Proving that their aim is true, the Patlan Elementary Archery Club members have made great strides in a short time since participating in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) this school year.

"We started the program with P.E. Coach Jessica Kirksey and Aide Jennifer Autry becoming certified instructors through NASP," said Teacher Kevin Engler, who is also a certified NASP instructor and team trainer.

Kirksey and Autry integrated the NASP curriculum into P.E. classes for third, fourth and fifth grade students.

"Once the students completed the safety orientation and demonstrated that they could safely shoot an arrow, we began meeting after school as a club with Coach Kirksey, our fourth grade ELA Teacher Juan Hernandez and I working with our archery club members. Fast forward to Jan. 29-31when we had 21 students participate in the first-ever State Qualifying Tournament," he said.

More than 3,000 students from 121 schools participated in the 2018 State Qualifying Tournament and approximately 81 percent of them shot the minimum score, either as a team or as an individual, to qualify for State.

"Two of our Patlan Elementary archers, fifth graders Eddie Barrera and Abren Ham, finished in the top 100 in their division and will represent Patlan and Seguin in the 13th Annual 2018 Texas-National Archery in the Schools Tournament and Scholarship Championship in Belton on March 21-22, he said.

"Naturally, we are super proud of our archery team as well as our two archers who advanced to state. Their achievement would not be possible without Trinity Oaks Guadalupe River Camp, Lone Star Bowhunters Association, TexasBowhunter.com and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for providing grant money and equipment for our archery program," he added.