Every fall since 1902, Francis W. Parker School has participated in the celebration of the County Fair throughout the field, hallways, and courtyard of the building. This event is a chance for students, teachers, and parents to come together and do a variety of activities for all ages to enjoy. This year, the sophomore class brought  us all together with the theme of “Candyland,” or in our words, “Parkerland!”

“I’ve heard that this is like the best day of the year ever, and there’s nothing not to love about it, you know,” said freshman Jade Labkon. “Our whole community just came together and every grade had a different way of incorporating and adding their own touch.”

The sophomore class is annually in charge of organizing County Fair, and while all of the sophomore class spends time contributing, there is a smaller group of sophomores who put in a little more work. These are the “County Fair Heads.” These heads were selected by the sophomore grade heads, Brianna Ifft and Xiao Zhang, to each lead a group. The sophomores’ responsibilities involve choosing a theme, decorating the school, and helping organize all the activities that people can enjoy. The sophomore-specific booths consist of snow cones, cotton candy, mini golf, therapy dogs, light battle cones, inflatables, and roller skating.

“I think the sophomore class did a great job! I’m not sure what I was expecting with our grade, but overall, I think it went really well,” said sophomore Louise Hall. “I think it was super fun, and I had so much fun running around and doing shifts –– same with free time,” she said.

This year, County Fair planning began in June of 2023 with students submitting shirt and logo designs and went through Thursday, October 5, with students setting up the night and morning before. A selection of heads presented the theme and led the school in fun in a Morning Ex on Monday, October 2.

“I liked the theme very much because I thought that it was easier to represent throughout different booths than previous themes,” said junior Gabriel Vilus. “My class’s theme last year was ’retro,’ which I thought was theoretically great, but it was a lot harder to display than the Candyland theme.”