Student Led Learning: Bridging the Cultural Divide | Geri Kayingo | TEDxRolandPark

What if? What if there was a different way? 9th grader Geri Kayingo begs this question as she explores the relationship between moving humanity forward, and the cultural division that our world faces today. So many miscommunications and painful interactions stem from a lack of understanding between different types of people. Through poetry, she describes one of these moments that she personally experienced. To prevent these incidents, we must bridge the gap that prevents us from relating to each other. Geri offers this solution: empowering today’s youth to seek diverse identities through student-led learning. By providing learners with a powerful platform, we can create a more aware, connected world. Geri Kayingo is a 9th grade student at Roland Park Country School in Baltimore, Maryland, where she studies languages, humanities, and STEM disciplines. Growing up she enjoyed swimming and playing the flute.

Currently, her main focus is writing. From an early age she has been an avid reader and writer. For the past year she has been an active member of The Young Writers Project (YWP), an online community of youth writers based in Vermont. Through this initiative Geri has been a guest speaker on the website’s podcast Line Break, interviewed award winning author and anthologist Dana Walrath, and has been published on multiple accounts in The Voice, YWP’s digital newspaper. Among her poetic contributions are pieces such as 2020: The Recipe and Truly Alone, in which she explores life during the pandemic and emotional trauma. She also submits poetry to her school’s newspaper The Reds Report. Her most recent piece Memories Marked in Snow was published in the February 2022 issue. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx