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Juggling 101 class taught at library
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Commons and Greenbriar Assisted Living Facility activities director Angela Salensky tossed a ball over her head and attempted to catch it behind her back during the juggling 101 class at Boardman library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Most of the attendees of the juggling 101 class at Boardman library were residents of the Commons and Greenbriar Assisted Living Facility.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Ben Ams attempted to juggle tennis balls while his mother Yvonne assisted during the juggling 101 class at Boardman library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Anton Finch balanced a club on his fingers during his juggling 101 class at Boardman library.
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Neighbors | Tim Cleveland.Anton Finch juggled four tennis balls as part of his juggling 101 class at Boardman library.
By TIM CLEVELAND
Anton Finch, a 16-year-old sophomore at Boardman High School, said he got into juggling through watching his cousin and as a hobby. He’s developed into such a good juggler he’s now giving lessons, including April 17 at Boardman library.
“I started because my cousin started juggling and I just got into it because I pretty much had no life in middle school so I started juggling,” he said. “It was more of a hobby to get my mind off things and then I just went from there. I’m not going to say I’m the best and I’m not going to say I’m the worst, but I’m pretty good.
“I want to teach people so they can have an outlet on something and also learn something new to impress their friends.”
Finch began juggling three or four years ago and put on his first public teaching session last September at Boardman library.
He said his teaching method consists of having his students sit in a circle while he goes around to them one by one and teaches them the hand motion needed to juggle.
“If they dropped it I just said good job and showed them how to fix it,” he said. “Some of them got better.”
One of the attendees of the Juggling 101 class was Ben Ams, a third-grader at Robinwood Lane Elementary School. He said he decided to attend the class as a way to pass the time, but he said he was impressed by Finch’s ability.
“I was sitting at the table and we were waiting for my brother, so we came here to watch the guy juggle,” he said. “It looks really cool.”
Finch said he has the ability to juggle such objects as bouncy balls, tennis balls, clubs and rings.
He said he has plans of continuing his juggling career after high school.
“I’ve looked up things in the circus, like Cirque du Soleil,” Finch said.
Finch said juggling has many benefits that can be applied to a person’s regular life.
“A better outlook on how to juggle and not only looking at it like it’s fun, but it’s actually a mind game and keeping their mind off something,” he said. “It’s better to do juggling than to sit around bored. The juggling world is always coming around with new techniques, so you can always learn from juggling. It’s not like a hobby where you just get good at it and then you’re done.
“If you get good enough you can start your own business or go into the circus and actually make a living at it.”