Behind the curtains at Lake Forest High School’s annual TEDx event, something wasn’t working as expected.

The agenda had called for showing “Hot Ones of LFHS,” a New Media flick created by junior Caroline Zeeman for the Talent Show just a few weeks prior, in the intermission between the last two talks of the event. The only problem? Google Drive wasn’t cooperating (as usual).

Luckily for TEDx, sophomore emcees Kailey Albus and Cole Joseph were in their element between the spotlights and curtains of the DMT. They improvised with an unexpected yet tried-and-true stalling tactic: dad jokes.

As would be expected from seasoned performers — for seasoned they were, having participated in more than two dozen theatric productions between them — Joseph and Albus kept their cool and the audience entertained, albeit with a more… base form of entertainment.

“Before the event, Kailey and I were talking and I joked that if something like that happened we should just tell dad jokes. Sure enough, it happened and our first thought on what to do was dad jokes,” Joseph said.

That was, at least, before the shadowy denizens of the labyrinth beneath the David Miller Theatre burst onto the stage and forcibly evicted the emcees. The next talk was ready to begin, and senior Bella Watters was about to transport her audience to the quaint Dutch village where she had spent her junior year as an exchange student.

This lighthearted response to unforeseen technical troubles perfectly captured the warmth and friendliness of TEDxLFHS 2019, the fifth annual TEDx event held at the school. Topics ranged from intersectional feminism to creative writing and covered all points in between.

None of this would have been possible without the dozens of student volunteers who contributed in a plethora of ways, from filming the event to setting up the theater. Faculty members Corey Holmer, Laura Grigg, and Jimmy Juliano, and Steve Douglass also played pivotal roles.

“We just, kind of, trust the other person to kind of do the other stuff,” Juliano, the event creative director, said. Along with Mrs. Grigg, Mr. Holmer and countless other members of the production team, he was so busy during the event itself that he was only able to see an actual talk during a re-recording session.

“To sit down and watch a talk, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is what it’s like,’” Juliano said, laughing. “I had no idea.”

Senior Ryan Eleveld, who ran the sound mixing system and gave a talk of his own, agreed.

“I think our greatest strength as a team is our communication and trust for each other. Mr. Holmer and I were here until 7 p.m. on Tuesday finishing everything, but we got sound and lights running smoothly, and everything went well,” Eleveld said.

In addition to overseeing the tech theater of operations and working with Eleveld and other student volunteers in that regard, Holmer also played a role in interspersing the talks with performances from the Talent Show. Groups such as the Swing Sonatas, Yo-Yo Crew, and Lowkey Treble all took part in the festivities, to the same universal acclaim that had greeted them on those cold February nights.

“We look for variety. We look for piano, we look for solo, we look for some dancing,” Holmer said. “We wanted something really different on stage this year, so we decided to bring the yo-yos in.”

With regards to Lowkey Treble, the group doesn’t “get the opportunity to perform very much, so we said, ‘Hey, you did amazing at Talent Show, so do you want to do a new song for us?’ and they were like ‘absolutely,’” Holmer, who was also involved with the Talent Show, continued.

Grigg, Juliano, and Holmer all emphasized the nature of TEDx as an opportunity for students to inspire others, share their ideas, and simply be themselves.

Grigg, who sponsors the TED-Ed student selection committee with Juliano, said that TEDx is intended “to give students a platform and a voice to share their ideas and their passions, not just with our community, but the whole world by the time that the videos are produced and put online.”

“Our goal is that kids and teachers walk away inspired, and that it sparks conversations,” she said.

Juliano said TEDx also serves as a celebration of individualism, and added that he hoped the audience realized that as well.

“What I really hope people take out of it is ‘be yourself.’ These students are onstage, being who they are, unabashedly individualistic and caring about things. It takes a lot of bravery to do that… individualism is what I hope people really take away from it,” he said.

To get to that point, it took not only all the volunteers and teamwork that LFHS could muster, but also extraordinary passion and dedication on all parts, according to both students and parents involved with the event.

“It was ultimately up to every individual to do their part to the best extent that they could. In my opinion, everyone excelled in their role,” Albus said.

Holmer, Grigg, and Juliano have been a team in preparing the TEDx event for the past four years, since Holmer came to the school, and unofficially worked together on the inaugural event back in 2015. Juliano lauded the dedication of everyone involved.

“It was clear that they cared about what they were doing. No one just went up there just to do it; they all were passionate about what they were talking about,” Juliano said. “Nothing horrible has ever happened, and that’s a testament, I think, to all the student volunteers and all the speakers and everyone there.”

Eleveld said that he invested a “decent amount of work” in the event, but still encouraged people to consider speaking or volunteering. He credited the EdTechs (Holmer, Grigg, and Juliano) and his speaking mentor, math teacher Andrea Lemke, for making his workload much lighter.

“I’ve probably spent a good 24 hours writing, memorizing, and creating graphics, but they were exciting hours which I could be passionate about,” Eleveld said, illustrating the massive quantities of time and energy that went into the show.

The effort certainly paid off. The DMT was completely packed for the entirety of both sessions, and the livestream received hundreds of views. Interest and amazement rolled off the audience like waves on a beach, injecting an atmosphere of tangible positivity into the cramped theater. Speech after speech went off with nary a hitch.

Emcees Albus and Cole touched off the event, welcoming the audience and introducing them to Eleveld, who spoke about statistics and the joy of math through the example of a highly contagious mystery disease.

Next, Caroline Zeeman took the stage to discuss the media and its relation to the current political divide, drawing on her personal experiences in videography. Her talk was followed up by a dazzling performance from Allen Chiu and the Yo-Yo Crew.

“My favorite moment when giving my talk was looking into the audience and seeing my classmates nod in agreement after I would make a point,” Zeeman said. “It’s a pretty cool thing to see someone process what you said in real time and connect to it.”

Sophomore Yana Savitsky then described the Pomodoro Method, a dynamic and effective study plan that has allowed her to handle the stresses that define sophomore year. Navy SEAL Derek Hanel was the first adult speaker of the day. He laid out an inspiring methodology for overcoming challenges, building from self-knowledge to effectively responding to the crisis.

Senior Katie Pierce performed her song “I Swear,” which she had also played at the Talent Show. Junior Kiera Burns and senior Keegan Thoranin then proceeded to speak about intersectional feminism and the need for awareness, acceptance, and respect for the LGBTQ+ community, respectively. Both speakers stood tall as ardent advocates of true equality as the best path forward in the difficult times of the 21st century.

Senior Sam Randall closed out the first session. After a short lunch break, LFHS’s indigenous a cappella group, Lowkey Treble, broke the champagne over act two.

Sophomore Callan Shanahan spoke about the child welfare system, opined about the power of simple acts of kindness, and related her experience with Fill a Heart 4 Kids, an organization dedicated to supporting homeless youth.

Environmental Commission members Katherine Slover and Ashley Updike talked next. Slover, a senior, and Updike, a junior, elaborated on the environmental impacts of idling and the Commission’s efforts to change the attitude about spewing countless carcinogens into the air students breathe during their commute.

The Swing Sonatas lightened the mood after the vivid descriptions of lungs turned to ash and jazzed up the audience for the next two speakers.

Junior Kenny Peterson-Ross explored his adventures in creative writing and explicated his creative process, and was followed by poet and comedian Joel Chmara. Chmara, the second adult speaker of the festivities, blended lighthearted humor and wit with a strident plea for compassion towards others – what he called “writing your opponent’s backstory.”

Sylvia Kollasch, the sophomore pianist who performed her song “Piece Me Together” at the Talent Show to much fanfare, returned to grace the DMT before junior Charlotte Yehle told the story of her journey with osteogenesis imperfecta as she strove to raise awareness about the disease, which places millions of people around the world at greater risk of breaking bones.

That brings us up to the moment when Google Drive ruined everything and set in motion a series of events that would lead the emcees to brutalize the audience with dad jokes.

No summary short of an essay approaching the infamous U.S. History research paper in length and depth can do full justice to all the topics and themes discussed. Fortunately, the entire event is viewable online in its entirety.

Despite the considerable degree of stress it doubtless inflicted on its enablers, TEDx more than lived up to its theme of “the Ripple Effect.” Every talk centered on creating change in some way, shape, or form, and the team is already looking to the future.

Holmer welcomed any students who wish to participate in the coming years. “We’re pretty open to taking whoever wants to be part of the show,” he said.

Juliano, for one, was full of optimism and gung-ho determination to make next year’s event even better.

“We are tired, but we’re ready for 2020!”