Valley's 'Life Lessons' program shows value in diversity

There are 1,900 students walking the hallways at Valley High School, and each one has a story.

Ten will be featured next week in the school's first-ever Life Lessons from Valley presentation.

Organized by senior Dani Lipman, the program allows students with unique perspectives and interesting backgrounds the opportunity to share how their high school experiences have shaped their lives.

"There's a couple of them that really, really stick out," Lipman said.

From a transgender student's struggles with identify to another student who overcame self-doubt to try out for "The Voice," each of the mini-talks offers an inspiring message.

The event is patterned in part on the popular TED Talks, a series of presentations from political and scientific leaders to artists and entertainers. The first TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) event was held in 1984, but the popularity of the talks exploded in the Internet age. Today, the collective talks have been viewed more than a billion times.

Lipman first became familiar with TED Talks her freshman year when teachers began using them as teaching tools. Having spent time on stage, she enjoyed their relaxed conversational approach.

"I thought that would be a cool approach — that non-formal approach," she said.

She was looking for a capstone project for her senior honor program so she pitched the idea of a TED Talk-style event at Valley to teachers and asked them to nominate outgoing students.

Lipman narrowed the list of 50 nominees to just 10 presenters.

She's spent weeks helping them rehearse their speeches and relax on stage. It's a familiar role. Aside from acting herself, Lipman is the assistant director of the Valley Southwoods play this spring. Last weekend she was part of a Valley team that won the E. Wayne Cooley Sweepstakes at the state speech contest, essentially the state championship of speech.

"I just love being on stage," she said.

Lipman said she was amazed by some of her classmates' stories. Like the transgender student who faced hardships from students and teachers while struggling with his identity.

"It was a real eye-opener for me," she said. Not that there were transgender people in the world, or even her school, but an eye-opener that a student would receive such harsh treatment.

"Some of these people are my good friends and I didn't ever know what they were going through," Lipman said.

Like those TED Talks, which aim to bring the world together, the Life Lessons at Valley looks to unite a school recently split by racial tension that boiled over into violence.

West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer will be one of two non-student speakers. The 1979 Valley graduate remembers a much different school, a city when he was growing up.

"There's still a sense of community," Gaer said.

Lipman said planning the event helped her get to know her school community better, too.

"In a way, it has made the school a little bigger for me, because of the stories I now see inside it," Lipman said in a news release. "I think people will be able to gain an insight on Valley and its people."

IF YOU GO

WHAT: "Life Lessons from Valley"

WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. March 6

WHERE: Valley High School Performing Arts Center

COST: Free