Students at Isabelle Sellon School will have the opportunity to learn the craft of archery.

Thanks to a grant received from the Alberta Conservation Association, the school was able to purchase archery equipment.

The original idea for the Archery program for ISS came from Karen Manzer Family School Liaison Counselor and Wellness Champion for ISS.

Manzer says through Alberta Health Services, they were able to receive $500 to start their archery club to help boost school spirit.

"I've known that the Alberta Conservation Association has some different education and community grants. We applied and were able to receive some funds to purchase this equipment. When we applied for the grant, I asked specifically for matching funds and then I also asked for place based learning. Whether it was materials or to cover bus drivers or anything like that."

Manzer says the school really appreciates the funds ISS received.

"We really want to acknowledge both contributions from Alberta Health Services and Alberta Conservation Association."

Lane Koentges, a teacher at ISS and one of the organizers of the program, says this program will truly serve the students who participate.

"It's such a fitting and place based activity for our students. This will give students a great way to be active and learn about something new as well."

When originally attending university, Koentges took part in an outdoor education course that certified him in many different outdoor activities, archery being one of them.

While his certification ran out, he was able to easily re-certify himself thanks to that previous knowledge and will now serve as the instructor or coach for the program.

Koentges says currently, the plan is for grade 6 students to have the chance to take part in the program but hopes that down the line the school will be able to include the younger grades as well.

"Right now, we'll be implementing it with the grade 6 classes first because it is a new program and there is some risk with archery. We'll go down through all the grades and make sure anything we do is appropriate for all levels. Our goal is to eventually as the program gets bigger and becomes more structured that it would become grade wide and that all students would be able to join the club. We definitely want to get this program to a place where all students would have access to it."

Koentges says that with the current equipment they have, there will be a decent amount of kids who can take part right away.

"It's going to be some type of after school program initially. We have five targets and then 3 right handed bows and 2 left handed bows. I would assume that we could probably have around 10-15 students that can start. Depending on student interest we could potentially grow."

Koentges adds that the program ISS will be running under provides students with a very structured experience.

"We are involved with the National Archery in the Schools Program. Our program will be structured through them. They have a specific way the program works. There are 12 steps to be ready to shoot the arrows. It's very structured to make sure the students get the most out of it and that they're safe and are learning proper techniques and all those types of things."

According to Koentges, there are a few different potential opportunities for where this program can go in the future as well.

"This is something that can grow into going to competitions with other schools and attend provincials. There are a lot of different avenues to take this and create some excitement around it."

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