Support Chandler's Eagle Scout Archery Project

I am Chandler Buckthal, a Freshman at Fort Walton Beach High School. I hold the rank Life Scout with BSA Troop 529 and am ready to complete my Eagle Scout Project. For my project I am going to build an archery range at Fort Walton Beach High School. Fort Walton Beach High School “FWBHS” is situated in the Okaloosa County public school system with approximately 1600 students enrolled. The feeder schools for Fort Walton Beach High School are Destin Middle School and Max Bruner Middle School. Other schools of choice that feed students into FWBHS are Liza Jackson and St Mary's Catholic School. All these feeder schools, with the exception of Max Bruner Middle School, have strong National Archery School Program "NASP" teams. NASP is an in-school program aimed at improving educational performance among students in grades 4 – 12. Students learn focus, self-control, discipline, patience, and the life lessons required to be successful in the classroom and in life. As students progressed out of the middle schools into FWBHS they were forced to leave archery behind as the school did not offer a NASP team. In the school year 2024-2025 FWBHS received a grant from multiple generous organizations that allowed the purchase of archery equipment and a NASP team was formed. As a requirement for hosting a NASP team the school has to offer archery during PE to the student population. Therefore, in the school year 2024-2025 archery was added as a PE course. The administration designated an area at the school as the archery range. The PE coaches attached an archery arrow curtain to a chain link fence and placed targets a few feet in front of the fence. For the target line a rope was pulled between two stakes on either side of the range. A line for the 10-meter and 15-meter shooting distance was marked in the same fashion as the target line. This setup was sufficient for starting the program by providing the minimum requirements for NASP safety. During the first season the archers quickly noticed that the FWBHS team was at a disadvantage during the tournaments due to a slope that is present on the archery practice field. Also, arrows were penetrating the archery curtain as it is designed to move when hit by the arrow to dissipate the energy. However, the chain link fence would not allow the movement. My project goal is to correct the archery range deficiency at FWBHS.

My plan to build an archery range at FWBHS will begin with leveling out the ground the archery range sits on by building a pressure-treated wood frame around the 60-foot x 50-foot range. This frame will serve as a retaining wall where the slope of the land drops away and with the pressure-treated wood, it will last a long time. Inside this frame I will back fill with dirt to level the ground. Then on top of the back fill I will install a ground cloth to separate the soil and 4 inches of rock, covering the entire area of the range, I plan to place a durable surface for the range ground cover. The rocks will have to cover the entire range to prevent weeds and because in practice you shoot from different distances. In the 4 inches of rocks, I plan to put 2x4 inch ground contact lumber on its side running from one side of the frame to the other to serve as the target line. Then, in the same fashion I will install a 10 meter and 15-meter shooting line. To hold the archery curtain I will install 4 6x6 poles vertically along the back of the range that will be secured with concrete. Between these polls will be a 1/4-inch diameter galvanized cable. That will hold the arrow catch curtain. Lastly, on the shooting side of the archery range I will install 2-18in x 48in benches that the archers can utilize to uncase their bows and sit on while waiting their turn to shoot. These benches will be made from pressure-treated wood and not painted. In building the range correctly the school will be able to host better practices under correct conditions therefore improving the archery program. The rock ground cover will allow for water to quickly perk so the range can recover and be operational quickly after often Florida rain storms. I decided to make the range 50x60ft because it meets the NASP rules and when we took measurements, we had the room to make it that size. We will be shooting toward the houses because there is a retention pond between the range and houses and because we can’t shoot toward the road or softball field.

Some groups that will benefit from this project include the archery team, ROTC and archery class at the school. The archery team uses the range twice a week for practices but their practice aim points are far from the tournament aim points because of the slope down toward the targets. The ROTC uses the range for training regularly. The archery class also puts the range to work every day for 50 minutes. Taking into consideration all the people that use this range, it is clear a new range is needed desperately so students and team members can have more effective practices.