This
July marks the one-year anniversary of our jobs for teens program,
CircusTeens, where our older students work as circus instructors for
CircEsteem. In the CircusTeen program we not only teach our students
to enter the workforce with a positive attitude, but we also teach
the students about budgeting, leasing versus owning, credit cards,
the various ways of compounding interest and basic money-saving skills.
To join the CircusTeens program, the kids need to maintain at least
a C average in school. If they do that, CircusTeens gives them the
opportunity to make money doing something they enjoy. Since many of
the families that we work with have no bank accounts of their own
set up, CircusTeens established a circus bank where students get a
guaranteed 5% interest rate on any money they invest. And once a student
has accumulated $100 or more in her Circus Bank account, she can choose
to invest in our college savings account, which will match, dollar
for dollar, any money she chooses to invest towards college. Currently
the Circus Bank has a total of $1458.68 in deposits, $952.00 of which
is invested in college savings accounts.
Apart from giving
kids a chance to deal with their finances first hand, CircusTeens
has also supplied us with some of our best instructors The
CircusTeens are real experts in circus work. Nick Brown, one of Circesteem’s
instructors was recently a little shocked to discover that Donald
Keme, one of the CircusTeens, could consistently juggle five balls
longer than he could. Moreover, the CircusTeens have recently learned
the skills they are trying to teach others, so they can frequently
sympathize with the frustrations of learning more easily than our
older instructors.
The CircusTeens
have also been a major help this past spring. They worked regularly
during our Homework & Circus Work project and served as great
mentors to the kids in that program. This June when we visited Ramah
Day camp in Wheeling and again when we visited Palmer Park, we performed
on stilts, tight-wire walked, balanced on rolling globes, flipped
off the mini-tramp, and balanced spinning plates on sticks and peacock
feathers on our chins for over 2500 kids. It would not have been possible
to undertake such vast performances if it were not for the CircusTeens.
The CircusTeens program has met and exceeded our expectations in its
first year, and we are thrilled with its progress. Like all of Circesteem’s
programs it would not have been possible if it were not for the generous
contributions of individuals and organizations. In this case the program
is funded partially by the Illinois Arts Council, to whom we are exceptionally
grateful. If you would like to contribute to this or any of Circesteem’s
other programs please click here.
