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By CANDY NEAL
Herald Staff Writer

FERDINAND Eleven seventh-grade boys stood in line, legs apart, feet on either side of the green line on Forest Park Junior-Senior High Schools gym floor.

They watched their teacher, Matt Sisley, on their right while a bow rested on the toe of each boys left shoe.

After checking the boys stances, Sisley gave the signal: one blow of his whistle. The boys then lifted their bows, picked up arrows and started shooting to their left, trying to hit one of five targets on the other side of the gym.

That type of self-control is one of the things students learn through archery, Sisley said.

They learn discipline. Everything is a whistle command, he said, while keeping an eye on his students. They learn coordination.

Forest Park incorporated archery into its physical education program this school year. Equipment was purchased through the National Archery in the Schools Program and teachers were trained by Indiana conservation officers. Close to 500 students have gone through the classes, which is available to all physical education students, said Vicki Beach, who also teaches the sport at Forest Park. The current four-week program will end next week.

The Northeast Dubois School Corp. will incorporate the same program into its physical education program. Northeast Dubois High School sophomores started the two-week program today, teacher Roger Elliott said. Dubois Middle Schools three-week program will start next school year, Principal Bill Hochgesang said.

Northeast Dubois High School has had an outdoor archery class for 15 years. Weve been teaching it with ragtag equipment, Elliott said, and we split the class (of students) between archery and tennis. This is the first time well shoot indoors.

There will be about 30 students in the class. But many more are interested. Weve already had a lot of kids talking about their interest, Elliott said.

The archery kit for Northeasts program, which cost $2,800, was paid for through the National Wild Turkey Federation and with donations from local businesses and organizations, said Dubois resident Jerry Lindauer.

He is the one who originally approached Northeast administrators about adding the training to the physical education curriculum. Lindauer has been shooting archery for about four years and is a certified pistol instructor for the Indiana Hunters Education Association and Dubois County 4-H Shooting Sports. His seventh-grader son, Ryan, and third-grader daughter, Ashley, shoot at home; he and Ryan also use three-dimensional targets at Patoka and Beaver lakes.

I strongly support this for education, Lindauer said. It teaches kids discipline, responsibility and self-control. It helps them to achieve self-goals. It gets them involved in activity and builds self-confidence.

At Forest Park, as the first 11 boys shot Wednesday, the 13 other seventh-graders gave encouraging comments from the floor behind them.

Gary Cunningham got his team off to a good start by hitting the target in his first round of shooting.

Man! his partner, Tanner Opel, said. Good shot!

Another student, Brandon Dinger Lueken, said hes been shooting for about a year and was excited when archery was incorporated into his physical education class.

I like to shoot, he said. Its fun.

In February, two Dubois Middle School and two high school teachers were trained by Indiana conservation officers to teach the sport.

According to Mark Farmer, public information officer for the Indiana Conservation Officers 8th District, students have a higher record of attendance at school during the weeks archery class is held. Students also gain in confidence and self-esteem as they learn that physical size doesnt matter in the sport of archery as it might with other sports.

Sisley, who is also Forest Parks junior varsity basketball coach, has noticed other benefits.

Kids who dont enjoy basketball and the other typical sports really enjoy this, he said. And students cant wait to come to school to shoot archery.

Teachers can use archery to help teach other areas of academia, such as history and science, Lindauer said.

It can be used more than just as a part of the PE curriculum, he said.

Sisley explained to his class Wednesday that the object of the game they were about to play was to hit the rings on the target in order, from the outer ring to the inner ring and then back to the outer ring.

If you complete that, how many times will you hit the target? he asked.

A couple of the boys said nine, which Sisley confirmed as the right answer. Most of them said 10.

You dont count the yellow twice? seventh-grader Kyle Wilgus asked, thinking that counting the center ring twice would bring the total to 10.

Lindauer is happy Northeast decided to place the indoor program at the middle and high schools.

My goal is to get youth involved in this positive activity and keep their interest linked up with school, Lindauer said. Its a great program.

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Article and Photos Courtesy of the The Herald, Jasper, Indiana