Out in the fresh air, students in the archery unit are learning more than just their aim. Shooting arrows teaches them more than accuracy, it’s about staying patient, focused, and disciplined in what they do.

“Archery has a lot to go on in it,” lifetime reaction outdoors and wrestling coach Justin Koons said.“There’s a little bit of focus and there’s a whole lot to do with your upper body, positioning. You need to be patient because you are not going to do well at the first time.” 

To help the students get more comfortable, Koons gives them the biggest target possible. 

“A lot of kids miss, a lot of kids don’t hit the middle, and score not that great,” Koons said. “So, we actually start off back of the target, which just gives them a big general mass target to hit, not a middle of a traditional target and so we give them little tips on ways to shoot better. And as they shoot better we concentrate on aiming and getting close to the middle and hopefully they can be pretty decent but it takes a lot of focus, a lot of discipline and some patience because  without it you are gonna constantly get miss. ”

And when it comes to picking up a new skill, freshman Ananya Yanne says this unit hits the target. 

“I am really excited about it because it allows many students to do archery because most people have not done archery before,” Yanne said. “And it’s like a really cool sport to try out.”