Kitting Around

by Kit Summers

Go Back To School And Teach Today's Youngsters Lessons About Juggling... With A Little Inspiration, Please!

 

Want to try a new avenue for your juggling act? Do you relate and work well with kids and young adults? If yes, then read on!

 

Schools are an excellent outlet for performing. Once you have your act together (and you can get some ideas on this from my book, "Juggling With Finesse") you can penetrate the school assembly market. Every city has schools that use presentations by qualified performers. This is an interesting, fun ,and potentially lucrative area for expansion of your performing horizons.

 

 Here are some ideas to get you started:

1) Put together a 45-50 minute show that includes performance and an educational message for students

2) Get a list of all schools in your state.

3) Do a mass mailing to the schools in your area where you want to perform.

4) About two weeks after your mailing, follow up your mailing with phone calls to school personnel.

 

The key to school assembly performance is the message you present. The message in my program is goal setting. You might talk about persistence and determination, how much fun exercise is, or how everyone is a winner.

 

Study your chosen topic and intersperse the message throughout your program. With a little experimentation, various juggling props and tricks can be linked to your message. This keeps the students informed as well as entertained

 

Along with the message, though, you must keep the comedy level high. The object is for students to have fun as they learn.

 

Along with your performance, you can offer a class in which you teach a group of students to juggle. I can teach a group of up to 80 students using scarves or balls. This additional program is an addi­tional charge to the school.

 

As you start down the road to school assembly work, you may have to do a few free performances to practice the act and to get a few letters of recommendation for your promo kit. Wherever you perform, ask for a letter of recommendation from the principal or person who hired you. Ask them to say how much the students liked the assembly and how it may have helped them. It's always better to let someone else sell your act for you!

 

At least half of the job of a performing juggler is promotion and marketing. Think

back to when you were first learning to juggle. You had to do a lot of planning and then persist until you got the trick right. This same discipline can be transferred to the business of becoming a successful assembly performer. When you are contacting the schools, remember that you are not selling juggling, you are selling yourself and your message.

 

Every state has a department of education that supplies a directory listing of all the schools in the state. I have the addresses and phone numbers of all the state departments of education nationwide. If you send me a letter or call me, I'll furnish you with the appropriate information for your state. Although public schools are the largest market, private schools provide opportunities as well.

 

There are various ways to contact schools to market your skills. One way is to put together a promo packet and do a mass mailing to all the schools in your area, and then wait patiently by the phone. Another way is to call the schools and tell them what you do, then mail them a packet of material. A third way is to go and visit

schools and talk with the person in charge of booking school assemblies.

 

In the promo packet I send to schools, I include a cover letter, copies of my latest letters of recommendation, a list of the schools where I have performed, and my price list. On the cover letter, I state what I do, what my message is, and ask the school to contact me to set up a date. On the price list I include three different programs. In my area, the going rate is $150 per assembly. The assembly plus one teaching session is $200. Two assemblies plus one teaching session are $300. On my price list I put the $300 package first and say that it is the most popular option.

 

On the envelope, I use a red rubber stamp that reads "Important information enclosed for your students." This will help your letter stand out from the many letters that principals receive.

 

There are many funding sources for your services besides the school budget: the PTA, the ASB, or the school district offices. Or you could present your program as a fund-raiser for the school.

 

Additionally, you can attend state educational conventions and market your show there. You may have to buy booth space, but you may also be permitted to show your program for the whole group in a special presentation.

 

The Juggling Institute, directed by Mike Vondruska, operates a nationwide network of school assembly presenters. The Complete Juggler by Dave Finnigan also includes a chapter on performing at schools. Both are good sources of information to help you along the road.

 

A good school assembly program may take two years to establish. Start now and you will see how much fun it can be to become a full or part-time school assembly performer.

 

For more information contact: Kit Summers, San Diego, California.

The Juggling Institute, c/o Mike Vondruska, Bensenville, Illinois.

 

Kit Summers is the author of "Juggling With Finesse." He will present a pre­convention workshop on school assembly shows July 13-16 in Baltimore.)