Tim Kerrigan has a clear purpose in his position as Outdoor Education Specialist at Farmin Stidwell Elementary: “I want to teach skills that students can use nearby, like archery. Maybe they can’t afford to go to Schweitzer or out on the lake. There are options for everyone. We have fishing poles, disc golf equipment and bikes, and now, thanks to PAFE, we have this archery equipment.”
Through this PAFE grant, more than 500 students at Farmin Stidwell now have access to four sizes of child-safe Arrowsoft bows, arrows, arm protectors, targets, eye protection, and curriculum, to be used in Outdoor Education, Physical Education, and physical therapy sessions at the school. This program adapts to a kindergartner still working on the basics, a sixth grader ready to compete for accuracy, or to a Life Skills student with a physical therapist or paraprofessional by their side.
But first things first. “Before anyone nocks an arrow, they learn the rules,” said Tim. “Even though these arrows can’t hurt, they must learn best practices and habits.” Students learn the same skills any archer would need with a live bow, like proper stance, how to aim, and safety protocols.
Archery isn’t just about marksmanship and safety. It’s more than giving students options for outdoor activities. Students partner up, track each other’s progress on scorecards, and in the process, learn to encourage each other through the misses as much as the hits.
And there’s nothing quite like a bullseye. For a kid who’s spent weeks learning how to line up a shot, that moment of the arrow finding its mark is a small, visible piece of proof: You set a goal, you worked at it, you got there.
In this video, we didn’t catch it on camera, but you can hear the excitement of one of the students as they do exactly that – get a bullseye.
Tim told us some students become so hooked that they sign up for Archery in the Woods on their own time. Others go home and talk about it with so much enthusiasm that their parents ask Mr. Kerrigan which bow they should buy for their child.
Archery is a sport with a low barrier to entry but with a great deal of reward. This is the kind of result we are always looking for in the grants we approve: That a program goes beyond the activity itself (in this case, archery) and builds life skills. This grant gives our elementary school students something to focus on. It teaches them patience and shows them concrete yet incremental growth.
The program also opens a door to the wider Sandpoint outdoors community. Kerrigan’s application for the grant points to a potential partnership with the local archery club, Sandpoint Archers, who could bring additional expertise, equipment, and mentorship to the program down the road. This is yet another way a single classroom investment can grow into something the whole community has a hand in.
And! This is Tim’s third grant. He’s turned two other well-aimed investments into programs that endured, from a set of adaptive bikes that taught kindergartners and Life Skills students to ride, to a curriculum that brought Leave No Trace principles into the outdoor classroom.
“I have the best job in the world,” Kerrigan told us. Watching these students concentrating on the task at hand and the satisfaction on their faces when they even come close to the target – it’s easy to see why.
Our teacher grants support Lake Pend Oreille School District educators to bring creative and innovative programs to the classroom. Because they are teacher-led ideas and not mandated by external parties, they have a far greater impact on students. These grants fill gaps in funding with innovative programs to amplify our impact. Your support is crucial in sustaining and expanding these initiatives. If you’d like to be a part of this, you can donate here.
