Strong leadership has a big impact. What if every student in your school district had the opportunity to learn public speaking skills? This isn’t a hypothetical question for Cajon Valley Union School District superintendent David Miyashiro, whose TED-Ed Innovation Project created new opportunities for thousands of children to claim their voices. By starting TED-Ed Clubs at all 27 schools in his district, Miyashiro built a systems-level innovation framework that can be replicated by superintendents in other school districts. One direct result of Miyashiro’s leadership? Young refugees in one high-poverty school district in California were among the students who shared their perspectives at TEDxCajonValley before an audience of parents, teachers and community members. Below is a short video detailing how Miyashiro’s school district has used TED youth and education resources — and a few words from him on what’s next:

Talk shapes ideas and ideas change the world. We are now hosting TED-Ed Clubs at each of our 27 schools, and we’ve begun an annual tradition in our community with TEDxKids@ElCajon. The district-wide TED-Ed Clubs are the next step in getting more kids involved.  The video above explains what we did, and the resources we created are available here. Our goal is to make TED-Ed curriculum, coaching and mentoring available to each student in our school district.

Closing thoughts:

My inspiration came from my own personal experience as a TEDx speaker. The experience of preparing for and participating in TEDxAmerica’sFinestCity was a transformational experience. I now have a whole new lens and perspective on communication, public speaking, and especially audience. I believe if every student was able to experience this, the level of progress and productivity from our schools would grow exponentially.

This article is part of the TED-Ed Innovation Project series, which highlights 25+ TED-Ed Innovation Projects designed by educators, for educators, with the support and guidance of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator program. You are welcome to share, duplicate and modify projects under this Creative Commons license to meet the needs of students and teachers.

Featured image credit: iStock