Youth Programs
Performances / Workshops / Books
Paul Miller captivates audiences with his unique blend of contagious energy, quirky characters, spectacular juggling, and comedy magic. With plenty of audience participation, his performances engage all ages the moment he steps on stage. Recent credits include Disney Cruise Lines, Off-Broadway, USO, and TEDx Creative Coast. In 2007, he joined forces with award winning educator and author, Dawn Daria, to strengthen the educational messages in performances and develop hands-on workshops to engage tweens and teens. In 2012, she released
Performances
Length: 45-minutesAudience Size: Up to 350Age Group: Varies by show (see below)Venue: Easily adapts to a variety of space including theaters, gyms, cafeterias, and multi purpose room.
Summer Reading Program Show
Every summer, Paul shares his enthusiasm for using the library to learn new skills by creating an original show to fit the Collaborative Summer Reading Program (CSLP) theme. For 10 years, his improvisational humor has been engaging all ages (including parents!)
Science of Awesome
The audience will explore the world of science and skill toys where things fall, balance and spin. Paul leaves students (and teachers) with an urge to pick up and play with the world around them and discover the mysterious forces of the invisible, physical world. Audience: K-8
Read Yourself Silly
Students will be inspired to read as Paul tells the story of how a trip to the circus led him on an adventure filled with juggling, magic, and balloon sculpting. In the end, he learns that amazing journeys begin not at the circus, but at the library. Audience: K-8
Juggling Money
Paul tells the story of how a trip to the library led him on an adventure filled with high-flying juggling, amazing magic, and the wonders of circus. Along the way he learns that hard work and smart choices lead to rewarding results and reinforces basic financial concepts of spending, sharing, and saving in a memorable and playful way. Audience: K-6
Do Something
Paul shares his own journey from graduating with a degree in accounting to becoming a professional juggler. Based on his experiences as an entrepreneur, he encourages middle school students to discover and explore their passions while researching career options related to those interests. Students are encouraged to forge their own paths toward success. Audience: Grades 6-8
Hands-on Workshops
Length: 60-90 minutesAudience Size: Up to 25 participantsAge Group: Grade 5-12Venue: Open area for active play
Skill Toys from Around the World
Students explore both history and the impact of cultural exchange through toys in this hands-on workshop. Skill toys such as juggling, yo-yo, and the bilboquet have histories dating back hundreds and in some cases thousands of years. Instructors provide the cultural context for the skill toys and basic instruction on how to manipulate them. Students then experience hands-on play as it has been through the centuries. During an opportunity to reflect on this experience, students compare these unplugged toys to modern technology and draw conclusions about the future of play.
Juggle Me This
From ancient Egypt to the Renaissance to the modern circus, juggling has entertained audiences and challenged individuals to reach new heights. Three-ball juggling is broken down into simple, easy-to-learn steps while stories from its rich history are shared. Instructors create a culture of success by providing individual feedback and important resilience-building strategies. All students improve while gaining a better understanding of themselves and history.
Books
Grounded For Good by Dawn Daria
Fiction book for upper elementary and middle grade readers in which the main character, Derek Dawson can't seem to do anything right. He couldn't wait to finish middle school, but a heroic attempt to impress his classmates on the last bus ride home sends him right back to the principal's office. Instead of a summer filled with sleeping in and hanging out with friends, Derek has to work at the family store, "volunteer" at the public library, and spend the rest of his time grounded at home. Torture, until he meets a colorful crew of kids that help him uncover hidden talents.This book will have you rooting for Derek from beginning to end as he searches for an answer to the question inside so many of us...Where do I fit in?
Grounded for Good by
Paperback: 232 pagesISBN-10: 0985387807ISBN-13: 978-0985387808Contact us for class sets
Purchase from Amazon.comClient: Regional Library System in Pennsylvania
Challenge: Develop a financial literacy show to help kick off a grant-funded program, draw in families, and reinforce the main themes of spend, share, and save.Strategy: Juggling Money performances for approximately twenty librariesImpact: "In and of itself, his act (the magic tricks/ pantomime/juggling) is amazing, but more importantly, the flawless and (fun!) way he incorporates the themes of Spending, Sharing, and Saving into his act is beyond impressive! Our parents and kids LOVED this event, and this was a TERRIFIC way to kickoff the PNC Grow Up Great! financial literacy campaign! " - Public Librarian
Client: Elementary School in Northern Virginia
Challenge: Introduce a 5th grade technology research project in a playful, engaging way that increases enthusiasm for themes such as changes in technology, adaptation, trade, and cultural exchange. Strategy: Skill Toys from Around the World workshops for approximately 100 students with focus on how toys have changed in terms of design, materials, and use. Impact: "The student and teacher response to the program was unanimous, 'I didn’t know learning could be fun.' Flow Circus and their approach to schools and the learning environment is what our students need right now. Learning is not only memorizing or completing bubble sheets; it is about being creative and learning anything and everything. It’s how learning should be: active and engaging." - School Media Specialist