On Tuesday night, PBS and TED joined forces to air TED Talks Education, a one-hour televised special, featuring passionate teachers, students and researchers from the field who shared their ideas about transforming the US education system. We were so inspired by these spirited speakers that we asked them to curate playlists of their favorite TED Talks for you to enjoy.

Sir Ken Robinson chose his favorite talks, spanning creative methods of learning and powerful spoken word. Watch his favorite talks »

Educator Angela Duckworth selected inquisitive talks about human behavior and psychology. Watch her talk picks »

Bill Gates’ extensive playlist includes a variety of eye-opening selections on medicine, robots and violence. Watch the talks that inspire him »

Teacher and activist Geoffrey Canada’s playlist reflects his passion for advocacy through an exploration of violence, slums and environmental activism. Watch his favorite talks on social justice »

Poet Malcolm London picked talks from speakers with candor – poets and educators alike. Watch this poet’s selections »

High school teacher Pearl Arrendondo chose motivating talks that reflect her own drive. Watch her inspiring picks »

Ramsey Musallam, chemistry teacher, selected talks on imaginative ways of repurposing education and learning. Watch his inventive collection of talks »

Walt Cochran, a teacher in Kansas City, shared this touching video with us for Education Week about his children — one disabled, one not — who make you think about the depth of the sibling relationship. Lindsay, 10, suffers from a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Spinal Muscular Atrophy and has been in a wheelchair since she was 2 years old. Meanwhile her older brother Trent, 12, sees his role as not just protective older brother, but as an ambassador to remind others that kids with disabilities can do anything they put their mind to with the help of technology and support of loving relationships. Really, we dare you not to shed a tear while watching this.

This video feels especially relevant today given a comment we noticed on John Legend’s performance of “True Colors,” from Caroline Playle, who gave a talk at TEDxKingsCollege. She writes, “This just made me cry. My 5 year old son has Down’s Syndrome and attends a mainstream school. The teachers and assistants have been amazing and he has lots of friends. Little people see a person — not a syndrome — and really do see my son’s true colours and strengths shining through. I hope through inclusion, both at school and within communities, we can breed a new generation of acceptance.”

Watch Legend’s performance below:

To that end, we invited Market Road Films, the production company of two-time Emmy-winning filmmaker Tony Gerber and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright/MacArthur Genius Award-recipient Lynn Nottage, to create short documentaries about high schoolers in New York City with incredible stories. Several of these docs appeared in last night’s show, but several went unsurfaced … until now. Watch all five below.

Shahruz Ghaemi is lucky enough to attend one of the most competitive schools in the nation — but he feels that some of his best learning happens outside the classroom. While studying with his jazz piano teacher, Ghaemi is dropped into an environment where he is forced to think differently. While standardized testing can be confining, this creative outlet helps him understand concepts in new ways. “[Education] ought to be able to provide everyone in America with opportunity,” he says. “But an administrative culture that focuses on standardized testing does us no good at all.”

Two years ago, Melissa Perez didn’t have graduation on the brain at all. In fact, she barely attended classes. Then she got pregnant — and becoming a parent changed everything. Melissa wanted to be able to provide for her daughter, and with the help of her math teacher — who recognized her talent — she quickly improved her grades. Thanks to that push from her teacher, she rose to the challenge and became the first in her family to graduate high school. “She always said that she saw something in me,” Melissa says. “She was like, ‘I know there’s something inside you that wants to fight for it.’”

You can tell Julia Delmedico is sharp from the way she observes her school environment in the Bronx. But as a hands-on learner, she struggles during exam time. In this documentary, Julia is the voice of students who feel the weighty pressure of tests as something that keeps them from learning as much as they could. “I think the best kind of education is one that teaches you to speak and think for yourself,” she says. “That’s much more valuable than passing your exams.”

Shayna Cody’s work ethic is unmistakable as she competes with her twin sister to finish homework. Full of energy, she takes it upon herself to channel it towards her education by participating in a program for teenagers who hope to become doctors. For Shayna, learning isn’t about being a receptacle of knowledge, but about pursuing more. She says, “I think a fully rounded education is not just sitting there doing the work that’s required of you but actually taking the time to learn what you can’t out of your classes.”

Being young sounds carefree, but Grier Montgomery reminds us that it can be filled with anxiety. He speaks to the hard parts of being a high-schooler: the harsh bullying, the pressure to achieve and the assignments that pile up. Grier finds some relief among all of this, though, in the arts. “The arts is what I live for,” he says. “If it wasn’t for theater, I think I definitely would have dropped out of school.”

Geoffrey Canada rocked the audience at TED Talks Education with his passionate talk. Photo: Ryan Lash

Geoffrey Canada gives a very interesting analogy in today’s TED Talk: He compares the current education system in the United States to the era when banks were only open between the hours of 10am and 3pm.

Geoffrey Canada: Our failing schools. Enough is enough!“Now, who can bank between 10 and 3?” asks Canada to a big laugh. “It went on for decades. You know why? Because they didn’t care. It wasn’t about the customers. It was about bankers … Now one day, some crazy banker had an idea. Maybe we should keep the bank open when people come home from work?”

What do “bankers’ hours” have to with education? Well, Canada says, many of the US education system’s similar ingrained habits — long summer vacations, testing at the end of the school year — go against everything we know about student learning. And yet these old habits continue. As Canada puts it: “Here’s a business plan that simply does not make any sense.” Among his ideas: Shorten vacation so kids don’t backslide academically during the long summer; and test early in the school year, when there’s still time to correct course.

To hear his passionate plea for educators to start looking at data and to think more about the customers — students — in order to curb the United States’ abysmal dropout rate, watch this powerful talk.

And here are more fascinating TED Talks that suggest ideas for education from other seemingly unrelated fields.

Susan Cain: The power of introvertsSusan Cain: The power of introverts Idea: Make time for solitary work, not just groupwork From: Psychology Susan Cain’s blockbuster talk from TED2012 focuses on the wondrous, largely ignored skills that introverts have to offer. She points out that schools are unabashedly built for extroverts, with their emphasis on group exercises and group activities — and urges classes to leave time for solitary work to capture the best of introversion.

Margaret Heffernan: Dare to disagreeMargaret Heffernan: Dare to disagree Idea: Teach kids how to debate From: Business In this talk from TEDGlobal 2012, Margaret Heffernan contends that conflict, challenge and openness to changing our minds are all key to progress. The problem is, we tend to avoid disagreement at all costs. How to counter that? Heffernan describes a Ph.D. program that requires students to submit five statements that they’re prepared to defend in the face of authority. “I think it’s a fantastic system, but I think leaving it to Ph.D. candidates is far too few people and way too late in life,” she says. “I think we need to be teaching these skills to kids and adults at every stage of development.”

Carl Honore: In praise of slownessCarl Honoré: In praise of slowness Idea: Ban homework (or ease up on it) From: The Slow Movement We’re trying to do more and more with less and less time — and Carl Honoré explains why this isn’t a good thing. “By slowing down at the right moments, people find that they do everything better: they eat better, they make love better, they exercise better, they work better, they live better,” he says. And, of course, they learn better. Kids, Honoré says, are overworked to the point of burnout. He proposes that we embrace slow education, easing up on (or even banning!) homework to allow kids time to process and relax after school.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka: How a boy became an artistJarrett J. Krosoczka: How a boy became an artist Idea: Drawing helps kids deal with emotions From: Art At TEDxHampshireCollege, Jarrett Krosoczka, an author and illustrator of children’s books, says it’s essential that kids get the opportunity to flex their drawing muscles through extracurricular classes. He talks about the emotional outlet that art and writing gave him as a child — even as he dealt with hard emotions surrounding his complicated parents.(Check out Krosoczka’s picks for 10 great children’s books that are destined to be classics.)

Dave Eggers' wish: Once Upon a SchoolDave Eggers’ wish: Once Upon a School Idea: Multitasking can make for a better education From: Practicality Dave Eggers kept hearing about the stresses of teaching — the overcrowded classes, the inability to give students one-on-one attention — from friends and family members in the profession. At the same time, Eggers also noticed other pals especially skilled in language arts — writers, editors, graduate students — in need of a space to write. At TED2008, he shares the story of how he opened a combined writers’ space and tutoring center, where the writers would write until school was out, and then become tutors.

And a bonus unreleased talk:

Stuart Firestein: Celebrate ignorance
Idea: Don’t just teach answers — teach questions
From: Science
In this yet-to-be-released talk from TED2013 — about the necessity of high-quality ignorance to scientific discovery — Firestein proposes a model of education based on evaluation rather than weeding out. Instead of feeding kids facts that they can then repeat, he imagines a system in which we encourage kids to ask, not answer. (Watch for the talk this fall!)

Want to talk about education? Inspired by TED Talks Education, our one-hour TV special that aired on PBS night, and this morning’s batch of TED Talks, here’s a roundup of some great TED Conversations you can join:

High school freshman Colin Petre asks: Is college really as important as our society today has made it out to be? Share your perspective with Colin »

Mary M asks: In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week: Who was your favorite teacher? »

David Newton proposes this idea: Rate educators based on their empathy alone. What do you think of that? »

Ann Ecker asks: What is your Six Word Story as a result of watching this TED? Share your six words »

(Here are a few:
I laughed, cried, smiled, nodded. INSPIRING!
I wish I had a Rita.
We learn when we are happy!)

If you want to talk about the TV special last night, join an open thread about TED Talks Education »

Or start your own TED Conversation, with an idea, a debate or a question »

John Legend hosts TED Talks Education—tonight, May 7, on PBS at 10/9c. Patricia Harrison, the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, shares why this event is so vital. Photo: Ryan Lash

By Patricia Harrison

When I attended the taping of TED Talks Education last month at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, I knew I was witnessing an innovative collaboration with the potential to make a difference in the lives of many young people.

This milestone collaboration between TED, WNET, PBS, and the CPB American Graduate “Let’s Make it Happen” initiative moves us beyond the terrible statistics — that one million young people fail to graduate every year (see more stats in the infographic below) — and toward solutions. It’s the first TED event to be broadcast on television and, with it, public media has affirmed its commitment to investing in lifelong learning in every area we serve and given power to the notion that caring communities can make a difference.

So many of us had a school experience different from that of students today. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, where, at the time, everyone in my community played an important role in keeping kids on track. Our parents and our neighbors wanted to know how we did on our report cards. If I brought home a “B+” my parents, aunts and uncles wanted to know who got the “A” and then asked, “Why wasn’t it you?” Everyone from the candy store owner on the corner to the man at the newsstand had an opinion about our activities and behavior — and conveyed this information to our parents. As a kid, I remember it as very annoying, but in hindsight, it was very effective. We knew they cared, so we had to care too.

This is a very different time. During TED Talks Education, you’ll hear the stories of high school students who have dropped out — or who considered it, but ultimately decided not to. You will find that in most of these cases, what made the difference was a student having someone in their corner — a champion who cared. Establishing a culture of caring about our young people and education is essential and it all begins at a community level.

Education and the relationship with each community has always been a core value for the more than 1,400 locally owned and operated public media stations that are dedicated to ensuring all Americans have free access to educational, commercial-free programming. Over the past two years, more than 75 public media stations in 33 states have worked in partnership with 1,000+ community and national organizations to create content that engaged with their communities. They also provided classroom resources through American Graduate to help young people stay on the path to a high school diploma.

During TED Talks Education — which airs on public media stations tonight — we will hear from students and teachers, plus business and community leaders, who show us how we can be champions for America’s young people and turn the statistics below around.

Patricia de Stacy Harrison is the president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the leading funder of public radio and public television programming in the United States. In 2011, she created American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen, a nationwide public media initiative to help communities across the country identify and implement solutions to the high school dropout crisis. 

Bill Gates speaks on teachers’ need to get better feedback. Watch his talk during our first television special, TED Talks Education, airing Tuesday, May 7 at 10/9c on PBS. Photo: Ryan Lash

By Bill Gates

I spend a lot of my time working to help improve America’s schools. I’m also a big fan of TED Talks. So when TED’s Chris Anderson asked me to give a talk as part of a special TED session on education, I jumped at the chance. The show premieres on PBS this Tuesday, May 7, at 10 p.m. Eastern/9 p.m. Central. (Here’s a preview. And you can find your local broadcast time.)

John Legend hosted the show and did a fantastic job. John cares a lot about improving education and is investing a lot of his own time on the issue. I first met him when we were both involved with the documentary Waiting for Superman, and I could tell right away that he was an impressive and well-informed guy, in addition to being a super-talented musician. It’s great that he’s using his fame to draw attention to the need to improve our schools.

We taped the TED show last month in a beautiful hall at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City. I was very impressed with the lineup of speakers. One of the great things about the TED format is that it can accommodate lots of different kinds of speakers, from energetic storytellers to more analytical people like me who are hardcore about numbers and systems. That helps the audience look at the topic from lots of different angles.

In this case, they had education experts like Geoffrey Canada, who runs a terrific program called the Harlem Children’s Zone, and Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth, whom I’ve met with a few times as part of my own learning about education. They also had several passionate teachers from around the country. One of them, a chemistry teacher named Ramsey Musallam, startled everyone with video of himself blowing stuff up in class. John brought the house down with a beautiful performance.

For my part, I talked about what I think is the most powerful idea in education today: getting teachers the feedback they deserve so they can improve their practice.

It’s amazing to think about how much coaching is given to, say, professional athletes. I have a coach who gives me feedback too. (You’ll have to watch the show if you want to know why.) But most teachers get almost no feedback at all. And the vast majority of countries that outperform us in education have some formal way to give their teachers feedback. So this is an area where innovation and investment can make a big difference for teachers and students in this country.

As always, the TED team put together a great show, and I’m happy to have been a part of it. I hope you get a chance to watch it.

Find out more about TED Talks Education, airing on Tuesday at 10/9c on PBS »

And stayed tuned to TED.com on Wednesday, May 8, when we will post a full-length version of Bill Gates’ inspiring talk. Curious about his favorite talks in the meantime? Watch his TED playlist »

Ron Finley electrified the audience at TED2013 with his fresh take on guerilla gardening. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

This weekend, we opened up the Style section of The New York Times to see a very familiar face — renegade gardener Ron Finley, whose talk “A guerilla gardener in South Central LA” now has more than 900,000 views. In the article, Finley describes what he calls “the TED effect” — the slew of interest that his electric talk at TED2013 has brought from celebrities, television shows and companies with collaboration ideas. Finley’s down-to-earth response?

“All the attention in the world won’t do my dishes,” he tells the paper.

Meanwhile, Malcolm London — the 20-year-old poet who will appear in Tuesday night’s TED Talks Education special on PBS — was interviewed in The Chicago Tribune this weekend. “On Tuesday night, if you tune into PBS’ one-hour special ‘TED Talks Education,’ you’ll see host John Legend and an array of prominent speakers, including Bill Gates, giving impassioned talks about ways to reinvent education,” the article reads. “You’ll also see Chicago’s Malcolm Xavier London performing a spoken-word poem about the racial and class tensions he experienced as a double honors student growing up in the tough Austin neighborhood while attending the more well-to-do Lincoln Park High School.”

The article asks London tough questions about his low GPA in high school and the fact that, while he’s teaching poetry, he hasn’t yet gone to college. He tells the paper that his high school performance was, in a way, a protest.

“I would leave my neighborhood and go to school, and I was seeing how divided the city was,” London says. “I felt whatever I was learning in class, wasn’t teaching me why people on the West Side were dying every day … I knew that four years later I’d be able to get into a distinguished college, but school wasn’t teaching me how to survive or better my community, and I wanted to change where I came from.”

Also in the news: TED-Ed was just named one of TIME magazine’s “50 Best Websites of 2013.”

Rita Pierson leads off TED Talks Education, our first televised event, which will air on PBS on May 7. Photo: Ryan Lash

Rita Pierson is the kind of teacher you wish you had. An educator for 40 years, she is funny, sharp and simply has a way with words — so much so that today’s talk feels a bit like a sermon.

Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a championIn this talk, Pierson shares the secret to teaching students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds — make personal connections with them.

“I have had classes so low, so academically deficient that I cried. I wondered, ‘How am I going to take this group in nine months from where they are to where they need to be?” says Pierson, in this amazing talk. “I came up with a bright idea … I gave them a saying: ‘I am somebody. I was somebody when I came and I’ll be a better somebody when I leave. I am powerful and I am strong. I deserve the education that I get here’ … You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.”

Pierson’s talk will open our first-ever television special, TED Talks Education, which airs Tuesday, May 7 at 10/9c on PBS. It will be an exhilarating night, featuring talks from educators and innovators with bold ideas, plus performances from host John Legend. Set your DVRs and read lots more here »

In honor of Rita Pierson and TED Talks Education, I asked the TED staff: who is that one teacher who just really, truly influenced you?

“The teacher who changed my life was, serendipitously, my English teacher for kindergarten, 7th grade and senior year of high school. Ms. Barbato taught me how to write eloquently (I hope!), and she had this unexplained faith in me that really galvanized me as a student. What she taught me stuck with me through college and beyond.” —Olivier Sherman, Distribution Coordinator

“Mr. Eric Yang was only in his mid-twenties when I had him as my AP government teacher, but he was unforgettable. He was the first teacher I had who made keeping up with current events mandatory, forcing us to read news sources on our own time and not just from the textbook. He exuded discipline, and that was contagious.” —Thu-Huong Ha, Editorial Projects Specialist

“Mrs. Bailey was my English teacher. I loved her. I was the younger sister of an already very successful big sister, and that was a cloud over my head too. She held my hand and brought me into the sun with her love of the English language. She recommended books just to me, she made me feel special and I just couldn’t get enough of her. I went on a school trip to Amsterdam with her and she brought her husband, who was an artist. She changed my life.” —Juliet Blake, TED TV (who executive produced TED Talks Education)

“Mrs. Mendelson, my 8th-grade English teacher. This was my first year living in the U.S. I think she set the stage for future learning and she’s the main reason I have such good English right now, both written and spoken. So, thank you, Mrs. Mendelson.”  —Ruben Marcos, intern

“I still recall how awesome my 6th-grade teacher, Mr. Fawess, was. Middle school in general is basically Hades. I was extremely small, super nerdy, and had a unibrow, asthma and glasses — plus I left school once a week to take classes at the local high school. I got picked on a lot. Mr. Fawess came up with all these ways to take my mind off that — he talked to me about bullying and how to let things roll off your shoulder and gave me books I could read outside of class. He got me thinking about college early and what kinds of subjects I was most interested in. I consider myself lucky to have had such an inspiring teacher. If only he had discouraged me from dressing up as the skunk in our annual school play.” —Amanda Ellis, TEDx Projects Coordinator

“Robert Baldwin’s class ‘Essay and Inquiry.’ Every day: Walk into class. Sit down. Look at the handout on every desk. Read it. Start writing. Class ends — stop writing. Every day. Except Wednesday, when we’d put the desks in a circle and everyone would read something they’d written. The prompts were everything from simple questions like, “What’s your favorite memory of trees?” to readings from Rachel Carson or W.B. Yeats or Orson Welles. It was a whirlwind of ideas, and the constant writing forced us to wrestle with them, and (tritely but correctly) ourselves. It was like a boot camp in thinking. People I know who took, and loved, that class went on to some of the most amazing careers. Every time we get together, we gush about the quiet, unassuming, force of nature that was Mr. Baldwin. He would have hated that last sentence, because the metaphor is strained. But he also taught us to ignore authority, so I’m writing it anyway.” —Ben Lillie, Writer/Editor

“Mrs. Lewis, my 5th-grade teacher, read to us every week. She made us put our heads on the desk and close our eyes and then read wonderful stories to us: The Golden Pine Cone, The Diamond Feather ... It made our imaginations come alive.” —Janet McCartney, Director of Events

“My junior high school science teacher, Dr. Ernie Roy, with his outsized laugh and booming voice, was one of my very favorite teachers. He demonstrated to us how important we were to him by making what were obviously personal sacrifices on our behalf: when the lab needed equipment, we knew he had purchased some of it on his own; when we couldn’t get a bus for a field trip, he took a few of us in his own car (something which could have gotten him into quite a bit of trouble); and when a big science fair deadline loomed large, he opened the lab every weekend to help us with our experiments. At a point in my life when I didn’t have a lot of guidance or positive role models, he taught me a lot more than science; he taught me, by example, the power of sacrifice, discipline and self-respect.” —Michael McWatters, UX Architect

“Dr. Heller, my 10th-grade social studies teacher, taught me that passion is the key to learning. I had never met anyone from kindergarten to 10th grade that matched his raw passion for the meaning behind historical events, and it was so contagious.” —Deron Triff, Director of Distribution

“Rene Arcilla, a professor of Educational Philosophy at NYU, changed the way I think.  Prior to that class, I hadn’t truly been challenged about what *I* actually thought — much of my educational life was about regurgitating answers. Rene was the first teacher who asked me questions that he/we didn’t know the answers to. Realizing that I had to actually provide the answers from within myself, and not look to an outside source, was very difficult at first. It was a muscle I had to build. I owe a lot of who I am today — and even this job — to the introspective, critical and philosophical thinking I learned from Rene’s classes.” —Susan Zimmerman, Executive Assistant to the Curator

“Mr. Downey — 7th- and 8th-grade Humanities. Still the hardest class I’ve ever taken!  I’d credit Mr. Downey with helping me think more expansively about the world. Right before 8th-grade graduation, he showed us Dead Poets Society, and on the final day of class we all agreed to stand on our desks and recite ‘O Captain, my captain.’ It was all very dramatic and I think there were tears.” —Jennifer Gilhooley, Partnership Development

“I took my first painting class my sophomore year of high school and fell in love with it. My teacher, Ms. Bowen, told me I could use the art studio whenever I wanted to, and gave me access to all kinds of new paints and canvasses. I spent almost every lunch period there for a few years, and regularly stayed in the studio after school ended. One day, Ms. Bowen told me that a parent of a student I had painted expressed interest in buying the painting of her daughter. After that first sale, I painted portraits of kids in my school on a commission basis, and continued to do so for the remainder of my high school experience. Thanks to Ms. Bowen’s mentorship, I felt empowered to try to make money from something I was passionate about and loved to do. Here is one of the paintings.” —Cloe Shasha, TED Projects Coordinator

“I had a chemistry teacher, Mr. Sampson, who used to meet me at school an hour before it started to tutor me when the material wasn’t clicking. That was the first class I had ever really struggled with, and he made this investment to help me get through the material — but more importantly learn that I could teach myself anything.” —Stephanie Kent, Special Projects

“On the first day of my Elementary Italian Immersion class, I asked to be excused to use the restroom in English. Professor Agostini kept speaking rapidly in Italian as I squirmed in my seat. Since she seemed unclear about my request, I asked her again to no avail. Finally, I flipped through my brand-new Italian-English dictionary and discovered the words, ‘Posso usare il bagno per favore.’ Suddenly, she flashed me a smile, handed me the key, told me where to go in Italian, and pointed to my dictionary so I could learn how to follow her directions. Even though I only studied with her for one semester, I will never forget that I emerged from her class knowing intermediate-level Italian.” —Jamia Wilson, TED Prize Storyteller

“My history teacher in high school, Mr. Cook, challenged us to think hard about what happened in the past and directly related it to what was happening around us. He gave us ways to try and predict what could happen in the future. He was the first person to make me take ownership of what it meant to be a citizen and the social responsibility that came with that. Because he taught ‘World History’ rather than a regionally specific class, we learned extensively about other countries, and I am convinced he is the reason that I went abroad to Ghana in college and I am now still an avid traveler today.” —Samantha Kelly, Fellows Group

“The professor who taught me Intro to Women and Gender Studies my sophomore year of college completely changed my framework for thinking about human relationships within a hierarchy. She brought coffee and tea to class for us every morning to congratulate us for being so dedicated to learning as to choose an 8:30 a.m. class. When I emailed her to say I’d be out sick, she sent me a get-well e-card. And when, in a fit of undergraduate irresponsibility, I simply failed to do an assignment, she wasn’t the least bit mad — instead, I received a phone call from her a week after the end of the semester informing me that, because I’d done such good work, she couldn’t bear to give me the B+ I numerically deserved. It was incredible to see how fully she lived the subject she taught; the philosophy of compassion and equality.” —Morton Bast, Editorial Assistant

“My high school photography teacher, Susan Now. I’m convinced that the support I got from Susan got me through high school. Two years later, when I was freaked out about transferring colleges, I, without hesitation, called her for advice. She made me feel comfortable and challenged me to speak up and be confident with expressing myself as a student. So valuable!” — Ella Saunders-Crivello, Partnerships Coordinator

“Cliff Simon, one of my college professors, taught me that wisdom is the greatest pursuit, our skills and passions are transferable, and that fear will only ever always hold us back.  To this day, he’s a great mentor.  We’re now great friends, and I even officiated his wedding ceremony.” —Jordan Reeves, TED-Ed Community Manager

“My 10th-grade biology teacher spoke and interacted with me like I was a grown-up individual and not one of a batch of ‘kids.’ He made us all fascinated with the subjects he taught because he spoke to us not at us. I always worked hard to match that capacity that he saw in me. He was only in his 50s when, a few years after I graduated, he died suddenly of a heart attack. Lots of sad former students.” —Ladan Wise, Product Development Manager

“Stephen O’Leary, my professor and mentor at the University of Southern California, showed me that the quality of my thinking could be directly traced to the quality of the authors I referenced in my bibliography. This realization motivated me to both seek and challenge everything I have read ever since. This habit likely played a part in me finding myself so passionate about being a part of TED.” —Sarah Shewey, TEDActive Program Producer

“My high school art teacher was equal parts smart and silly, and always insightful. Mr. Miller showed a bunch of restless seniors that art class wasn’t just about memorizing which painters influenced which periods. Instead, he taught us that art was — at its core — an exciting way to touch both the head and the heart. Mr. Miller took our  class to the Met in New York one warm spring afternoon, a trip I’ll never forget. Great art, he told us, was about great ideas, and not simply the pleasing arrangement of color, shape and form. Thank you, Russ Miller.” —Jim Daly, TED Books 

“Mrs. Presley, my 1st-grade teacher, advanced my reading skills to full-on chapter book independence … and for that I’ll be forever grateful! But the most valuable gift she gave me was self-esteem. At my school, we’d bring a brown bag lunch with our name written on the bag. I always wanted a middle name like the other kids, and this daily ritual made me feel the lack. I must have let my mom know, because she started to write middle names on my bag. At first it started: ‘Marla Ruby Mitchnick.’ Then ‘Marla Ruby Diamond Mitchnick,’ and then ‘Marla Ruby Diamond Violet Mitchnick,’ and so on. Mrs. Presley never skipped a single syllable — she just read it straight through, and I felt like a beloved and fortunate person with a beautiful name, surrounded by wonderful friends.” —Marla Mitchnick, Film + Video Editor

“I signed up for Journalism 1 in high school having no idea what I was getting myself into. Marcie Pachino ran a rigorous course on the joys of telling other people’s stories and on the extreme responsibility that comes with reporting news that might otherwise go unheard. She was kind and inspiring, but wouldn’t hesitate to give you an edit of an article that simply read ‘Ugh’ in big red letters. The key: you always knew she was right. I went on to become a journalist professionally and, in all my years of writing, I’ve never encountered a more demanding editor.” —Kate Torgovnick, Writer (the author of this post)

“Professor Stephen Commins completely changed my  learning experience at UCLA. He pushed the boundaries of what I thought I could accomplish as an undergrad, and having him as my research professor improved my quality of education tenfold. I’ll never forget in my last lecture with him, he left our class with this piece of advice: to work on poverty domestically before attempting to help those abroad, because you aren’t truly a development professional until you have done both.” —Chiara Baldanza, Coordinator

“My high school English teacher Veronica Stephenson went above and beyond to allow me the opportunity to dive into theater and acting in a very underfunded arts community. She saw passion in me, and engaged it by spending a lot of her own time and effort to help me pursue something I loved. I learned so much from her and got more personalized experience than I probably would have from a more arts-focused curriculum due solely to her faith in me.” —Emilie Soffe, Office Coordinator

Now it’s your turn. Who is the teacher who most inspired you? Please share in your comments.