John Patton is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Coordinator and teacher of Biology and Sport Science at St. Gilgen International School (StGIS). After beginning his teaching career in a public high school in Colorado, then moving on to another school in Wyoming, John became increasingly dissatisfied with the focus of education on graduation numbers and test scores. He relocated to Austria in an effort to redesign education in such a way that emphasises why students should be learning, not only what they are learning. With a heart for positive change, John has focused much of his teaching on living sustainably and the role we need to play in our current climate challenges. In his time at StGIS, John has contributed to the design of a new curriculum in grades 7-10 which is skills and growth oriented, reshaped a scheme for advising and mentoring, delivered multiple in-house professional development sessions aimed at character development in young people, designed cross-curricular learning sessions, contributed to writing the school’s mission statement, and designed an information management application for schools. John holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership, a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Secondary Education, and an Associate Degree in Music Performance.
John Patton
Lorenz Ehrlich is a student at St. Gilgen International School, entering the IB diploma program in the 2017/2018 school year. He has chosen diverse subjects to study, but has a deep rooted passion for the sciences and mathematics, leading to his decision for the topic "The Art of Creating a Likeable Character". When not at boarding school, he dwells in the Tyrolian town of Kitzbühel, known for its immense ski resorts, a popular tourist destination. In the future, he wishes to go on to study mechanical engineering after having strayed from his childhood dream of becoming an actor. Although a very different path, this is something he also thoroughly enjoys. He has recently discovered an interest for music that serves as his creative outlet.
Lorenz Ehrilch
Carolyn Macintosh was born in South West of England, she studied Law at University in Bristol, after attending boarding school from the age of 8 in Scotland and moving all over the world with her parents. After University Mrs. Macintosh worked as an event organizer for national and international forte question sport of Horse Driving trials, a recruitment consultant and a workshop organizer for Franklin Covey until she moved to Germany with her husband's job. During her time in Frankfurt, Germany Carolyn indulged her passion for photography and worked as a natural light photographer taking family portraits and landscapes etc. on commission whilst working as a substitute teacher's assistant at an international school. Her family moved to Austria in 2013 and life has just got busier and busier. Carolyn Macintosh currently works as CAS Coordinator at StGIS and runs a family holiday rental business and volunteers to teach young children English. Her passion is being selfless, looking out for others before herself, ensuring that she can push others to get the most out of their lives – “we are only here once after all. YOLO!” Mrs. Macintosh has a lot of Interest and hobbies including triathlon, skiing, biking, running, cooking, being with her family and training her new puppy Ludicrous! Caroline decided to take part, because she doesn’t enjoy public speaking so wants to put herself out of her comfort zone and TEDx seemed like a great way to do it!
Her topic is:
Art of Procrastination
Carolyn Macintosh
Carolyn Macintosh
Having taught for more than 25 years, Curtis Powell is now a part of the St Gilgen International School community. A native New Mexican, Curtis has lived around the U.S., in China and now makes his home with his family in lovely St. Gilgen. Having grown up at an altitude above 2200 meters, he is no stranger to the mountains and is excited to live in a place with skiing, hiking and natural beauty just outside his door. Along the way, Curtis has had a wide variety of experiences both personally and professionally. He has presented at international conferences, worked on a ranch, been party of a Tony Award winning theatre company, been chosen as teacher of the year, driven celebrities to red carpet events, abseiled down a 32-story building, had roles in a popular US TV series, and driven a bicycle cab. Whether in the classroom or some other venue, Curtis is always eager for the next adventure. The path ahead is more exciting than the path behind.
His topic is:
The Art of Gemienschaft and Geschellschaft.
Johanna Daichendt was born in Salzburg, Austria and works as a teacher in her beloved hometown. After finishing her diploma in early childhood education, she went abroad to Michigan, USA to work as an AuPair for a family with triplets.
Back home in Salzburg she started to work as a kindergarten and day school teacher.
This has been her vocation for the past 18 years.
She enjoys working with teenagers and grown ups as well and worked for a couple of years as a tour guide at the Obersalzberg Documentation Center - an exhibition which studies and reflects on the history of National Socialism.
In her free time she enjoys exploring new and challenging territories on foot, by bike or on skis in the mountainous region around Salzburg. This is also the time when she finds peace of mind and time to create new ideas- such as organizing charity events, treasure hunts and sightseeing tours for special occasions, another hobby of hers.
Her job as a teacher offers her the opportunity to travel a lot during her holidays in summertime. Johanna enjoys travelling the world to get inspired by new cultures, people and countries.
One of these trips had a big impact on her future up to now.
In the year 2000 she travelled to Zimbabwe/Africa to work with children in an Aids-orphanage.
Since then she has organized all kinds of activities to support these children.
This is also what she will talk about at the TEDx: „The art of helping“
Johanna Daichendt
Curtis Powell
Sascha Jurak was born in Vienna but grew up in various places in Austria. Due to his religious mum who is originally from Mauritius he grew up with gospel songs since he was a baby - music always played a big role in his life and he was naturally always drawn towards anything that would make some noise or produce some kind of sound. In high school it was soon clear that he would join the school band for which he got self-taught in playing the acoustic guitar. He loved to play but hated to practice which naturally led him to start improvising. A skill that would accompany him with everything he did in any other field as well. Whether it was work, sports or music. Everything should be simple, fun and work with ease to provide a certain kind of freedom. Besides his passion for music and instruments he teaches and gives Thai Massages, got recently passionate about trail running and works as head of quality & environmental management in austrians biggest car transportation company.
His topic is: The art of improvisation in music.
Sascha Jurak
Jack was born in Sydney, Australia however he grew up in the tropical country of Papua New Guinea for the first 6 years of his life. After that his family moved to Vienna, Austria where Jack began to learn German. Since then he has been living here in Austria. In September 2018 he decided to join Sankt Gilgen International School as a boarder in order to continue his educational journey in the IBDP.
Jack’s interests lie mainly in the fields of business, emotional intelligence and automobiles. He enjoys reading books, socializing with people, being in nature, doing sports and gaining new experiences.
Jack decided to take part in the project since he has been listening to TED talks for several years himself. He has been inspired by many TED talkers over the years and when he saw the opportunity to talk for TEDx himself and he couldn't let it go by.
Jack’s topic will be about coping with change. He wanted to reflect on how he thinks he managed to fit into new communities under a lot of pressure and stress.