A note from Jen, “Head Monkey Wrangler” of Akrosphere Aerial & Circus Arts:
I wanted to share with all prospective students, some tips on how to be a good student in their Free Trial Class, so they can reap all the benefits of instruction And so, I give you “How to Be a Good Student”:
Come to your Free Trial Class prepared:
This means wearing the right clothing, both for you and the apparatus with which you’ll be working. No zippers, sequins, buttons, jewelry, or excessively long nails.
This also means having your hair tied away from and out of your face. Hair that can fall into your face becomes a safety hazard when you’re on the apparatus, and we want to keep you safe!
Come to class clean; no one wants to share an apparatus with a smelly, dirty person. =)
Bring your water bottle. Forgot it? Not a problem – we have a water fountain right in the gym!
Know when to have fun but also when to zip it.
I mean, your Free Trial Class should be fun! With that said, we also want to work hard. If instructors are speaking, students should be listening, both with their eyes and their ears. Also, please be mindful of the fact that there are other apparatuses going on, so overly loud conversations can be really overwhelming when other students are working.
Don’t be a hog!!! We keep our Free Trial Classes small to ensure safety and also to maximize time spent with each student. What this means, though, is that for our trial days, students will have to share the apparatus with a peer. Don’t be that student that doesn’t share. Everyone wants a turn, not just you.
Speaking of sharing the apparatus…what to do when it’s not your turn? Stretch those shoulders/forearms, and watch the other students going…you can learn almost as much by watching others as you can by doing it yourself!
Be respectful.
To your instructor. Your 6th grade friends might think your sass and sarcasm is hilarious, but we don’t. Check your sarcasm at the door and leave it in your cubby with your shoes at your Free Trial Class . Please and thank you!
You can leave the “fight” there, too. What’s the fight, you ask? It’s the hard time your kids give when we ask them to do something they don’t want to do. Instructors love pleasant attitudes and a willingness to listen and learn in the Free Trial Classes, just sayin’. =)
To others. We try to foster an encouraging and supportive atmosphere for all of our students in our Free Trial Classes. Be nice to each other, please. We all know how difficult Circus Arts can be sometimes, so let’s lift each other up with kind words!
To yourselves. Again, we all know how hard Circus is. Not everything we do will be easy Be gentle with yourselves and be patient with the process. Not every trick happens overnight, but that’s part of the fun! <3
Put in the work, both in class and outside of circus arts class:
So this doesn’t apply to the Free Trial Class so much, but it’s worth saying because we hope you will become part of our permanent circus family! When you’re in class, doing a move once doesn’t make you an expert. Please don’t do the move once and then look at your instructor to teach you another trick. It has been estimated that it takes 10,000 hours to master something, so doing it one or two times doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Practice it over and over until it becomes seamless, and make sure to train both sides!
We have coach supervised Open Gyms on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Circus is way easier and strength will come much faster if you’re working on it more than once a week in class, I promise you! Open Gym is included in the cost of all classes except for Circus Kids; please take advantage of it!
To sum up, now you know how to be awesome students in your Free Trial Class! Obviously, we coaches genuinely love what we do, but we especially love our jobs when we have pleasant students who are well behaved and eager to learn. Positivity goes a long way, y’all.
