Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln Students Jump At Archery
LINCOLN — Lincoln students concentrate upon focus, self- control, discipline, and patience through involvement in the recently implemented National Archery in Schools Program.
According to its website, the National Archery in Schools Program aims at improving educational performance among students in grades 4–12, and endeavors to teach life lessons to be successful in the classroom and in life.
Archery appeals to a wide cross section of students, evidenced by the turnout at a recent NASP competition on Saturday, Jan. 16, under the supervision of junior high P. E. teacher Justin Bounds, who also coaches high school golf.
Brent Mulvaney, 13, a seventh grader at Lincoln tried his hand at shooting the targets set up in the Lincoln Elementary gym.
“It’s great for the kids. It gives them something to do outside at home instead of at the computer,” said his mother, Emily Mulvaney.
Madilyn Anderson, an 11-year-old fifth grader, gets to emulate her dad, Josh Anderson, a bowhunter.
“I love it. I’m a bowhunter, so I love the fact they’re getting kids out here into something different than just the same old sports,” Josh Anderson said.
Madilyn’s older sister, Katie, 13, currently an eighth grader, also noticed archery changed Madilyn’s attitude and draws her attention away from electronic devices.
Cooper Geng is another participant making his dad, Kevin Geng, and the rest of the family proud.
“He’s the quiet type and he’s getting outside of his comfort zone so this is good for him,” Kevin Geng said. “He’s doing really great archery stuff.”
The Jan. 16 event consisted of a practice round, then six rounds of scored competition with three rounds at 10 meters and three rounds from 15 meters.
Fourth grader Lilyana Chamberlain planned to travel to competitions at Bentonville Jan. 23 and Roland, Okla., on Jan. 30 as did the majority of participants.
“She’s improved from 55 to 97, so we’re excited,” said her mother, Krystal Leming.
Lilyana is a second-generation archer. Her dad, Bradley Reeves, competed in archery as a teenager, and the whole family jumped at an opportunity for Lilyana to carry on the tradition. Reeves was working and didn’t attend the Jan. 16 event, but was present getting as close as he could to witness his 10-yearold daughter break into the sport the previous week.
Brothers, Maximus Smith and Christian Youngman posted scores of 124 and 71 on Jan. 16.
“The closer they get to the yellow [bullseye], the more excited they get,” said Robert Galvan, of Prairie Grove, father of Christian, 9, and stepdad to Maximus 11.
Each boy expressed his own reason for participating.
“I like to shoot a bow,” Maximus said.
Christian, who had a bow, although he never did archery before, told himself, “I want to do it to learn about bows.”
He’s enjoying the experience and camaraderie developed through archery.
I get to practice almost every day of the week and you get to see your friends do archery with you,” Christian said.
Weston Pierson, 9, doesn’t have a bow at home to practice with, but that doesn’t diminish his interest.
“This seems to be his niche, he’s really excited,” said his mother, Shelby Pierson. “We’ve tried a few other things like football and he doesn’t seem to care like he does this.”
Weston’s dad, Josh Pierson, likes the archery instruction and competition.
“This is a skill that he’ll learn that he can carry forward with him,” Josh Pierson said, noting the majority of school kids who play football don’t continue with that as adults.
“If it ain’t something he wants to do as far as tournaments, at least maybe he could go [bow] hunting if he wants to,” Josh Pierson said.
Josh Pierson thinks Bounds is learning archery along with the students, yet acknowledged Bounds has done well initiating archery into the Lincoln community.
“I think he’s doing a good job so far, especially as new as the program is,” Josh Pierson said.
John Pierson, Weston’s grandfather, represented a third family generation cheering on the youthful archer.
“This is the first event I’ve been to and I’m impressed with it so far,” John Pierson said.
Some appreciation for the new archery program is non-vocal.
Eduardo Ruvalcaba, 10, was among fourth graders participating. After completing a round, he beamed from ear-to-ear posing by a stash of arrows for a picture.