TEDxUNO Speaker Spotlight
- contact: Sarah Casey - University Communications
- phone: 402.554.2762
- email: scasey@unomaha.edu
- search keywords:
- TEDxUNO
- SummerWorks
Tickets for TEDxUNO 2015 are now SOLD OUT. Stay tuned for updates about TEDxUNO 2016.
SummerWorks Omaha
Kira Cobbs, Denise Fellows, and Jasmine Johnson
- TEDxUNO Presentation, Session 2
- "Struggling for a Purpose"
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UNO’s SummerWorks Omaha Employment Academy provides students opportunities to serve the community while gaining valuable work experience. This year, the University of Nebraska Omaha won the Presidential Award for Economic Opportunity, which recognizes institutions with service programs that build economic independence, increase family stability, and create more sustainable and resilient communities. SummerWorks was among the highlighted programs cited for UNO’s receipt of this prestigious award.
Kira Cobbs was born in 1998 in Denver, CO. She plays the piano and practices Chinese and sign language; she also participates in her school’s poetry organization, Louder Than a Bomb. She has been writing poetry since she was inspired to do so by her fourth grade teacher. Kira participated in SummerWorks in 2014.
Denise Fellows, prior to SummerWorks, referred to herself as a “silent poet.” She said that her poetry used to ‘scream so loud to be heard by someone other than her own ears.’ Denise worked with SummerWorks in the summer of 2014, and it was there she began sharing her work.
Jasmine Johnson is a sophomore at Benson High School and she participated in SummerWorks 2014.“We all became somewhat of a big family,” Johnson says of her experienced “I never for a second thought I would enjoy cleaning city parks, but if I could work at SummerWorks again I would. It was an amazing experience and opportunity.” Jasmine would like to thank her 7th grade teacher, Ms. Carlson of Monroe Middle School, for introducing her to poetry. Jasmine says poetry is the reasons she is the person she is today; it has helped her through anger, depression, and other life struggles.