Archery Class Revives After Facing A Shut Down When Professor Resigns
By: Austin Butler
Staff Writer
Archery class is not often thought of when registering for PE classes, but it is viewed as a fun and stress-relieving class with no experience required.
Many students at Green River College are unaware that an archery class is even offered as a one-credit PE course. It meets twice a week for an hour and is available to anyone every quarter except summer.
If you were to talk to Professor Aubrey Kreitzmann about the class then you would get a sense of how fun and engaging the class is.
The archery class almost disappeared from the college a few years back when the old professor left, but Kreitzmann, who had never picked up a bow before, decided it was too cool a class to let die.
Over the course of a year, she taught herself how to shoot and coached, while also practicing on her own time. Now she has been teaching the class for over two years and loves doing it.
The students that take the class agree that the class staying at the college is an amazing thing and that more people should consider signing up for it come fall quarter.
Gabe Hanson, a student currently enrolled in the class, enjoys the class so much but is disappointed that it only meets twice a week. “I really put my stamp of approval on it, it’s a very fun class,” said Hanson.
Hanson enjoys shooting competitively, though he says he prefers archery because it feels more like a sport and it is more of a challenge when compared to shooting rifles.
When asked, Kreitzmann commented that what she would tell someone who was interested in taking her class, “you get a bow, you get an arrow, and you get a target. If you’re having a bad day, it’s a really great stress reliever.”
According to Kreitzmann, most students see significant improvement over the course of the class, but everyone moves at their own pace and Kreitzmann has learned you cannot push people to learn quickly in something like archery, which requires a ton of focus.
“Some students with archery experience get really good in the first few weeks, for others, it just don’t really click until the end of the quarter, but everyone goes at their own pace,” added Kreitzmann.
People of all ages are encouraged to take the class; it is a beginner level class and the bows have a light draw weight so you do not need to be very athletic to do well.
The first few weeks are all fundamentals and safety, something so important that you must pass a safety quiz before you even pick up a bow and learn how to hold it.
Safety is taken very seriously and if you are caught messing around with the bows and being careless then you could get removed from the class. “They have to remember it is a loaded weapon… and it could hurt someone,” said Kreitzmann.
After the first few weeks of prep work the class moves on to sighting and finally begins shooting at targets. They begin on large hard round targets, but eventually advance to smaller paper targets.
After mastering the basics of archery, the class has the skills to compete with each other in the last few weeks of the quarter when they begin, “shooting for points, and the class gets more competitive,” said Kreitzmann when interviewed.
Kreitzmann loves the challenge. “It’s difficult, and it can be frustrating. Some days you’re awesome, some days you suck,” said Kreitzmann, “but there’s lots of technique involved, I enjoy the process of improving and getting better.”
Archery is a fun and stress-relieving way where students can get a PE credit for their AA degree.
