Theme: Wonderworks

TEDxLFHS is a TEDxYouth event designed to highlight LFHS students, teachers, and innovative thinkers who have ideas worth spreading. The event places a strong emphasis on empowering young people in Lake Forest, area schools, and around the world. This year's theme is "Wonderworks," and it will take place on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

Lake Forest High School
1285 North McKinley Road
Lake Forest, Illinois, 60045
United States

Carolyn Stach

Student

Carolyn Stach is a senior at LFHS, and she is thrilled to be back for a second year at TEDxLFHS! At the high school, she's involved in a wide range of activities, including Women in STEM, Model UN, Math Team, Scholastic Bowl, and Stitch Club. Outside of school, Carolyn spends her free time with friends, making art, playing the guitar, reading, and making Spotify playlists! For TEDxLFHS, she hopes you're ready for a fun, interactive experience that follows her time as a student TA.

Jackson Sorensen

Student

Returning to speak for a second time, LFHS junior Jackson Sorensen would like everyone to take his speech with a grain of salt. Having covered heavier topics like Nihilism and life's meaning-or lack thereof, Jackson has decided to cover a lighter topic: the oddly significant role of salt throughout global history.

Kelly MacBlane

Educator

Kelly MacBlane has spent the past 20 years inspiring students as a history and theater teacher and directing the musicals at Lake Forest High School. In 2017, her direction of Urinetown earned her and co-director John Wanninger a nomination for Best Director at the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards. Kelly spends her free time cheering on her three sons at track meets, band concerts, baseball games, and theater productions, while occasionally finding time to review professional theater for Chicago on Stage. As a stroke survivor, Kelly embraces each day with joy, proving that adversity can fuel a deep appreciation for life.

Lainey Laughton

Student

Lainey is a sophomore and is thrilled to be a first-time speaker for TEDxLFHS 2025! Outside of schoolwork, she plays on the varsity tennis team, dances, and plays the cello in the LFHS orchestra. She also participates in clubs like Math Team and Women in STEM. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting and other crafts. She is also passionate about sharing her story with scoliosis (sideways curvature of the spine). She believes that the lessons she has learned through this experience can help anyone going through unique adversity, and that her story can help others with scoliosis feel less alone in their own journeys.

Michael Soffer

Educator/Author

Michael Soffer is a social studies teacher at Lake Forest High School and the author of Our Nazi: An American Suburb’s Encounter with Evil. His book tells the story of Reinhold Kulle, a high school custodian whose Nazi past was exposed in the 1980s. Though Nazis loom in the American consciousness as evil epitomized, Soffer explores how and why Hitler’s men found support in American communities - even after their gruesome pasts were uncovered. Before coming to Lake Forest, Soffer taught Holocaust Studies at Oak Park & River Forest High School - in the very classrooms Kulle used to clean.

Mike Mizwicki

Educator

Mike Mizwicki is a juggling enthusiast and the Instructional Director for Wellness & Drivers Education at Lake Forest High School, as well as serving as the Assistant Athletic Director.

Simon Back

Student

Simon Back is a senior and is very excited to be speaking at TEDxLFHS this year! Simon participates in sports like track and diving, and is a teacher's assistant for English Workshop, a class for non-native English speakers. He is involved in lots of clubs like IM Ping Pong, Scholastic Bowl, and FCA, and in his free time enjoys learning languages and playing guitar. He is very passionate about languages, and because of this, he wants to share the impacts that it has on our cognitive mind and why they are important.