When you think about Catalina, what comes to mind? Do you think of the all-girls education? Lemon chicken? The Marine Ecology Research Program? Ring week? There are so many aspects of Catalina that make this school such a wonderful place. 

So much has happened over the course of the past year. COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it. In today’s world, we may not be able to enjoy many of the things that we used to, yet Catalina is still a strong and unified community, even when we are apart! Although each and every one of us has struggled in our own way, our ability to come together is what makes Catalina such a special place. We may not be able to come together on campus, but this year’s TEDx event will still take place. We will be bringing Catalina to you!

This year’s theme is “Familiar Faces.” We look forward to presenting a few amazing members of our Catalina community, as well as other speakers from outside our school community! You will hear some amazing new ideas and moving stories from people whose work has been buoyed by familiar faces around them. This year’s speakers are special because they are people who you may already know, recognize, and love.

We have a great deal to learn from one another and from the familiar faces around us. We encourage you to think about the ways in which you seek to learn from familiar faces in our community and beyond! How do the familiar faces around us work to make our community and world more equitable, diverse, and inclusive? How have familiar faces around us helped to raise awareness about global issues? How have familiar faces around us helped face challenges? What can the familiar faces teach us about identifying a problem, innovating a solution, creating that solution, and, thus, solving the problem? 

Our TEDxSCS 2020-2021 team is beyond excited to present this year’s event, “Familiar Faces,” as Catalina’s first-ever virtual TEDx event. Mark your calendars for April 28th, when we will share with you the inspiring and valuable ideas that our diverse range of speakers has to offer! This year’s virtual event will provide the opportunity to learn more from the wonderful members of our community. Every one of you has amazing ideas, passions, and insights, and we hope that this year’s event sparks even more of that. We are sure that you will find their stories as unique and inspiring as we do!