TEDYouth “The Spark” is about to ignite. The annual conference for middle and high school students will take place this Saturday in New Orleans, with 400 teens from across the region gathering to listen to talks from scientists, designers, technologists, explorers, artists and performers — some of them adults and some of them peers.

The attendees for TEDYouth were selected via online applications. And with the conference just five days away, we wanted to give shout-outs to some students who submitted extra credit. Here are just a few of the amazing songs, poems and videos submitted with TEDYouth applications — run with permission, of course.

Not able to attend TEDYouth in the flesh? Never fear! The event will be webcast, live and for free, on Saturday, November 16, from 11am to 6pm CDT in English, Spanish and Arabic. Or, if you’d prefer to make watching a social event, find the