Carter Moon, 16, and Devon Hill, 15

Carter and his fellow student Devon didn’t want this to be just another assignment.

The Palmer High School sophomores are going beyond the requirements of their International Baccalaureate projects by hosting a concert to benefit the American Cancer Society.

“At the end of the middle years program … they have you do a personal project, where you do anything you want that you’re interested in,” Carter said. “So for our personal project we decided to take it a step further and do a concert.”

Devon said she and Carter chose to do the concert — Cancer Sucks/Music Rocks — to use their shared love of music to help cancer patients.

“As soon as (the IB teacher) assigned a project, we said, ‘We need to do something in music,’ and I was like, ‘I want to do a concert,’” Devon said. “And when we decided to do it for the American Cancer Society, it was because one of my best friends had cancer, a brain tumor, and she had to have it removed this summer. It was a really emotional time, and I wanted to donate to something that meant something to me.”

Carter's mom, Erin Moon, has witnessed the work that has gone into organizing the event.

"The organizational skills required by this project are impressive for anyone, let alone two teenagers," she wrote in nominating the teens as Great Kids. "The concert should be a real boost for Palmer, and the IB program in particular, because it will encourage students to have a good time.

"Carter and Devon are truly great kids because of their willingness to try to do something so big not just for themselves, but for the entire community."

DETAILS

What: Cancer Sucks/Music Rocks concert featuring The Danny Django Band, Kings of the Cardboard Castle, and The First and Finished.

When: 6-10 p.m. Oct. 16

Where: Venue 515, 515 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs.

Tickets: $15 at the door; 685-1861.

Q&A WITH CARTER:

What inspired you to organize Cancer Sucks/Music Rocks?

"Originally, it was going to be a benefit concert for a totally different organization, but then one of Devon’s close friends had a tumor removed from her brain recently, and we decided to help cancer research."

What are the requirements, which your mom says you’re going above and beyond, for the project?

"The bare minimum requirements basically are you do something and create a product, then talk about the result and produce that on the Web site. Our product obviously will be when the concert’s successful. So it’s kind of like a bigger product than some people do. Some people have just made a cake."

Why did you choose this particular project?

"Devon and I both really love music, and we thought that would be a really good way for us to give back to a cause we believed in. ... I guess using music was the best way we could think of."

Tell me about the bands you booked.

"The Danny Django band features my guitar teacher (Dan Tucker), and right off the bat when we told him about this project, he said he was interested in donating his time to play it."

The Kings of the Cardboard Castle members go to Palmer. "They just heard about it and asked if they could be part of it. And The First and Finished, our friend Emma is in that band."

What are some things you’ve had to do to organize this concert?

"We’ve had a lot of communication back and forth between the Cancer Society and Venue 515 in meeting what they wanted us to do to make this successful. And we’ve also had to meet with our project supervisor a lot to know how to document our project correctly, and how to get a good grade. And my guitar teacher’s actually been really helpful in how to get a good venue and how to get artists interested in playing."

What are some of your hobbies?

"I love music. My life is kind of centered around music, really. I play guitar some, and I skateboard."

Who are some of your favorite musicians?

"My favorite musicians would have to be Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and Bad Religion."

What are your plans for after high school?

"I’m planning on going to college, probably in state, and after that I’m not sure. I’m not sure what I want specifically to study."

What else should people know about the concert?

"I’d like for people to know that it’s going to be a really fun show; a big variety of music’s going to be playing. There should be something for everyone."

What do the bands sound like?

"Danny Django will do an acoustic set. They’ll basically be our headliner. The other bands have labeled themselves as alternative rock. Cardboard Castle, especially, do a lot of different covers and have a variety."

Q&A WITH DEVON:

What hoops have you had to jump through to organize this concert?

"At first we were going to donate to the Invisible Children, and we tried to get in touch with them, but they didn’t really want to talk to us. We talked to a lot of venues around town, we talked to Stargazer’s and The Black Sheep, and neither of them wanted to work with us and give us a reduced price. So it took a long time to find Venue 515."

So, Venue 515 is renting the space to you for a discount?

"They’re giving us about a $200 price break. The rest goes to the Cancer Society. We’re charging $15 per ticket because they have a maximum occupancy of about 200. So we can raise up to $3,000."

How are you promoting the concert?

"We went and got posters printed yesterday, and we got about 500 posters, and we’ve been handing those out. And we want to talk to radio stations about getting it promoted. We’re also talking to the schools and trying to get the schools to (talk about) it when they do announcements and through their video casts every Friday."

What are some of your hobbies?

"I play sports; I play softball and soccer, and I do swimming in the winter. So that’s a big part of my life. And I really like photography, and mostly it’s music."

Favorite musicians?

"I love Single File, and I really like Ingrid Michaelson."

What are your plans for after high school?

"I’d like to go to college and become a business lawyer."

Anything else people should know about the event?

"We need sponsorships from businesses or anyone locally that’s willing to help. We could really use their help."