NORTHFIELD (The Record North Shore) — Music blasting, parachutes flying and the sun shining set the tone as more than 400 children ran around Northfield’s Fox Meadow Park on Thursday morning during LEARN Excel Charter School’s annual field day.

Potato sack relay races, freeze dance and the bouncy house drew the most laughter, as kids fell over, sang and played games.

For the past 15 years, New Trier-area high-schoolers have fundraised for LEARN, a west-side Chicago elementary school. Family donations, local sponsorships and an annual benefit concert support the school’s music program and yearly field day.

This year, the high school students raised more than $87,000, a record-breaking amount in the history of the partnership. The field day celebrates the collaboration between the high-schoolers and the grammar-schoolers.

Recent New Trier High School graduate Nate Gale is a LEARN Board co-chair for both the annual benefit concert and field day.

“We do all this work the whole year, raising money and planning these events,” Gale said. “And just when you actually get to see them, it’s fun because it … puts a face to all the work that you’ve been doing. But also the kids really just have so much fun. As much fun as I’m having, the kids are having 100,000 times more fun because the day is put on for them.”

High-schoolers in red shirts manned more than 10 different stations during the celebration.

The bright colors of a parachute flew into the sky as the children ran underneath upon the instruction of the student-leader. The gaga pit incited intense competition and high-pitched yelps, with kids lunging at the ground to avoid being struck with the ball. Some students caught their breath and a break from the sun by coloring underneath the arts and crafts table.