Georgia Magazine - July 2010 - (Page 8)
COMPILED BY JENNIFER J. HEWETT Northwest Georgia school hits bull’s-eye with archery program Fifth-grader Tabitha Biddy never played a sport before picking up a bow and arrow and joining her school’s archery team this year. “After I shot the second arrow, I knew it was for me. It’s a fun sport. And you can do it your whole life,” says Biddy. In May, Biddy, who attends Woodlawn Elementary School in Chatsworth, helped her team shoot its way to third place at the National Archery in Schools Program’s (NASP) national tournament in Louisville, Ky. Prior to nationals, where more than 7,000 archers competed, Woodlawn won the team title in February at Georgia’s NASP state tournament in Perry. Woodlawn Coach Brad Bates hopes he can raise enough money to take his 24-member squad to the NASP world tournament in October JEFF RANCUDO Woodlawn Elementary School’s female archers excelled at the NASP national tournament in Louisville, Ky., in May. Pictured from left, Morgan Ray, Haley Bagley and Laura Alton. At nationals, among 1,046 elementary school-age girl archers, Bagley finished 38th with a score of 274, Bailey Coker (not pictured) was 42nd at 273, while Ray and Alton tied for 45th with a 272. in Orlando, Fla. In NASP archery tournaments, students from fourth to 12th grade compete with identical bows, arrows and targets. NASP began in Kentucky in 2002 and now has participating schools in 47 states. Georgia’s program began in 2004 and now is in more than 200 schools. Focus, concentration and practice are the mantras NASP Vice President of Operations Tom Bennett says help create a better archer and a more ambitious student. Woodlawn’s archery program started in the 2008-2009 school year. Principal Jackie Townsend says an NASP program is “a real character builder” for students. See www.archeryintheschools. org for more information on the National Archery in Schools Program. —Jeff Rancudo, North Georgia EMC Georgia glimpses • Splish splash! The new 40,000-squarefoot Wiggles Water World attraction opened last month at Six Flags White Water in Marietta. Comprised of five fun, interactive sections, including a gigantic, life-size 25-foot-tall ship, kids of all ages can shoot water cannons, climb nets and navigate slippery slides while cooling off this summer. Visit www.sixflags.com/white water for more on the park. • Calling photographers. The Civil War Preservation Trust is seeking Civil War-related photos of battlefields, people and site preservation from amateur photographers for its 2010 photography contest; entries are due by Aug. 31, 2010. See www.civilwar.org/photocontest for details. 8 Researchers PIT-tag a nesting loggerhead sea turtle on Wassaw Island. MICHAEL FRICK • Turtle team-up. The Georgia Aquarium and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are teaming up to save loggerhead sea turtles on the Georgia coast during this year’s nesting season, from mid-May to September. The Aquarium’s $11,000 contribution for sea turtle conservation was granted to the Savannah-based Caretta Research Project, the nonprofit organization that protects federally threatened loggerheads (Caretta caretta) on the Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge, one of Georgia’s coastal barrier islands. For more on conservation efforts, see www.carettare searchproject.org. www.georgiamagazine.org GEORGIA MAGAZINE
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