Department Of Education And Archery
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Archery Enters Higher Education
April 6, 2011
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice
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These kids are hitting the mark and making their shots count in the annual Archery in the Schools state tournament. Tens of thousands of kids have taken part in the seven years the Division of Natural Resources has been running the show, and the department of education plays a key role in getting schools on board.
Jerry Workman, with the West Virginia Department of Education, says his agency is behind the program 100 percent. "The office of Healthy Schools supports Archery In The Schools, it's truly a success story. Any time you can get our students involved in outdoor activities, physically involved, we're trying to get everyone to try lifetime sports and if we could get everyone involved, we wouldn't have to worry about obesity, about type two diabetes."
Those are just a couple of problems people in our state deal with. Studies show increasing exercise and physical activity decreases your risk of these two ailments. As nice as the Archery in the Schools program is, it won't continue to grow unless there are enough people to teach the program and run the tournament. When a major university like Marshall gets involved, you know you're on the right track.
"We have a physical education program and this is a natural fit that we want to participate in, and this is the sort of thing we should be teaching in the physical education program. It's a natural program for our students to participate and learn how to develop programs which includes Archery in the Schools and put on a big tournament for the kids like this."
That's exactly the sort of thing that will keep the program growing for years to come.
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