JUGHEADS
Youth Juggling Company, LLC
5905 Concord Avenue
Edina, MN 55424
jugheads@comcast.net
612.229.3348

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March 2009

“Built-in Mentorship...the Good Kind”

10 years ago this fall, I opened up JH membership to include 3rd graders. My reasoning was that all three eager 8-year-olds had older siblings in the company and therefore had some idea of how our clubs are largely self-directed and dependent on each individual’s progress. However, as 3rd graders’ maturity and cognitive ability can be starkly different from my original 4th grade minimum, I had low expectations when Ricky H., Brett K., and Jameson N. became Jugheads in September 1999. I doubted their success in learning to juggle, let alone in thriving and sustaining long-term involvement. Remarkably, these three young men (all turning 18 within a month) have proven me wrong! In fact, Ricky and Brett have now been Jugheads longer than our youngest members have breathed the air!

Just like their initial reason for joining (following in their older siblings’ footsteps), I believe that Ricky, Brett, and Jameson have stuck it out through senior year due to the “sibling” spirit that is shared among many Jugheads who look to this company as somewhat of an extended family. Over the years, each of them (along with many of their nine fellow seniors) have gone from “little brothers” to “big brothers,” whether their roles here had official leadership titles or not. With our 10-year age range, it’s not difficult to see evidence of built-in mentorship that continues to be passed down from one generation of Jugheads to the next.

Anyone can be a mentor and an influence; the question is, are our oldest Jugheads good mentors and good influences? I say, yes. Coming from a family of 48 first cousins and growing up in a neighborhood with dozens of kids, I will certainly attest that not all wide age ranges are healthy, and not all older kids are good influences. But I truly believe that those who do stick it out as Jugheads “for the long haul” do so both for the family-like atmosphere they’ve experienced and for the family-like atmosphere they hope to perpetuate. Our first- ever 10th year Jugheads are milestones for the company, but I celebrate them and their contemporaries not only as ends in themselves but as beacons of what their presence means to all those who come behind them.