The High Adventure Club at Northern Elementary School plans to add archery to its line-up with the help of a $1,500 grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
On Monday, the Bemidji School Board voted unanimously to accept the Archery in the Schools grant after removing a section of the cooperative agreement that would require the program to also be offered in physical education classes.
Northern Elementary School teacher Jeff Wade runs the club for the school's fifth-graders for two hours after school on Fridays. The grant, along with the $1,500 in matching funds Wade is working to secure, will provide "On Target for Life" curriculum and archery equipment including 11 bows, 60 arrows, five targets and one safety backstop net.
When the board first considered accepting the grant in January, board members voiced concerns over a grant requirement calling for physical education classes to use the curriculum and equipment for at least two weeks every school year for 10 years. The board tabled the agenda item to allow the District Curriculum Committee to review it and physical education teachers to weigh in.
According to Kathy Palm, director of curriculum and administrative services, a representative of the elementary school physical education program reported to the committee on Feb. 13 that teachers felt archery was not a direction they were interested in pursuing.
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"They did not want the grant to dictate what the curriculum would be," Palm said.
However, she noted, teachers at the committee meeting commended Bemidji High School's current archery program and said archery may be suitable at Bemidji Middle School.
On Monday, Wade said he was unaware of the requirement related to physical education classes when he requested the grant and did not intend to determine the curriculum.
After the board tabled the grant in January, Wade contacted Kraig Kiger, Minnesota DNR shooting sports coordinator. According to Wade, Kiger said the club alone would satisfy that part of the grant criteria.
In response, the board accepted the grant Monday after deleting the section requiring the program to be offered in physical education classes.
"I really appreciate that background that you got on that," board Chair John Pugleasa told Wade at Monday's meeting.
Wade, who recently became certified as a National Archery in the Schools instructor, said he hopes to begin offering archery to the club in the middle of April and continue through the end of May. And, he said, he also hopes to offer archery to the club next fall.
