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Excerpts from Educators replies to surveys
I cannot begin to express to you the level of enjoyment our school district has enjoyed from the National Archery in the Schools Program! As soon as I heard the program was coming to PA, I got the ball rolling in our district and it has not stopped. In this, the inaugural year, we had archery equipment in the hands of over 850 Middle school students. I have been teaching in Phoenixville for eight years now and have not see the kind of excitement from my students like I did for the archery program. I even have 25 students who come to school at 6:15 AM every Monday, just for the opportunity to shoot with me before school! That same group of students accompanied me to the State Championships in Harrisburg and took second place! Now, even more are interested. My archery summer course is already full! I wish I could articulately place into words the value of this program. I have seen student growth that I would not have believed possible. I have seen students' self-esteem increase first hand. One particular student told me that he would not be going to the State Championships. He was to scared and afraid of embarrassing himself. Two weeks prior, he had only scored 9 points with 5 arrows. I tried my best to talk him into going and eventually prevailed. The first end, he was the last shooter left and all eyes were on him. He drilled an "X". The look on his face was one I will never forget. In one instant, he realized that he CAN do this, he CAN succeed. Personally, this is the beautiful part of NASP. The kids can take competition to any level that they want, by competing with others or simply with themselves. Thank you for the time and effort that was put into this program Hopefully, it will continue to grow, benefiting every school in the state. Sincerely, Andrew Frey, Health & Physical Education Teacher (Now at Twin Valley High School)
"Our students, many of which have never been exposed to archery have truly enjoyed the opportunity. We have received nothing but positive feedback from students, parents, staff members, our administration and our school board. Our PE staff was asked to make a presentation to the school board, where we went through the NASP lesson. We explained and demonstrated how we teach the students and then gave the board members the opportunity to shoot. It was a huge success and the feedback we received was extremely positive and gratifying." John Burnett, Health & Physical Education Instructor, Karns City Area High School
"All of our , students enjoyed the sport and were thrilled to take part in the state tournament on March 31st. One of our students, as you know, placed 2nd in the tournament and that was a boost to her morale. More importantly, all of our students had a chance to compete in a sport that they trained for. This, for many of them, was the first time that they had a chance to compete in a sport, because they didn't have to be tall, quick, strong or have great "ball skills." Kurt Enck, Teacher, Manheim Township School District
"I am very
happy to say that the archery program is a wonderful
addition to our physical education curriculum at Huntington
Area Middle School. All of our students have participated in
the program for two years and we have all levels of students
participating. We have mentally challenged students and
students in wheel chairs participating with one of the wheel
chair students becoming class champion. Even students that
do not normally enjoy physical education class look forward
to our archery unit. We have ordered more equipment for next
year due to the excitement and participation in the program.
Thank you for keeping us up to date on
material." Vickie L. Schneider, Health and
Physical Education Teacher, Huntington Area Middle School,
Huntington, Pennsylvania, 16652
The PA NASP
was a new addition to our Physical Education Curriculum this
year. Parents, students and teaching staff were extremely
excited to hear of this new activity that was accompanied by
state of the art archery equipment. Every student in our
Middle School (grades 6 - 8) experienced a 3 - week archery
unit. Listed below are some of the benefits our students
achieved while participating in the NASP: Students
experienced and became comfortable utilizing archery
equipment (some for the very first time). Physical
Education teachers witnessed student improvement in
accuracy, concentration and focus. Physical Education class
participation increases during this unit of study. Student
self-confidence blossomed. Students who we may consider to
be "non-athletic" really took to this activity and were
quite successful. We were able to easily incorporate
cross-curricular instruction/assessment in the archery unit.
(Math/La). Through this unit we were able to meet multiple
State Physical Education Standards. Archery is a
lifetime/outdoor activity and we are very proud to say that
many of our students inquired and purchased their own
archery equipment to use at home. A highlight to our NASP at
Twin Valley was the opportunity to take some of our students
to the 1st PA NASP Tournament. Parents, students and
teachers were thrilled to see our school successfully
compete. All who were involved cannot wait until next years
tournament event. If the NASP program were to no longer
exist, our parents, student body and staff would be
extremely disappointed. The Twin Valley Middle School
students purely enjoyed their archery experience and do not
want it to come to an end.
Sincerely -
The Twin Valley Middle School Health & Physical Education
Department
| To whom it
may Concern:
I am an elementary school teacher with thirty years experience. I recently attended the first
Pennsylvania NASP tournament in Harrisburg as a
Volunteer judge. While I have not yet
experienced the actual teaching of the program
in my school, I was impressed at the results I
witnessed during this tournament. I am a
firm proponent of emphasizing the positive in
order to elicit change and encourage students to
think positively. In the classroom it is
necessary. The NASP uses this positive
reinforcement in its instruction. That was
evident during the tournament, not only from the
coaches in attendance, but among the students as
well. They encouraged each other and were
respectful of individual differences. What a
wonderful tool with which to equip our students
in any arena. Most high schools offer a variety
of sports in which students are able to
participate. However, many of them are sports
that will be played during their Middle and high
School years, rarely to be played after
graduation. Archery offers a life-long activity.
In addition, many of the sports offered are not
accessible to students with certain physical
handicaps. The NASP allows for adaptations so it
can be available to more of the students. As an
elementary teacher, I tend to focus on how I can
integrate a variety of skills into a single
lesson. While at the tournament I was able to
observe not only eye-hand coordination and
strength skills, but other skill building
opportunities. The students had to use math
skills to add up their scores. They had to
cooperate when scoring their arrows with one
scoring and one recording. They were also
problem solving as they negotiated how to score
an arrow that was near a line. They focused not
only on their own individual results, but the
results of their team. It is becoming
increasingly challenging for teachers to find a
"hook" for all students. We are constantly
looking for ways to connect with reluctant
learners to get them to engage in education. I
can envision this program being that "hook" for
students that may not be the best athletes or
the most gifted students. I would hope that this
program can continue to grow in Pennsylvania.
Sincerely,
Vicki Mundy
To Whom It May
Concern:
As a Physical
Educator, I want all of my students to have or
experience success while in my class, With the
implementation of the Archery into our
curriculum, I noticed several different students
experiencing success with this activity versus
other activities we use in Physical Education
class. Many students are eager to learn more
about archery as a competitive sport. Archery
can be a life-long activity which is important
considering the inactivity we see among many
teens which can lead to life-long health
problems. This program has been beneficial for
many people and should continue to be
implemented throughout schools so that more
opportunities to lead an active lifestyle are
available for our youth.
Sincerely, Carolyn Kopnisky,
Hermitage School District, Hickory High School
Health and Physical Education Teacher |
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