"I use spoken word to help my students rediscover wonder, to fight their instincts to be cool and unfazed and, instead, actively pursue being engaged with what goes on around them, so that they can reinterpret and create something from it."

Sarah earned two standing O's in her 2011 TED debut. She took to stage at the Long Beach conference to share her spoken-word poetry. And, her story about the power of sharing it with others through Project VOICE.

TED | YouTube |

Sarah wrote her first poem at 14 ~ about being teased for being unfeminine. She was shaking in her boots when she performed it for the first time. But, afterwards, Sarah discovered how powerful spoken word could be when a girl in a hoodie approached Sarah to say she "felt" the poem.

Paul Downey | CC BY 2.0 |