Giddy squeals and laughter filled the gym as students attempted to balance peacock feathers on their noses without smudging the vibrant illustrations on their freshly painted faces.

The fourth graders travelled from Bucknall to the Upper School campus to visit their junior Eagle Buddies for “Clown Day,” on Thursday, January 24. The gym was decorated with green, yellow, and purple banners and colorful balloons for the occasion.

The Eagle Buddies first ate lunch together, then watched a performance by two clowns, whose antics included tap dancing while juggling, miming, and balancing acrobatics. The performance was also punctuated frequently by histrionic shrieks, silly expressions, and exaggerated sound effects.

One of the clowns, Mylia Jamea, who uses the stage name Charlotte, picked performing arts teacher Jeffrey Draper to be her volunteer. At one point, Jamea ordered Draper to get down on all fours, then proceeded to do a handstand on his back.

The clowns’ playful shenanigans elicited many responses from the fourth grade audience, who yelled out comments such as “juggle with 10 balls!” or “drop her!” Many students were also impressed by the advanced gymnastics techniques that the duo showcased, especially when Jamea stood on her partner’s head and almost touched the ceiling of the stage.

“I think what was surprising was how interactive the activities were. I didn’t think they would be that fun, but they were cool,” Angela Ma (11) said.

The energetic crowd provided encouragement for Jamea during her performance.

“That was a really good audience, and I had a lot of fun on stage,” Jamea said. “You guys were great.”

After the performance, the Eagle Buddies alternated among three different stations: face painting, scarf juggling, and peacock feather juggling.

Fourth grader Chloe Affaki’s favorite part of the event was the clowns’ performance, but she also liked the face painting activity.

“You get to paint your faces weird,” she said.

Similarly, McCoy Buchsteiner (4) enjoyed face painting because it allowed him to “get creative.”

“I thought that this [Eagle Buddy event] was the best one because of the clowns,” McCoy said.

Junior Dennis Moon was not too impressed with the clowns, but he still had fun with his buddy.

“I’d say I was expecting more from the show,” he said. “But then the activities were fun [and my buddy and I] balanced [the peacock feathers] on our noses and took pictures.”

After saying their goodbyes, the fourth grade students travelled back to the Bucknall Campus while the juniors returned to eighth period before ending the school day.