JUGHEADS
Youth Juggling Company, LLC
5905 Concord Avenue
Edina, MN 55424
jugheads@comcast.net
or 952.926.0896

 

  

JUGHEADS JOURNAL EXTRA
Important Information on our location change to
Colony Park Church
5532 Wooddale Ave., Edina, MN

Two Weeks of Clubs
Optional Escorts from ECC: May 31-June 10

Again, the reasons for moving Colony Park Church (CP) over Memorial Day weekend, two weeks before Edina Schools end, are: 1) So that the current school year Jugheads get a feel for how logistics will work this fall; 2) As of mid-year, the construction start date was still vague, so plans for an early move gave us margin; 3) To simply enjoy a change of setting for our last clubs before summer begins. Jugheads are expected to find their own way to CP, but temporary walking escorts will be provided through June 10 for Jugheads arriving at the ECC from Valley View and Edina's elementary schools. Escorts will meet in the 2nd Floor Cafeteria at the times given below. South View Jugheads may watch for the group walking by and hook up with them approximately 5 minutes after the given time:

Club Escort Time

Monday Rec. Wendy A./Hanna Stoehr 3:15 p.m.
Monday Rec. Natalie Davila 4:15 p.m.
Boys Elite Ryan Towey 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday Rec. Scott Richter 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday Rec. Andrew Swenson 3:30 p.m.
Thursday Rec. Ryan Towey 3:00 p.m.
Girls Elite Wendy A./Hanna Stoehr 3:15 p.m.

Nitty-Gritty Details
Arriving, Eating, Juggling, Departing

OUTSIDE DOOR: All Jugheads and parents should enter and exit CP Church through the southside ground-level entrance facing 56th St. You may either park on 56th St. or in the parking lot and walk around the building using the sidewalk past the playground equipment. BACKPACKS & SNACK: As Jugheads arrive after school, they'll go downstairs and put their backpacks and coats in the hallway outside of Friendship Hall (our snack area). There are bathrooms right there where they should wash their hands before snack. Snack will only be open for 10 minutes after the last Jugheads arrive any given day. Snacks and drinks are ONLY allowed in Friendship Hall on the designated tables. Jugheads may take bottled water to the gym if they label their bottle and recycle it before leaving for the day. ACTIVITY AREAS: During the bulk of our juggling time, three main areas will typically be open: the gym, the snack area (bounce and low-ceiling juggling), and the south and east lawns (weather permitting). Occasionally, we'll open another indoor area: Fellowship Hall. This is directly down the hall from the snack area and may be used (with supervision) for unicycling and specific specialty juggling, such as choreography sessions and mini-workshops. PICK-UP: At 5:30, as most parents begin arriving to pick up their kids, we'll close all areas except the gym. Therefore, parents won't have to go searching for their child(ren) upon arrival. However, if parents arrive much before our pick-up range of 5:30-6:00, we may have to send a runner outside or downstairs to retrieve them. POLICIES IN PROGRESS: Many other logistics will be tweaked as we actually experience being in the space as of May 31. Paul & Wendy will put out an updated brochure in August that will more fully outline the privileges and responsibilities of being a Jughead in our new home.

Review & Overview
Why move? Why now?

In 2003, Edina residents voted for a $87 million levy toward improving Edina Public Schools' facilities. Construction began in earnest last summer and will continue for another year or two. One of the last facilities to begin construction will be the ECC Auditorium. In June, the auditorium will be completely demolished and re-built as a multi-purpose space, serving the kindergarten, music and art classes of Normandale Elementary. As the Arnebergs considered an alternative space to base JH, Colony Park Church (CP) became confirmed due to several factors: 1) It is the closest facility to ECC that can meet our needs of high ceilings, square footage, permanent storage, and multiple purposes (juggling, snack, recreation); 2) The leadership of CP is enthusiastic to support our mission of "developing youth through juggling"; 3) Wendy and I have been members of CP for four years, so we know the facility and have a mutual trust with the church that they will uphold their promises to us and we will be a tenant that will supplement the church's mission of ministering to the local community. As for how long we'll remain tenants at CP, see "Camps & Clubs."

FROM ECES TO LLC
Development of a youth juggling co.

Edina Community Education Services (ECES) is the umbrella program under which KIDS Club and Youth Development/Youth Service (YD/YS) reside, among other long-standing childhood and adult programs serving Edina. Background: Paul started as a Wise Guys Supervisor under KIDS Club in June 1992. In 1994 (the same year he began his first juggling club), he was promoted to the newly created Manager position, which he held through August 1998. At that time, Paul became a W.G. Specialist and YD/YS Independent Contractor to devote his full time to the jugglers. By June 1999, we gave our juggling company a new name, and all six juggling clubs were run through YD/YS. We averaged 50 Jugheads in '98-'00; 70 in 2001; and 100 in 2002. We capped the company at about 120 Jugheads in 2003, and it's remained stable since then. When the district levy was approved, we were not asked to leave the building or the district, but Paul knew from experience the space challenges of being a large program in ECC under ECES. He knew that if space was tight with an auditorium, it would be borderline-intolerable without an auditorium. Storage space and ceiling height were logistical improbabilities (if not impossibilities), so our move became necessary to keep our company's quality at the level we've enjoyed since spinning off from W.G. in '98-'99.

As we're now a Limited Liability Company (LLC), moving out from under the umbrella of ECES, many thanks are due: KIDS Club Founder Linda Sisson and current Coordinator Doug Peterson for mentoring Paul as the W.G. Manager; YD/YS Coordinators Julie Cardinal (on staff during our transition from W.G.) and Meg Barrett (formerly Meg Martin and Paul's manager peer from '92-'98) for advocating for us and being there for our "independent" birth and growth; Ron Bogart for being our JH custodian for the entirety of our existence (we'll miss his service and on-site friendship); and former staff Kim Hovde, Ardelle Flor and Gail Amundson and current staff Jennifer Skaug, Lori Murphy, Kitty DeNardo, and Doug Johnson for being indispensable to our development as a company. The Arnebergs will carry on many of the policies and practices we learned from Edina KIDS Club and Edina Youth Development.

2005-'06 CAMPS & CLUBS
Permanance vs. transportation

From Paul & Wendy to parent volunteers to many vocal Jugheads, most of us are eagerly anticipating the benefits of having permanent space for the first time in our company's history. It seems difficult to believe that we will actually have an on-site office (doubling as equipment storage), an actual snack area with a serving counter, and immediate access to a beautiful lawn for outdoor juggling and misc. recreational activites. However, with every change comes challenges. For the entire school year beginning in the fall, we'll assess how our new set-up meets our needs and how the church responds to our presence. The single biggest challenge is the issue of transportation for Jugheads attending Edina's elementary schools and Valley View Middle School. While we have the summer to continue to explore commuting options, here are some basic suggestions:

  1. Walk from South View or ECC to CP. This takes about 5-12 minutes. The VVMS activity bus stops at SVMS, reducing those middle schoolers' walk by two blocks. Two current Jugheads have walked from ECC to CP for piano lessons since 3rd grade, so there is precedent for this idea.
  2. Carpool with JH families. Networking is key; seek out others in your school who may be able to help shuttle kids to CP.
  3. Arrange a special drop-off w/Edina Transportation.

Final Word: I don't expect that everyone shares my enthusiasm for our location change, but we can face the challenges together. As always, I'll put a premium on communication and welcome your questions, comments and concerns.