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BROKEN BOW - New archery equipment has been purchased and will be shared between four Custer County schools thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.
Callaway, Ansley, Anselmo-Merna and Broken Bow are the recipients of 11 compound bows, five dozen arrows, five targets and a safety curtain. Archery equipment companies greatly discounted the prices of their products to help the Nebraska Game and Parks award the grant. The archery equipment will be used on a rotational basis in physical education classes at each school.
According to Randy Loughran, who teaches Broken Bow's seventh-grade boys physical education class, the students will learn the proper techniques of shooting a bow and arrow, a skill that, for some students, may develop into a life-long activity.
"You don't have to be a jock to do this and girls are going as good as boys," Loughran said.
Along with the learning the 10-step shooting sequence, which includes stance, drawing the bow, holding and aiming, the release and follow through, students are also taught whistle commands that are nationally known.
Loughran said one whistle means the shooter is to walk up to the shooting line. Two whistles instruct the students to commence shooting, while three whistles give them clearance to retrieve their arrows. Four whistles indicate an emergency on the shooting range and students must immediately stop shooting and return their bows to the storage case.
Devin O'Brien, a student in Loughran's class, said, "It's good to learn to do (archery) properly, because if we missed, it could be deadly."
Christina Nelson of Nelson Archery in Berwyn trained the physical education teachers to become archery instructors.
"I think the archery in schools program is a great way to get archery introduced to young kids who might never get an opportunity to hold a bow and arrow," she said.
Loughran said along with the two-week archery unit this fall, his PE class will enjoy another two-week archery unit in the spring, when the students will have activities such as shooting balloons and participating in tournaments.
Some people shy away from team sports because they may not be as athletic as others, but Nelson said archery is an individual sport that anyone can do and maybe even excel at it.
"Whatever their special need is, they can still do archery," she said. For example, Nelson said there are people with asthma who cannot participate in other sports due to required running or those in wheelchairs who do archery and may even excel at it.
Broken Bow seventh-grader Jake Hunsberger said he likes doing archery because it's out of the ordinary scope of PE activities.
Classmate Michael Scott agreed, "I like archery because I don't get to do it that often," he said.
Loughran said that in Broken Bow the archery equipment and skills will be used for grades 7-12, but at least one of the other schools is teaching the unit to students as young as fifth grade.