Archery at BMS teaching more than shooting skills

During the month of December, I have had the opportunity to instruct students across all grades at Brewton Middle School in safe use of archery equipment.

During the first week of December, students were instructed in range safety and about types of bows (longbow, recurve, and compound), their parts, and the advantages of types of bows available.

After a couple of days of safety instruction, students were each individually coached through their first shot to make sure they knew where to nock their arrow and how the fletchings of the arrow were supposed to line up so that they didn’t damage equipment.

After being coached through their first shot, they were able to shoot more independently as I directed the groups with whistle commands.

As the groups shot their flights of arrows, I would be able to watch the group and provide input on their shooting form or any other encouragement that would help them shoot more effectively.

During this second week of December, students have continued to practice shooting at 10 meters from the target and 7th & 8th grades will move back to practice at 20 meters later this week.

Next week, we will have a mini-competition with 5th & 6th grades shooting at 10 meters and 7th & 8th shooting at both 10 & 20 meters.

Top students from each grade will receive passes to eat at a booth with friends during lunch.

Throughout the archery unit, we have sought to teach the students that, above all else, their sportsmanship should be on display, not their competitive nature.

A lot of times, especially when we taught them how to keep score, students wanted to compare their scores with their neighbors.

We reminded them that their standard for how well they are doing should only be whether or not they are doing better than they did the day before or the round before.

In case you didn’t know, if you are interested in archery, there is now a 3-D range with three deer targets set up at the E.O. Wilson Park which was brought to you by Steve Layton and the City of Brewton.

Also, our archery club has been meeting the First and Third Tuesdays of each month in.the BMS gym from 6-7:15pm and we have had around 24 youth participating in archery this year, more than double the numbers we had last year.

If you would like to help teach and instruct in archery with 4-H, please contact our office to get registered and trained as a 4-H volunteer.

We need help with archery, especially as the program continues to grow.

 
 
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