‘There’s never kids sitting out’

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This article was published 05/02/2024 (583 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Circus arts teachers showed colleagues the ropes — or, more accurately, the trapeze, silks and an aerial hoop hanging from the rafters of a school gymnasium — last week as they promoted their Winnipeg division’s unique programming.

The St. James-Assiniboia School Division, in partnership with Manitoba’s association of phys-ed teachers, hosted a conference on up-and-coming pedagogies on Feb. 1 and 2.

Attendees could sign up for professional development sessions on everything from disc golf to circus arts instruction.

Teacher Bryan Vermeylen has become an advocate for the latter because of its universal appeal to students — an outlier in P.E. programs that typically embed mainstream sports and fitness activities throughout the year.

“Any kid — whether they’re an athlete, non-athlete, more artistic kid, more competitive kid — there’s something in circus that’s appealing to them. In my classes, it’s pretty much 100 per cent participation in all classes, all the time,” Vermeylen said.

“There’s never kids sitting out, saying, ‘I’m bored’ or ‘I don’t like this activity.’”

Ten years ago, Vermeylen was tapped to take part in a first-of-its-kind research pilot out of the University of Manitoba.

As part of the study, which examined the effect of elementary circus education in Canadian public schools, he travelled to Montreal’s École nationale de cirque and returned to École Robert Browning with a newfound appreciation for gymnastics.

U of M’s Dean Kriellaars, who has always been interested in how circus challenges artists’ minds and bodies, pitched the idea to the school division.

Kriellaars is a professor of rehabilitation sciences and the scientific director of the world’s first research centre devoted to circus arts in Montreal.

“In the ‘circus way,’ (students) are experimenting with different ways to move themselves. What we’ve found and demonstrated is that circus elevates creativity in children dramatically compared to standard techniques in sports and other areas,” he said.

Kriellaars said circus also eliminates the subconscious bias adults bring into classrooms about the difference between boys’ and girls’ physical abilities and is inclusive for all students because there are numerous entry points.

While SJASD’s program is ever-growing, he said “surplus safety thinking” led to challenges in rolling out robust circus instruction in Alberta and B.C.

Proponents of circus arts education argue safety concerns are overblown and it is far less dangerous than other activities and sports competitions during which sprained ankles and concussions are common.

There’s been one serious student injury — a broken arm — in SJASD since its circus program got underway in 2014.

A dozen schools now have programs that go beyond basic juggling lessons.

The success of Winnipeg’s program, perhaps ironically, drew teachers from Montreal — the circus hub of North America — to Winnipeg to attend the division’s latest conference, Kriellaars noted.

On Friday, Vermeylen and circus teacher Dan Sarahs put on a mock class for colleagues at Heritage School to demonstrate how they teach the special curriculum, integrate safety precautions (squishy crash mats are set up under aerial equipment) and encourage independent exploration.

Esmee Van Hoof, 10, volunteered to go to school on her day off to take part in the session so she could spend more time honing her climbing and balancing skills.

Without hesitation, the Grade 5 student said her favourite part of P.E. is circus.

“I like learning new tricks,” she said.

As far as Vermeylen is concerned, the real-life resiliency training students experience in circus is invaluable.

The unicycle, for instance, requires an immense amount of patience and practise, he said.

“You’re falling 300 times just to peddle two pedal strokes across the gym and they’re sweating buckets after class,” the phys-ed teacher said.

“But the smiles on their face when they actually hit a nice stride and get going on the unicycle is hard to beat.”

West St. Paul School’s Graham Forsyth attended the conference to learn about what his colleagues elsewhere in the city are up to.

“This is totally new for me,” said Forsyth, adding he always looks for unique lessons to switch up his programming after 13 years teaching P.E.

It costs between $5,000 and $15,000 to get a program up and running with teacher training and equipment.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca