Outdoor theater performances to be presented at several city parks
BrightSide Theatre will present free outdoor theater performances at five Naperville parks this summer.
“Enchanted Broadway: A Magical Journey of Showtunes and Superstitions,” an hour-long show featuring songs from such Broadway musicals as “Into the Woods,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Pippen,” “Wicked” and “The Addams Family,” will be staged at 7 p.m. on:
- Thursday, July 11, at 95th Street Community Plaza, 3109 Cedar Glade Drive;
- Wednesday, July 17, at Millennium Carillon Amphitheatre, 443 Aurora Ave.;
- Wednesday, July 24 at Country Lakes Park, 1835 N. Aurora Road;
- Thursday, Aug. 8 at Ranchview Park, 1727 Ranchview Drive.
A 2 p.m. performance is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 18, Arrowhead Park, 711 Iroquois Ave.
North Central College receives $1.45 million scholarship grant
The National Science Foundation has awarded North Central College a $1.45 million grant through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program.
The grant will go towards the college’s Commitment to Recruit, Educate and Assist Teachers in Equity project, known as the CREATE project. It helps prepare and support culturally responsive high school teachers in biology, chemistry, physics, environmental science and mathematics, a college news release said.
More than $800,000 will go to scholarships for undergraduate students seeking to become STEM teachers in high-needs schools in the Chicago area, with a focus on recipients with financial needs and those who are underrepresented in the field of education, the release said.
“This grant increases our ability to recruit, support and train new Illinois STEM teachers, who will then educate diverse populations of students in local, underserved communities and work proactively towards reducing academic opportunity gaps,” Lindsay Wexler, NCC associate professor of education, said in the release.
The grant is the college’s largest from the National Science Foundation. In the past 2½ years, it has received more than $3 million in research and programming support for students in STEM fields, officials said.
Chat with the Chief to be held June 27 at Naperville Panera
The Naperville Police Department will hold its next Chat with the Chief from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, June 27, at Panera Bread, 2775 Showplace Drive.
Residents can attend the event to meet informally with Police Chief Jason Arres and members of the department and have one-on-one or small group conversations.
No presentation or formal agenda will take place at the drop-in gathering, a news release said. It’s held several times a year throughout the city.
For more information, go to www.naperville.il.us/npd/chatwithchief.
Naperville Municipal Band’s annual patriotic concert set for July 3
The Naperville Municipal Band will hold its free annual Fourth of July concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 3, at Central Park, 104 E. Benton Ave.
Patriotic favorites, including “Americans We,” “Chester” and “The Chimes of Liberty,” will be performed. The band also also will play the “1812 Overture,” a tradition for more than 50 years that includes the firing six real cannons and the ringing of neighborhood church bells, a news release said.
The Naperville Chorus will join the band in performances of “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” “God Bless America” and “America the Beautiful.”
For more information, go to www.napervilleband.org.
Naperville teen earns Eagle Scout designation with drone project
Naperville resident Shubhaang Varma, 15, earned his rank as an Eagle Scout this spring after spending 170 service hours on a project to help law enforcement officers practice their drone skills.
Shubhaang, a member of the Boy Scouts of America Troop 889 in Naperville, will be a sophomore at Neuqua Valley High School in the fall.
To obtain his Eagle rank, which is the highest designation in the scouting organization, Shubhaang created six Omni Buckets with stands and two carry caddies for storage that will benefit the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County.
Forest preserve police officers use drones to locate lost people, monitor wildlife or send into situations when it is not safe to send an officer.
The obstacle stands, which are placed throughout the preserves, allow the officers to practice their drone skills, a news release said. The bucket stands have five pails attached in different directions, allowing the officers to maneuver their drones into them.
