The sophomore class under the supervision of Mr. Brumwell, is enjoying the archery class during their P.E. hour.
By Robert Lucke
In case you haven't noticed, when you drive by the high school you will see kids out shooting bows and arrows at targets. Those same targets will be at the elementary school next week.
It is a new physical education sport for Big Sandy said PE instructor Larry Brumwell.
"It all started as a half joke," said Brumwell. "Brad Moore said that he had identified some grant money that could be used for an aspect of physical education and sent me to look at what we might be able to use in Big Sandy."
Brumwell said that he went to Bozeman where he saw kids almost all inside of giant bubble balls. It really looked like fun so Brumwell came home and recommended the purchase of bubble balls. Then the insurance man reared his ugly head and said that didn't fit the insurance profile so it was archery. The grant money paid for archery equipment and a new sport, so to speak, for Big Sandy kids.
There was a program that came with the equipment that recommended the use of the archery equipment be from the fourth grade to the twelfth grade.
"Right now the equipment is at the high school but next week it will be at the grade school," added Brumwell.
Brumwell added that the course is very flexible. He wants to get in a good four weeks at the high school then three weeks at the elementary school than it will be put away until spring.
"One of the goals is to give kids a skill they can use the rest of their lives," said Brumwell. "Kids are already using archery at home due to the program and of course bringing home wild game with a bow and arrow is something that can be learned from this program."
Brumwell said the class is using Genesis Bows that can be set from ten to twenty pounds. When the program gets over to the grade school, the bows will be on the light side so kids can learn the whole technique of archery because the bows will be set on an easy pull.
"Archery is a very positive experience for kids here," added Brumwell. "It is something different that most of them have done before."
Following is information about the course of study from this program as presented to participating schools.
Educators are looking for ways to improve student motivation, attention, behavior, attendance, and focus. Teachers strive to achieve state and national educational standards regarding development of micro and macro motor ability and listening `and observation skills. They hope to engage each student in the educational process and develop relationships to promote graduation instead of drop-out.
Wildlife Conservation agencies are concerned too many young people are forgoing learning outdoor skills that will inspire them to spend more time with wild things in wild places. Natural resource professionals are convinced learning target shooting skills will result in character and self-reliance development that will serve the future of wildlife conservation well.
The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP©) was developed to serve these specific educational and conservation purposes. NASP© was co-created by the Kentucky Departments of Fish & Wildlife Resources and Department of Education and Mathews Archery in the late summer and fall of 2001. The program was launched in 21 Kentucky middle schools on March 3, 2002. Originally called the "Kentucky Archery in the Schools Program", the effort's goal was to enroll 120 schools and teach target archery skills to 24,000 students each year. Kentucky gave itself three years to achieve this goal.
Within the program's first year the 120-school goal was achieved and because of neighbor-state interest, "National" replaced "Kentucky" in the program's name. NASP© also expanded its participation standards to include students in 4th-12th grade. Shortly afterwards NASP© was granted 501 c(3) non-profit educational foundation status. NASP© is overseen by an all-volunteer board of directors. Every state, province and country enrolled in NASP© has a "Coordinator" in charge of leading the program in their jurisdiction.
ARCHERY CURRICULUM
Units of Study were written by Education, Conservation, and Target archery experts to meet state and national educational standards. This enabled NASP® to speak the language of educators who are intent on teaching core content throughout the school day. These units were designed for inclusion in a school's Physical Education curriculum but in a few NASP® schools these archery lessons are presented by history, language, art, and even Spanish teacher.
All rights reserved. NASP®, the NASP® logo and all other NASP® marks contained herein are trademarks of NASP® Intellectual Property and/or NASP® affiliated companies
TEACHER TRAINING
Instructor Training was developed so teachers in every participating school could be certified to present NASP® lessons that are safe for students, instructors, bystanders, and the facility. Teachers have a choice of being certified as NASP® Basic Archery Instructors (BAI – 8 hours) or Basic Archery Instructor Trainers (BAIT--24 hours). To date more than 50,000 people have been certified by NASP®. During the training teachers learn how to set up and operate a safe archery range in their gymnasium. They are taught whistle signals which are used to move students to various taped lines on the range floor or ground to "get bows", "shoot", and "go get arrows". They learn how to determine a student's "Dominant Eye" and make a "String Bow®" training aid to teach the "Eleven Steps to Archery Success" -- archer form, shot execution, and follow-through. Teachers are provided extensive advice on how to provide positive coaching. Finally, sessions are conducted to explain inspection, maintenance and operation of the bows and arrows.
All rights reserved. NASP®, the NASP® logo and all other NASP® marks contained herein are trademarks of NASP® Intellectual Property and/or NASP® affiliated companies
