Waubonsie students seek to inspire with new 'Movement ONE'
Three Waubonsie Valley High School students know where they'll be getting some inspiration on Saturday, March 15, and they're inviting others to join them.
Juniors Nick Spragg, Monica Griffin and Mitch Hammond have helped plan the first Movement ONE, a two-hour event featuring five speakers designed to help listeners create positive change in their lives.
Come ready to listen during the new event, based on the popular TED Talks that spread ideas through speeches of 18 minutes or less, and be prepared to walk away inspired, Monica says.
"If people come in open-minded, they'll undoubtedly be able to take away one thing and make a change somehow," she said.
Two life coaches, a clinical psychologist, a single-mothers' empowerment leader and an organizational performance CEO will speak between 9 and 11 a.m. in the auditorium at Waubonsie Valley High School, 2590 Ogden Ave., Aurora.
The event springs from "The Way of the Warrior," a new club Nick and Monica created this year with the help of Jason Schmidtgall, assistant principal for student activities.
The club meets roughly once a month, on Wednesdays, when students are let out early for teachers to design instruction and work in teams. It brings in informative, motivational or inspirational speakers to audiences of 200 to 500 teens.
"It started with us thinking about what empowered us and what inspired us to make a change and strive for something greater in our lives," Nick said.
The club used the database speakermatch.com to book its first presenters, and got such a strong response from about 30 area professionals with life experiences to share that soon students and Schmidtgall were thinking broader than a simple after-school meeting.
"We just knew we wanted to do something bigger," Schmidtgall said.
He and the three students are growing the idea by opening it up to the public, for free, as Movement ONE, a name Monica says is designed to recognize the power of one person, one idea, one message.
Attendees at Movement ONE can expect to hear messages about simplifying problems to create an efficient lifestyle, building leadership skills to be trustworthy and genuine, overcoming fears to live a meaning-based life and maintaining a work/life balance.
"Hopefully they can go out and inspire other people with just the little things they do in their lives," Mitch said.
Allison Sutter, founder and CEO of Living360 Coaching, will speak at 9:12 a.m. She'll be followed by April Stallworth, founder and CEO of Strong Women - Strong Lives, and Michele Vaughn, founder and CEO of a nonprofit that empowers single mothers, at 9:35. At 10:28 a.m., Michael Mecozzi, a clinical psychologist, author and speaker will take the stage, followed by Randy Fox, founder and CEO of FoxPoint, an organizational performance company, at 10:50.
The series of popular short speeches known as Ted Talks inspired the students, who say their favorite among nearly 2,000 talks is researcher and storyteller Brene Brown's "The Power of Vulnerability."
Ted Talks have proved effective at engaging people, making them a good model for the school's new event.
"They have the right atmosphere that provides a framework for people to address an audience," Schmidtgall said.
The school could make Movement ONE an annual event.
"We wanted to create an event using more than one speaker and make it something that was focused on inspiring a larger audience," Nick said.
If You Go
What: Movement ONE speaker series
When: 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, March 14
Where: Waubonsie Valley High School Auditorium, 2590 Ogden Ave., Aurora
Who: Sponsored by Waubonsie's Way of the Warrior club
Cost: Free
Info: <a href="http://wayofthewarrior.wix.com/movementone">http://wayofthewarrior.wix.com/movementone</a> or (630) 375-3300