blake
Life Member
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>From the IDNR:</span>
Popular Archery in Schools Program Spreading Quickly
A short, shrill whistle signals 20 kids to step forward, pick out their bow and step to the firing line. As they get set, another whistle gives them the go-ahead to nock their arrows, draw and fire. From there, the air is filled with 100 soft pops as arrows hit their targets, 10 or 15 yards away.
From school gymnasiums and community ranges across Iowa to Veterans Auditorium in Des Moines, 467 young archers took what they learned in school to the state championship level. Iowa's archery in schools program marked its 100th school this year. "It's a lifetime activity; something they can get involved in; (archery) provides an affordable opportunity to get into a lifetime skill," notes Sue Chelf, physical education teacher at Coralville's Northwest Middle School.
When I was in high school, I can recall one or two gym classes when the teacher set up some targets and let us take a few shots. And that was it. These days, phys ed classes provide a closer look at life skills that you may pursue into adulthood. And they involve more than setting up targets for a day every few years.
At Northwest, for instance, 620 students are offered a two-week introductory course. Johnson County Conservation Department naturalist Brad Friedhof provides the equipment, a history of archery and basic lessons in delivering the arrow safely to the target.
"Teachers are looking for a standards based curriculum...our curriculum has been updated and we have current versions for elementary, middle school and high school," explains Ben Berka, shooting sports coordinator with the Department of Natural Resources. "It meets the skills teachers are looking for today, as far as math, history; all the life skills that they're looking for in those curricula."
And many of those kids want to take it to the next level; say, practice outside of school a couple days a week. A two month season is set up through the winter for competitive meets. If travel is prohibitive, there are 'electronic' meets, in which teams shoot on their own turf and e-mail scores to compare results. It all culminates at the state championships in March.
"I shot a 209...out of 500. That's kinda good," assesses Cardinal Schools fifth grader Shelby Smith, checking results on the big score board. "I like the competition. I love it. It's fun to win stuff; like when you go to Nationals; someplace else in the United States."
Alongside her, teammate Cheyenne Phillips took a different approach. "I just like the fun; I like to hunt and stuff and just like getting better; to see how good I actually am," said the sixth grader.
"That's one of the things I enjoy; when the kids are competing against themselves and their own skill level," says Central Decatur teacher-and archery coach-Gene Olsen. "They also learn to work as a team, too. Nobody sits on the bench. They all participate and they know immediately what their score is when they let go of the arrow."
In his district, the archery program grew out of an industrial arts project to build a bow range...and willingness by bowhunters, teachers and Scout and 4H leaders to take the training. A grant helped pay for that start up phase and that made it easier to pitch to the school. "They were real receptive, once they found out we had trained instructors and all the equipment," says Olsen. "We supplied it and took care of it through the grant...set up everything for them."
And students who show a little extra interest are toeing the line at the state meet. "We had about 130 this year," says Olsen. "They come in and shoot after school; practicing to get ready for the competitions. There's a pretty big commitment there." He says the challenge now is to maintain that interest, and line up future financial support and volunteers, to build on what the startup grant established.
That extra interest could pay dividends down the road, too, for hunters and hunting enthusiasts who foot the bill for the archery program. "It really helps the program grow," says Berka. "We see the dots starting connect; from getting a kid into a bow in PE class and taking that kid out to a tree stand. We're starting to see lot of success in regard to hunter recruitment."
PM
Ron Wyllie
Southwest Iowa IBA Area Representative
[email protected]