Eighth grader Kayla Hay, 13, sights along the shaft of her arrow Jan. 22 in the Elementary School gym. A program originally targeted to help elementary school students participate in archery recently expanded to include a dedicated Middle School facet. Students will eventually participate in the Alaska state virtual tournament in March.
A popular Evergreen Elementary School archery program has expanded to include a dedicated Middle School program this year, the elementary school chapter has run for longer than five years.
The after-school program turns the Elementary School's multipurpose room into an improvised archery range, complete with safety lines, locked doors preventing others from wandering on to the range, and the odd arrow that infrequently sails past a target and strikes the padding of a mobile basketball hoop.
Many of the students who participate in the middle school program have been involved with archery for years, said Evergreen teacher Jenn Miller, who helped organize the program along with former elementary school principal Thérèse Ashton and current middle school range master Winston Davies. The program received help from the National Archery in the Schools Program, inaugurated in 2002 in Kentucky, and the State Department of Fish and Game. Several other teachers also possess a certification for teaching archery.
The elementary school program has consisted of in-school programs for both third and fifth grades, as well as a short-lived after-school program for fourth graders. The program obtained enough students this year for the middle school class to receive their own dedicated class of sixth, seventh, and eight-grade students on Wednesday afternoons, Miller said, which in turn allows the after-school group to commit to competitive shooting.
"The majority of (students) here have experience," she said. "Mr. Davies wanted to get something started for this year in the Middle School."
"We're pretty excited about being able to move it forward at this point," Miller added. "Archery is an amazing sport."
In addition to benefits like upper-body exercise and additional social interaction, students receive coaching and training, and receive introductions to things like math and physics, Miller said.
"We talk a lot about the history," she said.
Miller and Davies have both had long-term interests in archery. In addition to instructing the youth program, Davies is looking to start an adult program.
A chance airplane encounter rekindled Davies's interest in archery's educational potential. He's been a recreational archer for at least ten years.
"I was on a jet here a few months ago with some kids from Prince of Wales who were in a NASP program," he said. "One of the kids placed very high at state, and he got to go to nationals in Tennessee, and placed sixteenth in nationals and he got to go on and shoot in South Africa. I was like 'Whoa.' This sounds like a really cool opportunity for our students."
Students are generally so enthusiastic about the program they will do anything to participate, even homework, Miller said.
Students are better behaved and hand in more homework on time during archery season, Miller said. Students are expected to maintain standards of homework and behavior equal to that for other after-school activities.
Students who participate in the activity will eventually compete in a statewide virtual tournament at the end of March. Scores from schools all over Alaska will shoot 60 arrows and then post their scores to measure up. The team hopes to capitalize on pupils' existing archery skills, Miller said.
"In Alaska, a lot of kids take their bows out and go hunting," she said. "We have some excellent shooters. For one set, they get to shoot five arrows. For one set, their score can be 50 if they hit the bull's-eye five times. We had one student in our first class who shot a 46."
"We've got some great potential here," she said. "We're really excited about the program."
The program could be potentially expanded to the high school if enough students were enthusiastic.
The range is mostly silent, save for the hiss of the arrows, the soft sound of them striking the target, and the occasional bout of giggles. Students are instructed to remain as quiet as possible (for middle schoolers) so they can hear and obey safety instructions. A series of notes blown on a coaching whistle indicate various instructions.
Trevor Miller, 12, Jenn Miller's son, said he enjoys the program, even if he hasn't yet gone hunting.
His favorite part is "to watch the arrow hit the target and see how high I can get," he said. "It's really fun."
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