I try, I still might flunk another class. If that means I have to stay on for a post-graduate year, so be it…”

Dr. Nelson Guggenheim: “We don’t offer a post-graduate year.”

Max Fischer: “Well, we don’t offer it yet.”

― Rushmore, 1998 ―

By now it’s tradition, but making high school students sit in classrooms for 30 hours a week doesn’t seem to be working well for a whole lot of kids. Only half of students taking the ACT college entrance exam in 2012 met “college ready” benchmarks. While there are many reasons for the lack of college preparedness, a number of educators are focusing in on the non-cognitive skills like perseverance and curiosity that students need to succeed beyond high school.

A few intrepid high schools are creating personalized learning environments where students are challenged to work independently and develop the self-management skills to take more ownership of their learning. Students set goals and direct their learning, using all the resources at their disposal including their peers, their teachers and online resources. If you can finish Algebra 1 in three months, go for it. If you want to spend three hours doing history on Thursday, fine. Education technology organizations like Khan Academy, Knewton and Illuminate are creating systems of learning maps and assessments so students can take a stronger role in their learning. If your technology can help students become motivated, independent learners in anticipation of the college “cliff,” you are solving a real problem.

Technology won’t revolutionize education. But the nice thing about education is there is pretty much an endless supply of real problems just begging to be solved. Viva la revolucion.

What are your thoughts on education and technology? Is new technology ‘revolutionizing’ education?