For students interested in all things nature, Outdoor Education may be the perfect class. Recently, these students have learned the art of archery, a sport that is often overlooked in a typical P.E. class. The skill can provide multiple health benefits as well as become a source of entertainment for students learning it.

“Archery helps train focus, hand-eye coordination, and improves upper body strength just like other sports,” teacher Justin Koons said. “To control your body and the bow in archery it demands strength in the upper arms, chest, shoulders, and core. Not everyone is a traditional sport athlete and although archery isn’t an ‘active’ sport, it still takes what any other sport takes to become good; practice and training. I like archery because it gives students an opportunity to explore something completely different than the usual.”

Students spent one week honing their skills for a class-wide tournament that had a specific structure and allowed students to show off their newly acquired skills. They accumulated points for accuracy over two different days and from two different distances to compete against their peers.

“[Archery] is a fun sport. I am looking forward to seeing my improvement from our first week,” freshman Morgan Bishop said. “I’m really focusing on increasing my accuracy.”

After the students’ first week of practice with the bow, a few of them have expressed their positive experience learning the sport, and their hopes for the tournament that was to come.

“I find it easy to start but hard to master because a lot of practice is required to get more points. I’m excited to see where I stand against other people and hopefully win the tournament,” senior Grace Sullivan said. “After trying it here, I am definitely interested in doing it more outside of school.”