Yesterday LOL, the middle schooler jugglers from Windham Christian Academy, travelled to Bangor (2hours and 20 minutes each way) to do a chapel service at Bangor Christian School.  BCS is the largest Christian school in the state of Maine with an enrollment of 300 students Kindergarten through high school.  Due to the 45 minutes we were allotted, we had to cut our hour plus show down considerably.  Nonetheless, it was, yet again, the best show of the year.  Stephanie juggled on the high stilts for the first time in a show, Erik did a flawless juggling solo, well choreographed to U2’s “Vertigo”, Noah killed in his portrayal of a broken hearted boy in “I Want to Know What Love Is”, and Anna, filling in for Makayla, did a great job as the final girl who breaks his heart.  We even got our first standing ovation of the year!  If you want to read the response of the BCS Head Master, see the “ministry comments” section of our “About” page on this website.

The fact is, this class has not had a weak performance since October, back when we were still just getting the routines down.  No poor shows since October?  This is unheard of in the 18 years that I have led teams of jugglers ages 12 – 14.  This led me to reflect on why this was.  After all, I have classes of equal and occasionally better jugglers.  Over half the class is new to the team this year, and some years I have a much higher percentage of experienced students.  Why does this year’s team always put on a terrific show?

Then it hit me.  Actually it was something my aide, Miss Amanda said one day earlier in the year.  We have a lot of ‘big’ personalities in our class this year.  A majority of the kids can light up a stage even when a show might be technically weak.  It’s like having a class of Jackie Gleason’s, Robin Williams’s, Jim Carrey’s and Joan Rivers’s.  This type of flamboyance is contagious, and it causes even the few shy kids to step up and be stretched as performers.  What a blessing!