Spanish club, Drama club, speech, science and math clubs ... they’re all popular with local students. Jim Akers, owner of Twisted Arrow in Poplar Bluff, is hoping the region’s strong outdoors heritage will spark an interest in junior and senior high students for new archery clubs in several schools.
The clubs, Akers said, will fill a need to get more children outside and to learn valuable outdoor skills.
The idea for the clubs, he said, was spurred by a friend in Michigan, who developed an archery program for his childrens’ school, which became a big success.
“We’re going off his plan, and I am working to get rival schools here to participate,” he said.
So far, Akers has talked with Poplar Bluff, Naylor, Neelyville, Doniphan, Van Buren, East Carter about his plan, and at this point, Poplar Bluff, Neelyville and the Spring Hill School of Hope in Fairdealing have committed to hosting an archery club.
“We met with school boards and superintendents and they were all very open and on board,” Akers said.
Each school club, Akers said, will have a teacher in charge of the program. At Poplar Bluff, that will be Heather Rommel, and at Neelyville, Gina Russom will hold the spot.
Depending on the amount of student interest, Akers noted, a preliminary meeting could take place by mid-September.
The once-a-week, after-school clubs, Akers said, will begin with the basics of archery, including teaching proper stance, grip, anchor point, holding technique and release.
“We want to teach them everything we know about archery,” he said.
For club events, targets will be the 3-D variety to simulate hunting setups.
Additional topics related to archery may be added to the program as well, with an emphasis on hunting.
“We’re going to look at teaching tree-stand safety and set-up,” Akers said, “and we’re exploring the idea of doing a food plot management class.”
Eventually, Akers said, he would “like to develop a mentoring program where if a kid doesn’t have somebody to take them hunting, we could have someone do that for them.”
If there’s enough interest, Akers noted, he may begin Scholastic 3-D Archery and Junior Olympic Archer’s Development programs at his Twisted Arrow shop.
For now, each school will determine the cost to participate in its club, Akers said, with Poplar Bluff’s already set at $20.
Unlike the more common National Archery in the Schools Program, where every participant uses identical equipment, the local clubs will allow students to use any gear they prefer.
“Twisted Arrow is trying to provide all the targets and trying to come up with loaner equipment if someone doesn’t have it,” Akers said. “We’re trying to make this as inexpensive for families as possible.”
Ultimately, Akers said, he would like to see local and regional archery tournaments, with schools competing against each other.
“I foresee in the future a large turnout in the area, and I hope to have this in all the schools,” he said. “T.J. (Akers, his brother) and I are going to be putting in a lot of hours to make this work.”
Those interested in participating in an archery club can contact their school administration office or Twisted Arrow at 573-785-6914.