This is a guest post from Symone Baskerville a student at Kenwood Academy High School.

Last year I had the pleasure of attending the Teens Summit and the great opportunity to design an outfit for the eco-fashion show Project Greenway. I also wrote a few blog posts on the event last year as a member of the Chicago Media Team.

I can’t wait for this year’s Summit! I’ll be attending, designing, and covering the event again.

This year I wanted to give people a behind the scenes look at what goes into planning an event this spectacular! So I reached out to ACE Senior Educator, Sophie Ostlund, who is one of the many organizers for this fabulous event.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge with planning for the summit?

A: The biggest challenge so far has been organizing, responding to and coordinating the designers and models for the fashion show–we have had an overwhelming response (which is great), and it’s going to be the biggest fashion show yet!

Q: Can you tell me about your favorite moment so far that has happened while you’ve been prepping for the summit?

A: My favorite moment has been when we first opened designer registration. I always love seeing how many students are excited to get involved with Project Greenway and the TEENS Environmental Summit. The creativity of the designers blows me away every year.

Q: How much work goes into planning the summit? How long?

A: The first planning meeting actually happened last August! I’ve been coordinating fashion show registration and logistics since the beginning of January, and the TEENS (who are planning the summit itself) have been planning the workshops for the past several months.

Q: What are you most excited about for the summit? Why?

A: That’s a tough question. Because I work the most on the fashion show, I can’t wait to see it in action–but I love seeing students enjoying the workshops, food and museum as well. It’s a great opportunity for youth to explore ways they can make a difference in their community.

Q: Can you give me a general overview of what the summit is going to be like?

A: The summit, which is by teens, for teens, is going to take place from 5 pm to 9pm on May 11th at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum. Attendees can attend green workshops, check out an earth-friendly food tasting, explore the museum and see Project Greenway.  The event is free, but space is limited, so we strongly encourage people to register in advance at www.teenssummit.org.

Q: Why do you recommend students to attend the TEENS summit?

A: The summit is the perfect opportunity for students to celebrate their achievements this year, meet other like-minded teens from around the city, and explore creative and fun ways to go green–not to mention a chance to check out the coolest fashion show they’ll ever see!

Q: Are there any sneak peak details that you can give me?

A: I can tell you that the fashion show is going to be bigger than ever–you don’t want to miss it.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsvhJu7MFsc[/youtube]