SAINT FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL IS A MELTING POT OF STUDENTS AND THEIR PERSONALITIES, INTERESTS, AND TALENTS.
As a student body, we’re very proud of who we are and cherish the opportunity to share the variety of experiences we have as an opportunity for growth and connection. As a result, our event is entirely student-run and features only student speakers. We provide a platform for our peers and empower them to share their voices with the community, both within Saint Francis and beyond. We began as a homegrown event, SF Talks, in 2018, and after two very successful years, we are proud to officially be a TEDx event.

The event will host 10-15 talks, curated and polished by our student organizing team, on a variety of topics that showcase the power and vast impact of high school students. The talks will be accompanied by other media and performances as well as opportunities to interact with the speakers, truly demonstrating how Saint Francis talks!

Saint Francis High School
1885 Miramonte Avenue
Mountain View, California, 94040
United States

Anay Nagarajan

Student

Anay Nagarajan is a junior at Saint Francis High School, where he is on the board of BRIC Brothers and is a member of the varsity basketball team. In his free time, he enjoys snowboarding, going to the gym, and spending time with friends and family. In his talk with Harlan Banks, he hopes to bring light to issues surrounding youth sports and shared ideas on how they can be addressed.

Catherine Paulson

Student

Catherine Paulson is a senior at Saint Francis High School. She enjoys being on ASB and mentoring freshmen in the Saint Francis Family Club. In her talk with her twin sister Sarah, they will share their story of being twins to provide a unique perspective on how to find your true identity. Catherine enjoys doing anything outside, listening to music, reading good books, having great conversations, and hanging out with her friends and family. Catherine, alongside Sarah, will attend Stanford University next year to study and play soccer.

Harlan Banks

Student

Harlan Banks is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. In his free time, you may find him at the gym, the movie theater, or the beach. Growing up on Stanford’s campus, he attended sporting events regularly, and it was at these games that he began to dream of one day playing college basketball himself. In his talk with Anay Nagarajan, he hopes to shed light on the life lessons that have been stripped from youth sports in recent years.

Jackson Butler

Student

Jackson Butler is a senior at Saint Francis High School. He enjoys leading the Lancer Band as its drum major, whether at marching band competitions or in pep band at football and basketball games. Jackson loves running hurdles for track, skiing in Tahoe, reading, and making lasting memories with friends and family. The two biggest aspects of his life have always been music, and, of course, his family; through his talk, Jackson will chronicle his family’s story to discuss the importance of support systems.

Justin Waddell

Student

Justin Waddell is a senior at Saint Francis. He enjoys cultivating relationships through his many passions of spikeball, working out, listening to music, and pick-up basketball. One may spot Justin leading the crowd at various Saint Francis sporting events as the school’s 6th/12th man leader. He is also a member of the Saint Francis Family Club as well as a freshman and senior retreat leader. In his talk, Justin hopes to share insight on how prioritizing passions allows one to find their community.

Kate Eng

Student

Kate Eng is an energetic and compassionate freshman at Saint Francis High School. She enjoys doing musical theater, tap dancing, singing, and spending time with her German Shepherd. Because she has been involved with theater since third grade, Kate has a love for performing and is fascinated by all aspects of it. Bringing her passion for storytelling through musical theater to TEDx, Kate is excited to help others tell stories in ways that are true to themselves. When not performing, she loves spending time with her family and friends. In the future, Kate wants to pursue a job that helps others and she hopes to have many animals.

Kate Mathew

Student

Kate Mathew is an ambitious and hardworking senior at Saint Francis High School. She loves being involved on campus, from NHS and executive rally board to varsity diving and everything in between. Kate enjoys making music with the Lancer Band, exploring new countries, and conducting clinical research. She currently aspires to pursue a career as a surgeon and astronaut, with an emphasis on engineering and technology. Through her talk, Kate hopes to encourage people to find comfort in the unknown and embrace their flaws.

Leslie Garcia-Sanchez

Student

Leslie Garcia-Sanchez is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. After noticing the lack of financial literacy in her community, she has been inspired to motivate others to pursue a greater degree of awareness. In her free time, Leslie enjoys being outdoors with her dog, practicing her trombone, and making soaps for her business. In the future, Leslie hopes to share her knowledge with underrepresented communities and inspire others to find ways to challenge themselves.

Lia Escober

Student

Lia Escober is a hardworking and adventurous junior at Saint Francis High School. She enjoys running on the track, working as a student athletic trainer, and spending time with friends. Lia was inspired by spending time with a loved one affected with Alzheimer’s and observing how the disease has changed her family. By sharing her talk, she hopes to positively impact others and inspire them to value their time with their loved ones.

Lino Le Van

Student

Lino Le Van is a sophomore at Saint Francis High School. Inspired by his parents’ focus on the importance of education, he is interested in learning about schools’ environments. It was his experience switching school systems from public to private that initially showed him the vast differences in educational environments and opportunities. In his free time, Lino enjoys reading books, talking about flash preservation, coding, and spending time with his friends and family. By sharing his talk, he hopes to inspire others to support education reform and research.

Myshka Javier

Student

Myshka Javier is an ambitious and vivacious senior at Saint Francis High School. Her humorous and positive character applies not only to her interactions with others but also her extracurricular passions. She has learned Polynesian dancing since the age of 5 and loves singing, playing the piano and the ukulele, dancing hip-hop, and songwriting. Through her talk, Myshka hopes to encourage optimism through life's adversity, using it not to discourage, but rather to fuel tenacity.

Patti Chen

Student

Patti Chen is a senior at Saint Francis High School. An active member of the Lancer community, she has also participated in various political positions, serving as a district office intern for Congresswoman Jackie Speier and a campaign fellow for Mike Johnston’s bid for the U.S. Senate. Through her talk, she hopes to share her experience as a younger person in politics and explore its relationship to technology. In her free time, Patti enjoys learning about marine biology through SCUBA diving.

Sarah Paulson

Student

Sarah Paulson is a senior at Saint Francis High School, where she is a member of ASB and the Saint Francis Family Club. Growing up with her identical mirror twin Catherine and spending every moment of their lives together, Sarah has discovered the impact of not only her twin, but everyone in her life, on the person she has become. With their talk, Sarah and Catherine hope to reveal how to find one’s unique identity through their story as twins. In her free time, Sarah loves to read, paint, hike, and spend time with her friends and family. Next fall, she will be attending Stanford University along with Catherine to study and play soccer.