As the school year comes to a close, members of the Parker community shift their focus to summer. These summer opportunities range from summer school in Chicago to sailing in the Caribbean. While these ideas may be intriguing to some students, the deadlines for these programs are long past. Luckily, for any students who are yet to fill their summer with adventures there are still many activities available for participation.

Christian Bielizna, Upper School Dean, has informally spearheaded a program where he invites representatives and shares information from summer programs with Parker students. “Reps come and are available for the day, sharing information and handing out pamphlets,” said Bielizna. “I began doing this at schools I have worked at before Parker. It began as a summer programs fair but overtime with technology evolving I have made it more digital.”

There are various organizations of all different types. Some are civic engagement some are travel, some are academic. Parker students have engaged in many of these different opportunities. In the following paragraphs are four different summer activities taking place in Chicago that are still available and do not require signing up in advance or investing large sums of money.

The first summer opportunity that any Parker student could take part in that doesn’t require much planning beforehand is the Millenium Park Music series. This event is taking place from June 13 until August 15. It features free weekly concerts showing a large array of musical genres and performers. Located in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion spectators can choose between a seat in the pavillion or a spot on the grass. Performers include, Raymond Baxter, Kenny Keys, Cha Wa, and countless others. The entire schedule for this event can be found at “choosingchicago.org”

The second summer opportunity that Parker students may want to consider taking part in is known as the Chicago Food Truck Fest. This event will be taking place on Saturday and Sunday, June 22nd and 23rd. It will be from 11:00am to 7:00pm in the South Loop. There will also be more food fests occuring later on in the year in September and later. Admission is free and there will be access to about 40 food trucks. There will be live music and an array of foods. For more information about this event go to the event’s website: “chgofoodtruckfest.”

The third event that will be occurring throughout the summer in Chicago is known as Movies in the Park. This event is in it’s 19th season of occuring. As described on it’s website, “Hollywood stars return to Chicago skies this summer, as Movies in the Parks brings big-screen entertainment to local parks for the nineteenth season. Join us in the parks for anything from classics from the Golden Age of Hollywood and retro childhood favorites, to the best family-friendly box office favorites from recent years.” The full lineup of movies for this event can be found on this event’s website: https://www.chicagoparkdistrict.com/movies-parks