When the elementary school wrestling program was installed at École du Sommet a few years ago, the intent was that the sport could help improve the confidence level of students, promote inclusiveness in school and, of course, help improve students’ strength and fitness.
Since it’s introduction, the wrestling program has been successful in achieving all of those goals as the popularity continues to rise throughout the years.
The school is now hoping to duplicate that success with the introduction of an archery program at the start of the 2015-16 school year.
Ken Cook, the assistant program administrator of the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) in Alberta, advocates that archery, just like wrestling, is a pursuit that any kid can enjoy.
“We have seen young people that for whatever reason have never found anything, end up finding archery. We have seen these young people build their self-confidence in doing archery and end up being able to compete in provincials against other young people,” says Cook.
Teachers from École du Sommet spent time last week taking a course offered by NASP in order to provide effective archery education in the fall. The course consisted of hands-on archery technique training coupled with theory.
Principal Karen Chalmers-Beaulieu, and staff members Alain Mahé and David Filion are now certified as NASP Basic Archery Instructors.
“Students were taking a peak into the gym while we were doing our archery on Monday,” says Chalmers Beaulieu. “They are really excited about archery coming to the school.”
The program will be available to students from Grade 4 to Grade 12.
Filion, the school’s athletic director, is hoping École du Sommet can gain some notoriety with its archery program to a similar degree that it did with wrestling.
There are definitely many opportunities for kids to shine with this sport. There are provincial, national and world championship competitions that are hosted annually.
“This sport allows students to have a lot of great travel opportunities,” says Cook.
Filion intends for his students to participate in tournaments during the next school year, although there are no plans to host a local competition just yet. Since the Alberta Hunter Education Instructors Association (AHEIA) introduced a NASP program in 2009, a total of 200 schools have signed on to include archery as a component of their physical education curriculums.
