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Turner Ashby's Cindy Ferek Wins With Archery

Turner Ashby Physical Education teacher, Cindy Ferek, is well-known for her innovative and enthusiastic brand of teaching. And her good work is no stranger to the national PE organization, American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAPHERD), who recently named her a first place contest winner with her video that demonstrated her efforts to incorporate archery into her Adapted Physical Education (Special Education) curriculum at TAHS.

Ferek's video "TAHS Archery," was chosen the winner in the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR) Every Body Can! Adapted Physical Activity Video Contest in the Disability Awareness category and will be featured at AAPAR’s Recognizing Outstanding Leaders Awards Evening at the AAHPERD National Convention. 

Click the "Play" button to view her video below (or see the video at Vimeo's site):

Archery has been a part of Ferek's regular 10th grade Physical Education curriculum for the past 3 ½ years and her students enjoy it so much that some even choose to participate in the Virginia NASP (National Archery in the Schools Program) State Tournament run by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The state tournament is open to all students in grades 4-12 who participate in their archery programs through their physical education classes in their schools.

This year, two of her sophomore students, Hunter Morton and Brandon Davidson (pictured at right), shot scores of 240 and 238 (out of a perfect 300), respectively, the highest scores TA has posted in its three years of participation in the contest, according to Ferek. She hopes to involve more of her 10th graders and upperclass students in future tournaments so Turner Ashby can field an entire team (16-24 students) to be eligible for the prizes and scholarship money awarded at this state level event. She encourages interested students to contact her.

Archery with 10th graders is one thing. But to incorporate this sort of activity into her special education classes?

"After teaching it to my 10th graders in the spring of that first year, I thought the structure and routine of the program would be a perfect fit for my students with autism. Mr. Walk [Turner Ashby principal, Steve Walk] told me - a year later - he thought I was crazy when I threw out the idea and so did the special education teachers! I didn't know that at the time," she quipped.

But Walk and others knew well that if anyone could pull this off, the energetic Ferek would be the one.

"I was pleasantly surprised at how well my adapted students learned how to shoot. With LOTS of time and LOTS of PATIENCE they are able to do all of the steps. Most of them shoot independently now and listen far better than my 10th graders!"

She continued by offering an illustration of the discipline her special education students display as part of the archery process. "One student got upset this year because someone else [mistakenly] took her bow. I went to find her and she had gone outside the building. We came back in and all the students were still lined up with their bows on their toes waiting for the whistle command to shoot. My aides just stood there watching in amazement." And she added with a smile, "My 10th graders would never have been that disciplined."

The state tournament serves as the culminating activity for Ferek's TA competitors, her Adapted Physical Education class students, and over 500 other students in 26 K-12 schools throughout Virginia who attend the February tournament at Meadow Event Park in Doswell, VA.

The group of special education students she takes to the tournament are the only special education students to participate in the contest. "The tournament director gave us permission to shoot the first year and now all the volunteers at the tournament LOVE our students and want to help in our lanes. My students need help scoring their arrows, but can do everything else by themselves," Ferek explained. And while the tournament experience for these students is about much more than just the competition itself, Ferek was particularly proud to note that Michael Acker, a senior in her adapted physical education class, shot an impressive 208.

"A great moment was Courtney Hartman hitting a 10 point bull's-eye in class one day leading up to the tournament. She turned around and did a huge fist pump with a loud "YES!" She knew exactly what she had done - perfect shot!" concluded Ferek.

Mrs. Ferek will get a chance to share her experiences further in San Diego later on this month at the AAPHERD conference. There, she'll accept recognition for her archery efforts as well as deliver a presentation on implementation of pedometers into the physical education curriculum. The ever-resourceful Ferek recently submitted a lesson plan on pedometers to VAPHERD (Virginia's branch of the national physical education organization) and the association awarded her 1st place honors which included $2,000 in travel expenses to the AAPHERD conference.

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See more pictures from their tournament experience and classroom ...