Circus of life: Dreams take flight amid urban blight

While teaching young people to be the ring masters of their own lives, the kids also work on balancing on large balls and wood planks, stilt walking, trapeze skills, juggling and slapstick clown routines.

"Because of the high crime, the high unemployment going on here, hope's hard to find in this city," said program director Tom von Oehsen, who trained as a clown with Ringling Bros. in the 1980s.

Von Oehsen and Zoe Brookes, the group's executive director, created the circus squad two years ago to try to change perceptions and stereotypes that lead to negative assumptions about teens in inner cities.

While it started as a service project for suburban high school students to fulfill their community service requirement for graduation, the kids kept coming back even after they completed their hours.