Searcy, AR — Searcy students were surprised to learn that their Physical Education program was now going to be built upon in dramatic ways. The new Hunter’s Ed. program “teaches a variety of things. It’s conservation of deer and wildlife, in general,” says Coach Steve Leonard, the teacher of the program. “It started with archery, which is part of the statewide curriculum. So we just wanted to build on that. We wanted them to not just learn about archery but to also… learn about the conservation of wildlife in Arkansas.” While the course is primarily about gun safety, it also teaches a great deal about the importance of hunting and care for the environment.

Hunter’s Ed. is an elective of sorts, giving the students the option to participate or not. However, being disliked by students hasn’t really been a problem. In fact, 98% of P.E. students elect to take the course. According to Jayden Deaton, one of the several students participating, “a lot, at first were making jokes about it… but when they started learning, they started liking it a lot.” This is for good reason, too. In the state of Arkansas, if one wishes to receive a hunting license, they must first have completed a Hunter’s Ed. course. This makes it easier for students like Jayden Deaton to take the course for free, rather than taking the 20-hour paid course outside of school; something Deaton finds good despite not knowing in-school instruction was even an option. But the convenience isn’t the only thing Deaton appreciates about this course. “It’s not just, like, hunting or anything. It’s not just killing animals. It’s a heritage… all this talk about guns, they don’t really understand. When you get to Hunter’s Ed., they show you how to use them and how not to use them and what they’re for and how they could help.”

But many would ask why the school system would put gun instruction in the hands of teens in the first place. And that is the thing that Leonard had to ask himself as a parent. He says, “It’s more than teaching about killing animals. It teaches you about the state parks, it teaches you about the animals… It asks if you care about a little bear cub and the success rate of it and the population growing in the state. That’s what it’s about.”

So, this new program shows a lot of promise and with support from both students and teachers should see many good results for Searcy and beyond.