BROWNSTOWN
If all goes as planned, Brownstown Central Community School Corp. is on target to start archery this school year.
New Superintendent Tim Taylor hopes the sport hits the bullseye for students in elementary, middle school and high school.
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The corporation is in the beginning stage of getting involved with the National Archery in the Schools Program. The in-school program is aimed at improving educational performance among students in grades 4 through 12, and through it, students learn focus, self-control, discipline, patience and the life lessons required to be successful in the classroom and in life, according to naspschools.org.
Seymour is the only other Jackson County school that offers it now, and it’s popular at schools in nearby Jennings and Scott counties.
Taylor was the principal at Jennings County High School from July 1, 2008, to Dec. 31, 2014, when it was offered at the school. The program still is strong there on an annual basis, and Hayden Elementary School, which is in the same school corporation, won a national title earlier this year.
“The program has been up and running for some time there, and it only made sense that we would try to develop a program here,” Taylor said of adding it to the Brownstown extracurricular offerings.
Taylor recently had a discussion with school officials about archery and noted area schools have had success with it.
“With archery, you may have some crossover with some of your athletes from other sports, but you’re also opening it up to a whole other audience of students who may not be involved in anything at school, and this piques their interest and gives them a chance to showcase their talents and get involved and have that sense of belonging, all of those things that come with it,” he said.
He sees a lot of benefits in archery.
“Maybe athletics isn’t their interest. Maybe this is their interest and they can go out and they can represent their school and they can develop some school pride in different avenues than is traditional,” he said.
“You know how kids are — you get involved in something at school, you get excited about it, the school gets excited about you, all of a sudden, your grades come up a little bit, your attendnace is a little better,” he said. “All positive residuals with being involved in programs at school.”
Taylor also said there’s not too much overhead as far as equipment, and any child, even those with disabilities, can participate in archery.
Plus, it’s a sport that people can be involved in for as long as they wish, like golf and bowling.
“These are also lifelong sports, lifelong activities,” Taylor said. “Most kids aren’t going to play football past 18, but if you learn to shoot, that’s something you can do forever.”
In developing the program at Brownstown, Taylor said he plans to talk to Jason Gambrel, coach of the Hayden team, and others he knows involved in the NASP program.
Along with bullseye targets, Taylor said there is a 3D target aspect of the program.
“I know some schools that have done it. I haven’t been a part of that, but we’re looking at building a program,” he said.
Brownstown will have to hire coaches and have them go through certifications, and equipment would have to be purchased.
“I hope to have it second semester,” Taylor said. “Maybe I’m too ambitious. I don’t know because I don’t know the amount of work. I’m not trying to discount the amount of work, but if we’re aggressive with it … we’ve got four months to get it figured out.”