MDWFP program introduces thousands of youth to archery.
Promoting archery as a physical-education activity in schools has become one Mississippi man’s mission.
Avid sportsman Waldo Cleland of Columbia has always enjoyed archery and bowhunting. He’s also passionate about competitive archery, and since turning pro in 1992, he’s won five national titles.
As state coordinator for the Archery in Mississippi Schools program, AIMS, his goal is getting archery taught in as many schools as he can.
The program is part of the on-going effort by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the MWFP Foundation to attract Mississippi youth into the outdoors and to support schools in their effort to encourage physical fitness. The project was adopted by Mississippi in 2005, but didn’t go active until early 2007, once instructors were trained.
Open to grades 4th through 12th, public and private schools can either choose to use the program as Physical Education class curriculum, as an after-school activity, or both.
Archery is a great option for schools because it’s a sport nearly everyone, regardless of age, size or physical ability, can be successful at.
“Kids that are not normally competitive in the ball sports, this kind of puts them on a level playing field with the athletic children,” said Cleland. “Students that can do the archery and excel in it are usually not the same children that we have in the ball sports.
“There’s also no sitting on the bench. If you put a team together with 24 kids on it, all 24 kids get to shoot and all 24 children get their scores.”
Cleland says along with learning the safety rules of an archery range and the actual sport of shooting a bow and scoring the arrows, kids are also learning discipline, respect and self-esteem.
Studies show that school archery programs actually improve classroom performance and reduce drop-out rates as well.
“It’s great with math because they quickly add the arrows. There’s five arrows, and they range from 10 to 1 on the scoring, so you may have a child look at a target and say, ‘OK, I got two 10s which is a 20, 9 which is 29, 7 which is 36 and a 4 which is 40,’” said Cleland. “The math teachers seem to love that.
“There’s quite a bit of history involved in it also, of course through our American heritage with the Indians and then well before that with World History also.”
Cleland said he’s had very good experiences working with kids through the program.
“When a child is given a bow in the school, there’s a certain amount of trust that goes with that responsibility,” he said. “And it seems like it has really made them step up.”
As far as promoting outdoor activities, the program appears to be having an impact across the country.
“Responsive management surveys in other states have reported that 35 to 40 percent of the kids that shoot in this two-week program, or longer, show interest in hunting, fishing or an outdoor activity,” said Cleland. “That’s what we’re trying to do — get kids enjoying the outdoors, getting them away from the computers and electronics.”
The archery program is currently in 217 schools in Mississippi, but that number is continuing to grow, to the delight of Cleland.
“Last year we had 20,742 children who went through the program,” he said. “We just hired four district coordinators to work all over the state.
“It is just booming. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s unreal.”
To accommodate the expansion, a 9,000-square-foot archery center dedicated to the National Archery in Schools program was built in Jackson. Participating schools bring their students on field trips to the impressive indoor shooting facility to hone their skills.
If you’re interested in starting this program at your school, email Waldo Cleland or call him at 601.674.0777.
You can also log onto the MDWFP Web site and click on the Archery in Mississippi Schools logo on the left column sidebar to find out more.
Only a few steps need to be taken to meet the program requirements. Participating schools must purchase a $2,800 kit, which includes bows, arrows, targets and a large hanging backdrop to protect facilities, and two instructors from each school must attend a one-day training seminar, which is offered free of charge by The Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Foundation.
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