By Ryan Palencer
It is always a beautiful thing to see young children working to improve the world.
That occurred last Thursday morning at Messiah Lutheran Preschool at Eagle Creek, when the children there hosted their third annual Preschool Circus. This year, the program attempted to raise money for muscular dystrophy research.
“We do a yearly circus and this year we combined a muscular dystrophy fundraiser with it, so we hopefully give them more money for their association,” said Barb Specksgoor, director of the preschool.
Specksgoor said that muscular dystrophy was an easy choice, due to prior work for the cause.
“We have done (muscular dystrophy) in the past,” Specksgoor said. “They contact us every year and ask us to participate.”
During the event, the children dressed up as circus performers and clowns to perform tricks and put on a show for their parents. Specksgoor acted as the ring master during the event.
“We do a whole unit on the circus,” Specksgoor said. “We took them to the Murat Shrine Circus last week, which they donate to us. They give us free tickets for the school children. Then we do this unit.”
Specksgoor said the students gain from the event by getting the opportunity to learn about children their own age who are disabled.
“The opportunity to learn about children with disabilities added a lot to it this year,” she said. “They were able to see children who have disabilities can do the same things that they do, just in different ways. I think it brought them a lot of pleasure and joy.”
The children’s parents surrounded the center ring, enjoying popcorn and taking photos.
“We try to do as many activities as we can to give the parents here a chance to see what we’re doing and get them involved in school life with their children,” Specksgoor said. “So they set a good precedent for the future.”
Messiah Lutheran is at the intersection of 56th Street and Raceway Road.
ryan.palencer@flyergroup.com
