EMORY, Va. - In April of 2016, women's soccer coach Linda Schirmeister-Gess gave a TED Conference speech to the local community and students on the campus of Emory & Henry College.  In her talk, Coach Schirmeister-Gess reflected upon the fact that "We teach people math and reading for over a decade of their life, and we should be teaching leadership as well." In the talk, she shares her experiences discovering the skills of leadership and outlines a model for teaching them to others. 

Thanks to a group of E&H students consisting of Sara Foster, Natalia Sutherland, and Ferris Ellis, the entire event was made possible.  It was a challenging feat of successfully putting on an independently organized TED conference. A wide array of speakers from all across campus spoke on a variety of different topics for the eager-to-learn crowd.  Along with coach Schirmeister-Gess, the speakers selected included numerous professors and experts in their field of study. 

The overriding theme of the event was Project Ampersand which reflects the institution's ongoing commitment to project based learning. The event itself was a resounding success by all those attended, and the speeches were soon approved by the TED organization and released online. 

You can find more information on the TEDx program that E&H hosted at the following link: https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/17824

You can watch Coach Linda Schirmeister-Gess' presentation at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bc8s8bhJvA

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