I teach in a large, urban, public high school where students take 7 classes a day in what is called a "college preparatory" curriculum. My students come from incredibly diverse backgrounds and possess equally varied academic skill levels; but all are expected to perform equally well academically.
My students come to school with a tremendous amount of "baggage": emotional issues, family issues, financial worry that makes it difficult for them to focus on what should be their primary mission in school, that of receiving a quality education.
I teach in a Title I school in an urban setting which means the majority of our students are minorities and low income. Many are first and second generation immigrants to this country. They do have one thing in common: the desire to succeed. However, they come to school with financial, emotional, and family burdens that make it difficult for them to focus solely on their academics as is possible with the case of their more affluent peers. My goal is to help them better bear the burden of the extra "baggage" they carry and find success in their efforts, faith in themselves, and open doors to opportunities for them to enter.
My Project
Archery teaches patience and focus-skills that our students need in everything they do. Archery allows students to compete in a sport that is not dependent upon body shape or size. Archery is a sport in which all can compete equally- it is a sport of the mind. Just like anything in life, one needs targets and goals. In archery we need literal targets-durable targets suitable for National Archery in the Schools Program competition and the rigors of daily practice. As I try to teach my students the principles of leadership, the importance of goal setting, and the patience and dedication necessary to achieve those goals, we also need physical targets for our arrows to hit the mark. The motto of NASP is "Changing Lives one Arrow at a Time" and I believe it is making a vast difference in the lives of my students. However; currently we are limited on bows and arrows. Additional bows and arrows would allow more students to shoot and improve their aim. Bow cases would protect our bows when we travel to competitions
Almost daily, I have students willing to stay after school just to have the opportunity to shoot our bows.
Students tell me "archery relaxes me", it "allows me to forget for a while the stress of my life" and shooting the bow "allows me to focus on one thing and one thing only." I have seen improvements in attendance rates and in academic grades since they started participating in our archery program. My students who would otherwise be marginalized step up and become leaders.
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