Thursday, October 1, 2026
The fifth-graders of Locust Valley Intermediate School spent the week of March 7-11 learning circus acts, which culminated in a full circus performance at the end of the week. The students got instruction from the National Circus Project, which has been working with the district for the past six years.
The NCP, founded in 1984, is one of the oldest and largest educational programs in the country. It teaches children circus skills like balancing, walking on stilts and juggling, focusing on patience and self-discipline. And because it’s fun, students don’t realize they are learning life lessons.
“The skills we teach are individualized, self-motivating, non-competitive,” Greg Milstein, executive director of the NCP, explained. “It gives kids of all ages and ability the chance to have immediate success.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic, the nonprofit NCP served roughly 500 schools in the Northeast. Since its founding, nearly 7 million New York state students have gone through the program.
This is the sixth year the organization coming to Locust Valley Intermediate. It would have been the eighth, but Covid put the program on hold in 2020 and 2021.
The students at Locust Valley Intermediate studied under three NCP educators, Milstein, “Zabo” and “Miss Chrissy,” for an entire week, and the sessions replaced their phys. ed. period. On Monday, they watched a performance by the educators, and then they practiced the various skills that day and the next. They struggled with the tricks at first, but with hard work they eventually got the hang of them.
“Training’s a little tricky,” Ava Giuggio, a novice devil stick juggler, said. “It’s tough at first, but it’s really fun by the end.”
For the NCP educators, one of the best parts of the experience is seeing the change in the students from their first day to their last. “On Monday you think, is this even possible?” Milstein said. “By Friday, it’s like the kids have been doing this their whole lives.”
On Wednesday, the students either chose or were assigned skills for which they had shown the most aptitude, and began training in earnest. They were taught stilts, juggling, diabolos (hourglass-shaped devices that are spun on strings), devil sticks (two hand-held sticks used to manipulate a third between them), hoops, clowning, and how to balance everything from feathers to plates to baseball bats.
“I love this — it’s great,” diabolo trainee Ellis Cosgrove said. “It’s hard, but at the same time it’s really fun.”
The students practiced for a performance for their parents and the community on March 11.
So, while they were certainly enjoying the program, they knew they were practicing for a reason. “I’m looking forward to Friday,” Michael Giovannielo, a juggler, said. “I’m feeling pretty confident — not too much, though.”
In addition to the NCP educators, the students were also guided by their phys. ed. teacher, Dan McAndrew, who has been at Locust Valley Intermediate for 32 years. He said the circus program has been beneficial for the kids.
“It’s a nice change of pace for the students,” McAndrew said. “These are things that are different, give great hand-eye coordination, balance — lifelong skills.”
The students put on a show that Friday, and had a plenty of fun doing so. “I’ve been having a good time,” Rosemary Segura said.
“Even though it was kinda hard, it’s been really fun too.”
