LCHS students, teachers keep motivations short but sweet at inaugural ‘Ignite Talk’

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Student Priscilla Kang gives a speech called “What if You Could Change the World?” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Tessa Fungo performs a dance at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Layla Karam gives a speech called “Get Out Of Your Head!” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Anuria Chattopadhyay gives a speech called “Panda Express, Darwin, and Custom Humans” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Shalini Pularkat performs “Imagine” by John Lennon at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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The audience at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Teacher Brent Beaty gives a speech called “Falling Into Teaching” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Adam Sun gives a speech called “Future Vision and Business Trends” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Teacher Braxton North gives a speech called “Finding Self: Or, Should I Spit” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Sean Natarajan gives a speech called “Trapped World” at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Student Ashley Chun sings ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’, by Doris Day, accompanied by Austin Yu at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

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Hosts Shalini Pullarkat and Jordan Young introduce the next act at a new student-run program called Ignite at La Canada High School on Friday, February 2, 2018. A mixture of ten students and teachers were given five minutes and twenty slides to give a presentation of their choice. Some made a speech with slides, while others performed. (Tim Berger / Staff Photographer)

By Sara Cardine

Feb. 7, 2018 4 PM PT

Sometimes even large, grandiose ideas are most effective when kept short and sweet.

That’s the rationale behind Ignite Talks — a speaker series platform that resembles the innovative TED Talks format in spirit but operates under the motto “Enlighten us, but make it quick”— which found an appreciative audience Feb. 2 at La Cañada High School.

LCHS junior and organizer Nicole Johnson wanted to create a speaking event that would allow fellow Spartans to share their ideas on topics that sparked their passion and interest.

“I thought it would be a really good chance to hear a bunch of stories and get people involved in that world of listening to stories,” Johnson said.

She had a TED Talk forum in mind, but was advised by La Cañada Unified chief technology officer and co-director Jamie Lewsadder to follow a shorter format that would be succinct and hold the audience’s attention.

Participation meant speakers had to limit themselves to just five minutes. Their talk had to be accompanied by a 20-paned slide show that advanced every 15 seconds.

Seven students and two teachers signed up to talk on topics ranging from biodiversity to economic trends in education to DNA tests and our search for identity. Dancer Tessa Fungo and singers Ashley Chun (accompanied by Austin Yu on guitar) and Shalini Pularkat punctuated the talks with musical performances.

In his presentation, “Trapped World,” sophomore Sean Natarajan tackled the topic of cellphone addiction.

“We carry these devices in our pockets and though they may seem very nice and very friendly they are, in fact, dangerous,” he said, adding that one in three teens sends more than 100 text messages per day. “We need to find a way to create a balance between our cellphone usage and our regular lives.”

Senior Priscilla Kang advised listeners to change the world by first changing themselves, while sophomore Anurima Chattopadhyay likened the process of gene splicing to a Panda Express employee boxing up customers’ selections at will. This brings with it many inherent questions.

“We also have to ask the tough ethical questions, like whether manipulating nature is safe in the long term,” Chattopadhyay said. “What are the repercussions? We don’t know. And what power do we, or should we, have over such a natural process like evolution?”

Afterward, Johnson said she plans to form with interested students an Ignite Talk club on campus, where members could perfect the craft of condensed public speaking and possibly hold impromptu discussions on the quad during lunch.

“Everybody was excited to get this opportunity to talk, so we thought, ‘let’s start a club,’” she said.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardine