What does juggling and unicycling have to do

with improving self-esteem and disruptive

behaviour? Jack Martin and Rooke Pitura of

William Creighton Youth Services in Kenora

made the connection when they attended a

spring break Circus and Magic Partnership

(C.A.M.P.) program for inner city kids in Winnipeg

in 2004. What they saw left them speechless and

committed to bringing the program 200 km East

to Kenora, Ontario.

Origins of Circus and Magic

Partnership

The C.A.M.P. program is based on Clowns

Without Borders started in the 1990’s in

Guatemala and other South American countries

that experience war. The goals of that initiative

was to provide youth with a diversion from the

horrors of war and help them experience the fun

and play of childhood. Programs have been set

up in the inner city neighbourhoods of London,

England, and Detroit, Michigan, where there are

high rates of poverty, crime, and gang activity.

The Winnipeg C.A.M.P. program started in 1996

as an alternative to sport-based programs. It

offers a positive and proactive arts and education

curriculum for “youth-at-risk”. The program

expanded to remote northern Manitoba

communities and reserves in 2001. The 2013

week-long spring break camp hosted over 400

youth from Cranberry Portage, Cormorant,

Moose Lake, Snow Lake, Sheridan, and Flin

Flon and trained 12 adults who would continue to

run the program after the facilitators left the

community. Over the years, the program has

received countless awards and has come to be

recognized as a mainstay crime prevention

initiative.

Kenora Circus Program

The Kenora group was successful in bringing the

C.A.M.P. Circus program to their community in

Improving mental health among hard-to-reach youth

through the Kenora Circus Kids Program

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2004 with funding from the Ontario Trillium

Foundation and in partnership with Triple

P.L.A.Y. (Positive Leisure Activities for Youth)

and other local children’s service organizations.

The week-long event enrolled 126 youth and

received rave reviews from the participants,

parents, educators, and professionals involved

with the youth. When the circus left town, the

equipment stayed in Kenora and the ball was

now in the community’s court.

Over the ensuing years, the Kenora C.A.M.P.

Circus program evolved with input from the

Kenora Association of Community Living and the

Lake of the Woods Child Development Centre

(now known as Firefly). What evolved from this

partnership was the following founding

principles:

Use a holistic, developmental enrichment

approach to improve social skills, emotional,

psychological, self-esteem, fine and gross

motor skills, physical health, and well being.

Develop a child-centred, play-learning medium

that acts as an alternative to the traditional

medical model of service delivery.

Make learning-development through

laughter and play the heart of the program;

Bring the adults/professionals to the

children who participate in the play-learning

milieu;

Encourage professionals to integrate their

work into this play-learning medium

(recreation therapy, occupational therapy,

children’s mental health, etc.).

Focus on developing self-worth by enhancing

personal competencies and self-esteem (‘I can

attitude’).

Recognize that children with developmental

challenges and/or histories of trauma and loss

desperately need opportunities to fulfill valued

social roles to help them write new chapters in

their lives. The circus participant says, “Hey

look at me, look at what I can do, I’m a plate

spinner, a juggler, a unicycler, etc.

Be inclusive – open to all children and youth in

the community but slanted to those who have

the greatest need.

Youth who are not drawn to typical stick and ball

sports can be physically active and not have to

worry about winning or losing. There is no score

board in circus as everybody wins. Youth

become recognized and validated for their new

skills and emerging competencies and become

the stars of the school or class when ordinarily

they would be the kid sitting at the end of the

bench.

The program initially introduces a variety of

activities such as hula hoop, Diablo, juggling, stilt

walking, plate spinning, unicycle, etc. In time, the

youth begins to gravitate to one or more skills

that they become passionate about and set

about mastering. They are encouraged to pursue

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this passion and quickly adopt the cardinal rule –

‘it’s not how many times you drop the ball that

counts, it’s how many times you pick it up’ that

makes the difference in all learning.

More recently the circus program was offered in

2012 to a grade 8 class at Evergreen Public

School. Multiple suspensions, low attendance,

and behavioural issues were preventing these

students from being successful in their studies.

Their teacher was desperate and supportive of

trying the Kenora Circus program for an eight

week trial period. Students were eager to

participate and worked hard to master the skills

and put on a final performance for their school

and the community stakeholders. The results

were exceptional with major improvements in

students’ school attendance, attitude, and

performance. The students were proud of their

newly acquired skills, had something to be proud

of, and felt they were a part of the student body

as a whole. They left their final school year with

positive momentum as they transitioned into high

school.

Given the success, and at the request of school

officials, a 12-week pilot project was more

formally introduced at the beginning of the fall

2013 term at Evergreen school for a selected

grade 6 class. This was offered on Tuesday and

Thursday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. as

school officials indicated attendance was an

issue. Students completed pre- and post-

screening questionnaires.

During the program, students were videotaped

and some were interviewed about their

experiences. The program culminated in a

performance for their parents and classmates

during the school’s annual winter carnival. Rooke

Pitura, the program leader, indicated that four

participants with high anxiety didn’t even lift their

eyes from their desks when he came into the

classroom on the first day. Pitura marvels at the

change these young people went through over

three months. The same withdrawn students took

control of the microphone and confidently spoke

to the audience at the final performance. School

administration has seen an improvement in the

students’ mental health, attendance, and grades,

and reduced incidences of disruptive behaviour.

Pitura and colleague Jen Reimer are collating

the information for a final evaluation report.

Some of the youths’ feedback is as follows:

“Thank you for bringing circus kids to

Evergreen School. You taught me to never say

‘I can’t’ so I kept going and now I am really

good at flower sticks and I am really proud!!! It

helped me build my self confidence and now I

never say ‘I can’t’ even in math and other

school work.” (anonymous grade 6 student)

“Before the performance I felt scared, nervous

that I would totally mess up and everyone

would laugh. When I saw my classmates

perform I started to feel more confident. At the

end of it all I felt happy and proud of my

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accomplishments.” (anonymous grade 6

student)

For more information on the Kenora C.A.M.P.

Circus program, contact Rooke Pitura at

rpitura@creightonyouth.com or Jack Martin at

jmartin@creightonyouth.com.

Author:

Kim Karioja