On Thursday, Sept. 7, ETHS hosted the 11th annual ‘Kits, ‘Cats and Kids Block Party, celebrating the partnership between ETHS, Northwestern and the overall Evanston community. Evanston families came out in waves to enjoy the transition to fall and the activity booths set up by both ETHS and Northwestern students.

One such booth was representing ETHS’s Women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Club (WiSTEM). Attendees were invited to make mini lava lamps with water bottles, oil and coloring agents.

Junior Sabine Batza, a leader in the Engineering division of WiSTEM (WiEng), helped run the booth.

“[The Block Party] is really great. The music is really fun, and it’s a very cool opportunity,” Batza said. “We really have a great partnership with Northwestern.”

The relationship between Evanston’s two largest schools is the heart of the Block Party.

“The piece [of the event] that I am most passionate about is making new connections,” said Northwestern/ETHS Partnership Coordinator Kristen Perkins.

These connections could be seen in every aspect of the event, from the location to the attendees to the activity booths themselves. Both the Northwestern and ETHS marching bands and color guards performed in front of an audience of students from all over Evanston.

In previous years, the party was hosted in downtown Evanston rather than on ETHS’s Lazier Field as it has been in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“ETHS is the heart of Evanston. And so, it just made a lot more sense to us in the partnership office to host it here,” Perkins said.

Northwestern and ETHS plan on continuing the tradition of the Block Party for many years to come, with the goal of constantly growing and bringing more aspects of the Evanston community into the celebration.