County Fair’s Shift
How County Fair is reflecting Parker’s values
Photo credit: Nick Saracino
Parker’s entrance in its rainbow themed County Fair decorations.
At the 2017 County Fair on October 6, parents, administration, teachers, and students entered Parker underneath the vibrant archway of balloons on a building decorated with colorful streamers and rainbow flags. One could smell hotdogs grilling in the courtyard, see cotton candy dotting the playground, and hear students running from booth to booth.
While every County Fair has it’s own theme, this year’s was distinct from other years in that the theme was understood by some in the community as politically meaningful.
In past years, the theme of County Fair has been playful, lighthearted, and practically neutral: board games, super heroes, Broadway, Nintendo. But this year, the theme – rainbows – linked to Parker’s values of inclusivity and equality, political commitments, according to sophomore and County Fair head Andy Wessman.
Rainbows have been a symbol for the LGBTQ community for almost four decades. “We wanted a County Fair theme that made a point,” Wessman said. “With everything that’s going on in the world right now, we wanted a theme that represented unity, pride, and the people that are sometimes discriminated against.”
The way that a theme for County Fair is chosen starts with the selection of County Fair heads in the sophomore class. Sophomore grade heads Andrew Bigelow and Vicki Lee then give these students the task of coming up with ideas for the County Fair theme. A few days later they meet together and discuss these ideas, ultimately resulting in a formal meeting with Assistant Principal Ruth Jurgensen to finalize the decision.
“The beautiful thing is that the teachers of each grade know what’s appropriate,” Lee said. “And how to disseminate information that they will understand at their level.”
“In the Intermediate School, we’re not afraid to tackle heavy topics, but it has to be in a context that makes sense for the age,” fifth grade teacher Jeff Stone said, “I can’t let County Fair dictate the timing of when we go deep into topics.”
In recent years,the community has reviewed County Fair through political and racial lenses and taken action to make it more inclusive.
In the summer of 2016, an email was sent to the school noting that the dunk tank and petting zoo would not make an appearance at County Fair that October in the years to come. The reason: racial backgrounds and animal mistreatment.
Sophomore Scottie Ingal is on board with the recent changes. “I was surprised when I learned about the racial background of the dunk tank,” Ingall said. “I’m glad we got rid of it. It would feel sort of insensitive if we knew the background and still had the dunk tank.”
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Origins of the dunk tank brought concerns about the racism to the attention of Lee and Bigelow. Sixth grade english teacher George Drury. The mistreatment of animals in petting zoos was revealed to Lee and Bigelow by upper school history teacher Dan Greenstone in an article he sent them. Both booths were removed as a result.
A number of students found this year’s theme progressive and reflective of the community. “I thought the theme would be hard to pull off,” sophomore Allan Bennett said, “but it was executed very well, and it felt very inclusive.”
Not all students worried about the political valence of this year’s County Fair theme. “I like rainbows,” 3rd grade student, Lila Laser said, “because it’s all the colors mixed together.”
