The Circus is Back!
For the first time since 2019, The Sharon Academy Middle School will be presenting its Carnival and Circus on Friday, March 25, 6–8pm, and Saturday, March 26, 3–5pm.
Every year, middle schoolers at The Sharon Academy put their classes on hold for a very important reason. It’s not to study for tests. It’s not for sports competitions. They’re starting the annual Interim period, where they will hone transferrable skills of collaboration, resilience and determination through work on circus tricks, teamwork, and performance skills to share with the local community.
This year is particularly special for this community as the waning pandemic finally allows the school to return to its fully in person live performance for the first time since 2019. In 2020 we were just about to start the interim experience when school went remote and then in 2021 we created a digital circus experience for our audience after collaborating with alumnus Tray Fisk to document the interim experience. Our current students have never had a chance to show off their skills to a live audience, and the energy for the carnival and performances is even greater than before.
Since 2005, TSA has worked with Troy Wunderle, the Artistic Director of Circus Smirkus and Founder of Wunderle’s Big Top Adventures, to learn, rehearse, and perform a circus routine during the annual middle school interim. A fiercely proud Vermonter, Troy’s slogan is “Spread Joy – Create Memories – Inspire Dreams”. We have the joy of seeing him live this slogan every year. Wunderle spends March at The Sharon Academy, sharing the wisdom he’s built after years of directing Circus Smirkus, which routinely performs for 50,000 people annually. Wunderle says, “I continue to teach circus to adolescents because this format allows me to teach incredibly important lessons to children who are in a transitional period in their lives.”
Should you come to visit our school in the next few weeks, this is what you’ll see: 39 students arranged throughout the room — some juggling balls or riding unicycles, others throwing diablos or balancing on Rolla-Bollas. It’ll be loud. There won’t be desks. You’ll see students striding on stilts. The person in charge is a professional clown. And it’s a perfect exhibition of our philosophy of learning.
In the Circus, every student is given the opportunity to take on a large theatrical role. Even our most reserved students build confidence, overcome stage fright, and experience the self-discipline required to perform in front of an audience. Students also design routines and clowning acts, which require mutual trust, cooperation, creativity, and teamwork. Pulling off a creative, collaborative performance means that everyone involved must be willing to work hard— really hard. In the words of Andrew Lane, Director of The Sharon Academy Middle School, “A circus is a great way to develop skills such as collaboration, creative thinking, focus, self-discipline, and performing in front of an audience.”
The stakes are high. Students’ assessments don’t get folded quietly into a backpack to go home. Students at The Sharon Academy Middle School routinely perform their circus to over 700 people over two nights. Performers’ resilience and achievement are measured in applause and gasps of happy surprise. What our students are learning is more than just circus tricks. “The skills students need most in order to succeed in high school, college and beyond can be taught very effectively outside of a traditional classroom,” explains Wunderle. “Teaching students how to create success out of failure is a fundamental aspect of preparing our children for success in school and in life.”
This year’s circus will be performed on Friday, March 25 (Carnival at 6:00, show at 7:00) and Saturday, March 26 (Carnival at 3:00, show at 4:00) at The Sharon Academy High School Gym located on Rte 14 in Sharon, Vermont. Admission is $3.00 per person or $10 per family. Don’t miss the fun.