Ideas worth spreading, starting here.
Mountcrest’s stage for original student thinking. TEDx talks are rehearsed like arguments and delivered live; TED-Ed lessons are built like experiments and shared as short animated explainers — both start with one student, one idea, and eight weeks of coaching.
Say one true thing, and say it well.
TEDx at Mountcrest
An independently organised, licensed TEDx-style event held on our own stage. Students research a single idea, write it as a personal argument rather than a report, and deliver it from memory to a live audience of peers, teachers and family.
- 8–12 minute talk, no slides read aloud
- One idea, argued from personal experience or research
- Delivered live, filmed, and archived for the school
- Open to Grades 9–12 by audition
TED-Ed Student Talks
A shorter, curriculum-linked explainer built the way TED-Ed lessons are: a script tight enough to animate, a single concept taught clearly, and a visual or voiceover treatment students design themselves.
- 3–5 minute scripted explainer
- Built around a real subject concept, not a book report
- Storyboarded, then recorded as voiceover or animation
- Open to Grades 6–12, done individually or in pairs
Four stages between an idea and a stage.
Every speaker, whether they’re headed for the TEDx stage or a TED-Ed script, moves through the same coaching pipeline.
Idea Lab
Students pitch a topic they actually care about and cut it down to one sentence: the single idea the whole talk has to earn.
Week 1–2Script Coaching
Three drafts with a mentor teacher — cutting jargon, sharpening the opening line, and finding the one story that carries the idea.
Week 3–5Rehearsal
Blocking, pacing and memory work, plus a mock Q&A so speakers can defend the idea, not just recite it.
Week 6–7The Stage
TEDx speakers deliver live in Founders’ Hall; TED-Ed speakers record their final voiceover or animation for release.
Week 8This year’s line-up.
Talks currently in coaching. Recordings go live here as each speaker takes the stage.
Watch Past TalksTalk title to be announced
Talk title to be announced
Explainer title to be announced
Explainer title to be announced
Talk title to be announced
Explainer title to be announced
Have an idea worth sharing?
Applications open twice a year, ahead of the autumn and spring coaching cycles. Any student in Grades 6–12 can apply — teachers can nominate a student too.
- An idea the student can argue from personal experience, not just research
- Willingness to redraft a script three times before it’s ready
- Comfort with eight weeks of after-school rehearsal
- For TEDx: confidence speaking live without notes