Celebrating a Country School Alumna: A Shout Out to Marina Sachs ’07, The Source's "Person of the Week"

Marina Sachs and students at Connecticut College's TEDxYouthDay.

The Country School Mission Statement calls on our students to “serve their communities and the larger world” and to “reach their highest, not only in school but also in life.” At the same time, we have developed a series of mission-supporting signature programs – Elmore Leadership, STEAM, Public Speaking, and Outdoor Education – specifically designed to teach our students to think broadly, develop and use their voices, and become confident, contributing leaders capable of effecting change.

This year, we have been privileged to watch Marina Sachs, a member of The Country School’s class of 2007 and a 2015 graduate of Connecticut College, live our mission. In addition to running our before- and after-school Owl’s Nest and helping out in the Farmhouse, Marina is organizing the first-ever Kindergarten-8th Grade TEDx event in Connecticut. She has engaged a committed team of 30 Country School students, and she has inspired interest from outside educators and students as well. Together with her TEDx team, she is planning an ongoing series of TEDx events that will culminate in our TEDxTheCountrySchool Spring Conference on April 23. TEDxTheCountrySchool not only speaks to our mission, it reenforces the skills we seek to develop through our signature programs: collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity, empathy, teamwork, and perseverance.

While working on the TEDxTheCountrySchool program, Marina has also fostered an ongoing relationship with young people on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, where she volunteered last summer after receiving a $10,000 Davis Project for Peace Grant. In South Dakota, Marina led children and teens through a series of TED-inspired activities, encouraging discussion about important topics – or in TED vernacular, “ideas worth spreading.”

This week, Marina’s extraordinary work was recognized by The Source newspaper when they made her Madison’s Person of the Week. Click here to read Marina Sachs: Bringing TED Talks to The Country School, a profile of Marina focusing on her work on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation and all she is doing at The Country School to encourage our students to also share and discuss "ideas worth spreading" while they "reach their highest, not only in school but also in life."

The front page of today's Source.

Members of the TCS TEDx team.

For more about Marina’s work with TEDxTheCountrySchool, click here. For a recent letter from Marina to The Country School community in which she announces the TEDx conference theme and releases the conference video, click here.