ELDON — The loudest sounds in the school gym were the “thunk, thunk, thunk” of arrows hitting targets.

Though the sixth- to 12th-grade kids all swore they were having fun at 4 p.m. on a school day, it must have been a disciplined sort of fun. There was no shouting, no horseplay, not even loud talking or laughter.

The nine archers on the line, outstretched bows in hand, were concentrating on sticking arrow after arrow into the target; the kids behind them were waiting for their chance to shoot.

“The great thing about this is anyone can do this,” said Chad LaRue, a Cardinal High School business teacher and the coach of the new Cardinal archery program.

He said he has seen successful target shooting from someone in a wheelchair and from young people who thought they weren’t strong enough to draw a bowstring back.

“[But archery does] require concentration and discipline,” he said.

LaRue wanted to bring the Iowa Department of Natural Resources-supported sport to Cardinal schools, which makes it one of the first districts in the area to have an archery program.

He echoed the sentiment of educators in several districts, including Cardinal, who have been quoting research which rates kids involved in school activities as showing better attendance and higher rates of graduation than their non-involved peers.

“At Cardinal, we want our kids to be involved,” LaRue said.

Even this first year, he has seen a difference.

“We’ve noticed grades going up; they know they can’t fail a class and shoot. Self-esteem is improving, too,” he said.

And so are archery scores. Archers shoot from 10 and 15 meters, then total their score in an effort to reach a maximum of 300 points.

“I just started this year,” said freshman Katie Carter. “At first, my score was like 123. And then it was 160, then 190. The other day, we had a tournament just for us, and I shot a 262.”

Carter doesn’t participate in school sports, but that’s not unusual for those participating in the archery program, said LaRue, who claims many of his archers aren’t involved in any other extracurricular activities, but consistently show up for archery practice.

Freshman Cayne Kerby runs track, but outside of track season, this new endeavor has really caught his interest.