“May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor”
What do these words and phrases all have in common? "Cam, wheel, string, cable, limb, grip, riser, rest, arrow, fletching, nock point, and "bow on toe"?
They are all parts of the bows & arrows that the Clearbrook-Gonvick elementary students are learning about during this year’s archery class. Mr. Christianson and Mrs. Eck are team-teaching an archery unit with grades four through six during their Phy.Ed. classes. Thanks to a local grant and aid from the Fosston Sportsman Club, this is the third year that archery has been taught at C-G School. It’s the first year that the elementary classes have participated. Mr. Christianson hopes to expand this program by introducing it to the younger ages to spark interest for an after school archery program. The "coolest" part about this archery program is that kids from C-G could compete against any school in the state WITHOUT any traveling, as the scoring is done in our own gymnasium. This eliminates stress and anxiety that other TEAM sports may have. In brief, the athletes would shoot a total of 30 arrows, 15 from a 10-meter distance and 15 from a 15–meter round. Each arrow is worth a possible 10 points, making a perfect score of 300.
During their archery week, grades 7-12 kept track of their arrows and scored. "Several scores were in the 240-270 range which is VERY decent , especially for only having one week of practice. Techniques and proper forms were impressive and many students shot arrows in consistent areas," commented Mr. Christianson.
Walking into the gym, one would think you would hear the typical Phy.Ed. class screaming and cheering, but it’s all business with the organization, safety, and concentration of the bow shooters. Mr. Christianson rarely has to use his voice. He leads the class with commands using a whistle.
For each tone of the whistle, there is a word and a matching phrase:
One whistle tweet means "shoot."
Two tweets means "get bow."
Three tweets means "get your arrows."
To date, the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) has had zero injuries related to the shooting of bows. It is a VERY safe program, and the reason is because of the consistency of the program with whistle commands. Students are trained to listen to the whistle, not a voice. For this reason, if a student transfers to/from a different school, it would be consistent.
This program teaches patience. You can know the rules, watch your classmates, and execute proper form, but without repetition and patience with yourself, you won’t be successful. It takes time. Some students are naturals, but it’s also ok to try and struggle.
Students use compound bows that are fully adjustable from 10-20 pound draws and 18-30 inches, fitting 99% of shooters. The program teaches anchor points and aiming points. These fundamental basic skills and techniques can easily translate into their personal hunting skills.
"I was very excited to see how excited THEY were. When I asked the students if they would be interested in participating in an after school archery program, about 80% of their hands shot into the air. To have that many students interested after only having one-week of exposure is impressive," said Mr. Christianson.
The Clearbrook-Gonvick School would like to thank the Fosston Sportsman Club for their aid in the program and also the elementary teachers for allowing their students the extra minutes taken for the safety class introduction.
Students Comments:
"I liked how we got to shoot the bow." - Gracie C. "Mr. Christianson didn’t let us get hurt." - Abby E. "I loved shooting arrows." - Trisha M. "It was fun because of the shooting." –Madison "It was cool!" - Hailey "It was interesting because you had to hit the middle of the target." -Joseph "I liked it!" –Jesse "I think that I want to do archery all year! I learned to never over-draw your bow, plus never cross the line. I am left-eye dominant." -Isaac C. "Archery is fun! I learned which is my dominant eye and the anchor points of shooting. (I also got 5-6 bulls-eyes)." -Kyle G.