Physical education teachers from throughout the School District of Fort Atkinson participated in an archery-certification program Monday afternoon.
Terry Berndt, certified Basic Archery Instructor Training (BAIT) trainer with the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP), worked with the educators at the Fort Atkinson Middle School gymnasium during early-release time.
Participating were members of the district’s K-12 Physical Education Professional Learning Community Team (PLC): Jeff Jensen, PLC leader who organized the training; and Brian Bosch, Nate Breit, Jeffrey Jensen, Michael DeRugbeis, Chris Reed, Greg Riddell, Meghann Green, Michelle Hanson, Erik Stafford, Taylor Jarzynski, Michael Hintz and Elizabeth Colver.
The NASP is an in-school program aimed at improving educational performance among students in grades 4-12. In addition to archery skills, students learn focus, self-control, discipline, patience and the life lessons required to be successful in the classroom and in life.
“I feel lucky that our district afforded us the opportunity as a K-12 group of physical education teachers to attend the NASP training and get certified. This is something that our students will all be able to benefit from and it’s also something that was pretty enjoyable and interesting to go through as an educator,” Bosch, business/physical education teacher and assistant athletic director at Fort Atkinson High School, said.
He noted that the National Archery in the Schools Program has grown to be a global program.
“The program has standardized equipment and puts everyone on a level playing field regardless of size, speed, strength, etc. It’s something that all of our students can find success with if they put in the time. Seeing students who may not be super competitive or athletic find success in physical education classes is extremely rewarding and archery is one of those activities that allows for this to happen,” Bosch continued.
Jensen, a Purdy Elementary School physical education teacher, said that this marks the tenth year of the school district offering an archery club for students.
“The archery club currently has 115 participants for the 2021-22 school year,” Jensen said, noting that the district has a high school, middle school and elementary school archery team.
“Purdy Elementary School is the only elementary out of four (elementary schools) in the district participating at the archery club level with 24 members. The Fort Atkinson Archery Club participates in local, state and national archery tournaments,” Jensen added.
He said that the NASP archery program in the district is taught by NASP-certified physical education teachers at the high school and middle school, and at two of the four elementary schools for fourth- and fifth-graders during physical education classes.
“Archery has had a positive impact on my life and the lives of all my students in fourth and fifth grade at Purdy Elementary School,” Jensen continued.
The certification marked a milestone for the district, Candice Sayre, academic advancement coordinator in the School District of Fort Atkinson, said
“Having our 1Fort physical education educators archery-certified is definitely a measure of distinction for our district’s K-12 physical education programming. Not only was this great shared learning for the team, but archery will provide our 1Fort students with experiences in physical education that promote the development of many physical and social-emotional skills that are not solely exclusive to archery itself,” Sayre added.
Prior to Monday’s hands-on training, the physical education educators studied materials on which they were tested.
At top, instructor Terry Berndt asks the School District of Fort Atkinson teachers participating Monday in archery training to take their “string bow” out of their program packets. Next, teachers, pictured above, practiced with them. The rope’s loop is adjusted to the length of the archer’s draw length. It is used for isometric exercises and is good for finding muscles in the back from which to pull, the instructor explained.
Two photos above: The teachers line up in the gym before taking their first draw.
At top, Instructor Terry Berndt, at left, observes the teachers as they “nock” and then draw their bows. “Nocking” is fitting the bow string into the arrow’s notch, which is called a “nock.” Above, teachers draw their bows.
The targets fill with arrows after the first round of shooting.
Chris Spangler photos.
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