The Circus show goes on
A record 2’ of snow fell in central Vermont on Saturday, March 23, postponing the final performance of The Sharon Academy Middle School’s annual Carnival and Circus to the next day. Families from around the neighborhood dug themselves out to enjoy the Carnival games and attend the show. Each year since 2007 (with an exception for 2020 when COVID struck days before the circus was about to start), TSA students and staff have worked with Troy Wunderle of Big Top Adventures for two intense weeks of story development, props construction, promotion and advertising, and, of course, circus training. Their hard work culminates in two performances that draw the wider community’s young and old.
This year’s circus, titled “Vinyl Vortex, opened on Friday, March 22. It featured iconic musicians such as Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, and David Bowie, in a comedic romp through the decades of musical styles. Teachers played these musical stars while the students whirled, spun, jumped, and wheeled their circus props in creative and imaginative depictions of vinyl records, space robots, rodeos, and more. Exhortations with the young audience to get up and learn dance steps drew laughter and applause.
TSA is committed to the principles of Deeper Learning and the Circus Interim at the middle school is the signature example of this. As students learn and practice circus skills like clowning, juggling, unicycle riding, gymnastics, and more, they hone transferable skills like teamwork and perseverance. As they help write the scripts, coordinate advertising and promotion, set up the staging and seating, and invent and manage the carnival games they are being creative and are learning the value and rewards of their hard work. Most of the eighth graders have circus experience from when they were in seventh grade; for all the seventh-graders this is a new and challenging adventure.
The circus is a memorable experience that stays with students years later. “I learned that I can do something that doesn’t seem possible by working hard and persevering,” recalls TSA graduate Aidan Trimble ‘18. Alumnus Jack Barnhart ‘21 observed, “Circus was a refreshing break from the stress of middle school for me to focus on being physical and dedicating myself to practicing a task and becoming good at it…the circus was a valuable and fun way to learn how to practice.”
Learn more about the Circus Interim