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| Serving Callaway County communities since 1875. | www.fultonsun.com | Saturday, March 20, 2010 |
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New Bloomfield schools to begin archery training By DON NORFLEET The Fulton Sun
The program was started after New Bloomfield school board member Gracia Backer heard about a grant program offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation to introduce archery training in schools. New Bloomfield school administrators applied for and received a $500 grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation as part of its participation in the National Archery in Schools Program that now operates in 46 states. The New Bloomfield School District also applied for and received another $500 grant from Bass Pro Shops to buy equipment for the training. To be eligible for the Department of Conservation grant, a teacher at the school must complete eight hours of archery training at the Department of Conservation. In New Bloomfield's case, three teachers underwent the training. They are Julie Trammell, Kelly Randle and Brian Center. All are now certified instructors. The school used the grant money to purchase six Matthew Genesis bows, arrows, targets and curtains. Trammell said the program will begin by forming an after-school club to participate in archery training. She said the school also will then begin to try to schedule other schools in the area for archery competition. "The beauty of this is that many students who do not participate in athletic competitions will be able to participate in this activity," Trammell said. Brian Flowers, an outdoor skills specialist at the Department of Conservation, said 76 schools in Missouri are participating in the department's grant for archery training. The Missouri program started last year and the first school to participate was the Shawnee R-3 School in Henry County. Improved attendance and better behavior are among the reasons schools give for participating in Missouri's Archery in the Schools Program, Flowers said. The standardized archery instruction curriculum is designed for grades 4 through 12. This spring the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Conservation Department agreed to co-lead the state's archery education efforts. Flowers said several school teachers in Mid-Missouri have undergone archery training in order to qualify for an archery grant from the department and to introduce archery in their schools. Flowers said in addition to New Bloomfield, other schools in Mid-Missouri that sent teachers to the Conservation Department for archery training are South Callaway, Southern Boone, Harrisburg, Jefferson City Middle Schools, and schools at Otterville, Belle, Owensville, Iberia, Camdenton and the School of the Osage. Flowers said the $500 Bass Pro Shops grant comes in the form of a credit for archery equipment purchased at the store. One of the better grants is available through Easton Arrow Manufacturing Co. He said the firm approves 30 grants in the United States worth $3,000 each year. "I am told that last year they had only 50 applications for the grant. So schools involved in the program should be aware of this," Flowers said. Flowers said a complete archery kit for schools actively involved in the program costs about $2,700. "That includes 12 bows, five or six targets and other related equipment. But nearly all of the schools starting the program are beginning with whatever grant money they can raise. They don't need a lot of equipment to start," Flowers said. Flowers said many universities offer archery competition and some of them may offer scholarships. It also is an Olympic sport. More than 1.4 million students participate in the archery program nationwide. Archery training also is of interest to hunters and people involved in sport fishing. Flowers said the archery hunting season in Missouri for deer and turkey runs roughly from September to January. He said bow fishing is permitted throughout the year for rough fish such as carp, gar and buffalo. "It is not permitted for game fish," Flowers said. More information about archery training for students is available at www.mdc.mo.gov/masp on the state level and at www.archeryintheschools.org on the national level. |
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