Juggling gets props from students, teacher
By Sande Snead CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Will Newlon (left) and Jacob Clarke juggle rings and devil sticks while walking down the hall at Bailey Bridge Middle School.

Keeping all the balls in the air has more than the usual meaning for Wells Iles, sixth-grade English teacher at Bailey Bridge Middle School. Having switched careers from a corporate trainer to a school teacher just two years ago, he wanted to get his feet wet at teaching before taking on too many extracurricular activities. But when his students discovered he could juggle, the demand for the Bailey Bridge Middle School (BBMS) Juggling Club was too strong to duck.

In his first year of teaching, he used juggling as a reward system and to keep his young charges motivated and interested in their school work.

"I was not planning to start a club, but I kind of had to do it," said Iles, who has been juggling for fun for 20 years.

With a starting membership of 15 dedicated students, this young group of sixth-graders learned how to juggle a wide variety of props including balls, clubs, devil sticks (clubs that look like bowling pins) and diabolos (Chinese yo-yos). The new jugglers honed their skills and put on their first performance at the school's faculty luncheon last year.

This year, the BBMS Juggling Club has doubled in size, benefiting from the return of many of last year's founding members, as well as a new crop of enthusiastic sixth-graders. They meet from 3-4 p.m. every Wednesday. Two of these original members, seventh-graders Will Newlon and Jacob Clarke, put on a performance at the school's KYLE Awards talent show in January.

Will, 13, said his best trick is juggling diabolos and throwing them under his leg.

"It's just a little hobby," Will said. "I joined the juggling club for fun last year and just stuck with it."

Jacob is most proud of being able to juggle five balls at one time - a feat that took him about three months to master. Although he says he does it just for fun and to learn new things, he has performed at some local churches and will be doing so again in a few weeks.

Iles is encouraged that so many of his students are interested in the hobby/sport.

"Most people assume that juggling is diffi- cult, but it's not," Iles said. "It does, however, require using a combination of mind and body. It's passive and aerobic at the same time."

Iles has a variety of things for the students to juggle including rings, spinning plates, lacrosse balls and more.

"Everybody can find something they like," Iles said. "I'm thinking about getting a unicycle for the kids. The school has been very generous. They've given us funds for the club."

Later this year, the club will perform at local elementary schools. It has also been invited to perform at this year's Virginia Middle School Association Conference in Richmond.

"The best thing about juggling is that it helps build confidence and coordination at the same time," Iles said. "You can't beat that."