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Naperville News Digest: July 4 fireworks show being held at Frontier Sports Complex; Naper Settlement's new farm exhibit uses AI technology
Naperville's annual Fourth of July fireworks show will be held at 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 4, at the Frontier Sports Complex, 3380 Cedar Glade Road.
Prior to the show, cohosted by the city of Naperville and Naperville Park District, the Naperville Municipal Band will perform patriotic tunes at 7:30 p.m. in the Wagner Pavilion at the 95th Street Community Plaza, 3109 Cedar Glade Drive.
Parking and entry to the sports complex are free. The Frontier Sports Complex has 906 parking spaces and adjacent Neuqua Valley High School, 2360 95th St., has 1,000 spaces.
Maps and parking options can be found at prior to the event.
The Thresher Experience, a new exhibit at Naper Settlement, showcases Naperville's farm history through AI technology, officials said.
Located in the museum's Herman and Anna Hageman Memorial Thresher Hall, the exhibit utilizes cutting-edge technology and projection mapping to bring a 1912 Wood Brothers Threshing Machine to life, a news release said.
The 1912 threshing machine was used by the Hageman family and area farmers for decades and is one of Naper Settlement's macro-artifacts.
The exhibit animates the workings of the machine through projection mapping on the surface, allowing viewers to learn about its role in the mechanical revolution of agriculture, the release said. Visitors can see the operations of the thresher and the simple mechanics used to separate grain from chaff.
Substitute teachers at Indian Prairie School District 204 will earn a slightly higher pay rate following a school board vote approving an increase in the daily fee.
The per-day rate will go from $126 to $130, district documents said. Long-term substitutes and district retiree substitute teachers will make $310 per day, up from $300.
According to a memo from the district's Chief Human Resources Officer Carey Beth Harry, the district's average fill rate for daily teacher substitutes this past school year was 87%. The goal of the increase, the memo said, is to keep the district competitive with surrounding districts.
Board President Laurie Donahue and board Secretary Allison Fosdick abstained from voting because they are both district substitute teachers.
Connor Potterton, who recently completed his freshman year at Naperville North High School, is the first recipient of a $2,500 U4Uganda ambassador scholarship.
U4Uganda is a nonprofit organization that supports school children in remote Ugandan villages, a news release said.
Connor began working with the organization when he was 7 by fundraising for solar lights for families and provide classrooms with desks in Alenga, Uganda. This summer he will join nine other missionaries in going to Alenga and Gomi, Uganda, where they will build desks and visit with local school children.
The ambassador scholarship recognizes young leaders who make a difference both locally and abroad, the release said.
