The archery team competed at Mabank on Friday and will do a fundraiser to cover costs for equipment.
“I enjoy being able to see the students get better and improve, learn to focus, and try something new,” archery club teacher Christy Bateman said. “It’s a great skill to have. I just enjoy watching them succeed.”
The team scored 6th place overall at the tournament with a total team score of 2,717. The highest individual score was Cole Williams, who ranked 43 for high school boys with a placement of 250 out of the total 300. His overall score for the tournament was 68.
“We are very excited to go and compete against other towns and school districts to see how well we can compete against them,” Bateman said. “They’ve been competing for years. This is brand new to us, so our scores are looking pretty good.”
The competitions are weekly events, and the archery team will compete in an average 2-3 competitions each month.
“I am very excited for these competitions,” freshman Jeremiah Hernandez said. “I did archery in 5th and 6th grade and I really liked it then. I was sad that we didn’t have it at the junior high, but when I found out we had it here, I was excited and wanted to join.”
The program was originally started with an Education Foundation grant for $4,658 to fund “Aim for Success With Outdoor Adventures,” a new class that was implemented in the 2023-2024 school year. Participants will earn their state and local PE credit needed for graduation.
“The Outdoor Adventures- Archery Unit will provide students with physical skills such as balance, coordination, strength, and power,” Education Foundation director Courtney Sanguinetti said. “In addition, students will gain interpersonal skills such as trust, teamwork, cooperation, and effective communication skills. This grant was designed to help fund the necessary equipment needed to implement the archery program.”
The club is currently doing an additional popcorn fundraiser to raise money for equipment such as arrows and targets, which become unusable after a time. They sell two types of popcorn sizes, small for $5, and large for $9.
“We need funds because we are trying to start a program from the ground floor that has very limited equipment, and this equipment is very expensive,” Bateman said. “And we have to replenish it, like the arrows and targets. All of that stuff is expensive and we need money to help support, and fund our club.”
All popcorn deliveries will happen Dec 12. Students will get their ordered popcorn at school, staff will get campus delivery. Community pickup for the popcorn will take place at the LHS parking lot from 4-6 p.m.
“Archery is really really fun actually, because of all of the different people,” sophomore Natalie Rodriguez said. “It makes everyone feel included. In archery it’s like a great big mixing pot of everyone. There’s popular kids, kids who don’t talk as much, it’s everyone.”
Bateman completed her certification to be an archery instructor this past summer which allowed her to be qualified in teaching archery in public schools. The club began this year with permission from principal Jeremy Chilek, and will reopen sign ups next school year.
“I like teaching the next generation archery,” Bateman said. “I think it’s my duty as a person to teach these kids what they need to do for archery in order to provide for their family if they do go hunting.”
Bateman also teaches the outdoor education class, where archery is a unit that is being taught. Many of the students in the class also take part in the archery club and compete at competitions.
“I especially love archery because I am an extrovert and love talking to all kinds of people,” Rodriguez said. “Archery is really fun, it’s really good. It brings back happy memories for me.”
