In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

The Avery Coonley School
1400 Maple St. Downers Grove
Downers Grove, Illinois, 60515
United States

Aria Pulido

Aria Pulido was born in San Jose, California, and resides in Woodridge, Illinois. She is a middle school student at the Avery Coonley School, where she enjoys participating on the Girls’ Volleyball and Debate teams. She and her mother share a longtime interest in doll collecting, which inspired Aria’s science fair project, “Barbie Has Evolved. Have Consumers?” The project was subsequently recognized with a Gold Award at the Illinois Junior Academy of Science, and forms the basis of her TEDx talk.

Dr. Kirsty Montgomery

Head of School at the Avery Coonley School

Dr. Kirsty Montgomery graduated with a BA in political science from Northwestern (magna cum laude), and later an MA in social science, MA in history, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. As an educator, Dr. Montgomery has taught history (European Civilization, World Civilization, Ancient World Religions & Philosophy, History of Britain, International Relations, and the History of China & India) at a variety of educational levels from third grade up to 12th grade. She served four years on the faculty of the Illinois Math and Science Academy, five years at Omniscope Academy, also in Illinois, as well as teaching at higher education institutions including Oakton Community College, Northwestern University’s Center for Talent Development, and the University of Chicago. She is delighted and honored to serve as head of school at Avery Coonley School

Dr. Robert Jackson

Bobby is an Atmospheric Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. At Argonne, he is an expert at looking at the characteristics of clouds and rainfall using weather radars. He has over 10 years’ experience in atmospheric data analysis, including using meteorological observations from aircraft and ground-based measurements all the way from the Arctic to the Tropics. In this talk, he would like to show how atmospheric scientists measure the properties of clouds in the atmosphere. He will demonstrate the measurement capabilities the U.S. Department of Energy harnesses for such measurements.

Jack Murphy

Jack Murphy currently attends Downers Grove South and graduated from The Avery Coonley School, Class of 2024. His curiosity in circular economies and regenerative farming grew after the pandemic when he attended camp in Caledonia, Illinois, at Farmer's Rising, formerly the Angelic Organic's Learning Center. He often visits organizations like The Plant, in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood, to better understand urban efforts. He is devoted to responsible and sustainable food economies and production that can help create and sustain healthier communities and soils. He is a fierce Food Justice advocate. At ACS, his paper, "The Effect of Electo-Magnetic Fields on Microgreens," was selected for competition at the 2023 Illinois Junior Academy of Science Fair. He ranked individually and placed with his ACS Chess Team at the US Elementary and Middle School Chess Nationals, and earned an honorable mention in the selective 2021 Illinois Humanities Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards.

Julie Kogura

Julie Kogura works in project management at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a visual effects division of Lucasfilm. Her previous experience includes post-production work at Dick Clark Productions, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Lucasfilm Animation. Since Julie has a passion for advocating for the disability community, she founded Enabled at Lucasfilm, a disability employee resource group. She has received a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Loyola Marymount University and a master’s degree in psychology from Pepperdine University. In middle school, Julie was diagnosed with a reading and oral comprehension learning disability, and later in life, received a diagnosis as being autistic. When Julie is not advocating for autistic individuals, she enjoys dancing and playing basketball.

Sarina Sedaghat

Sarina Sedaghat is a lower school student at the Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove, Illinois. She loves theater arts, singing in her community children’s choir, and being a Girl Scout. Her favorite thing of all, though, is playing sports, especially basketball! Earlier this year, Sarina fractured her tibia, and having to sit out of sports for several months was tough. During that time, she learned how common it is for girls to drop out of sports at a young age. It made her more determined than ever to get back into play. Sarina is excited to create awareness about how important it is to encourage young women to stay in sports and how this can, in turn, instill the values that will shape our women leaders of tomorrow. She would love to use this amazing opportunity to inspire people, especially other girls her age, to never give up on their passions, especially in sports