Beginning bowling student works on bowling techniques learned in class and ends up getting a strike at the BYU Bowling and Game Center. (Sarah Hill)
Students looking to further their bowling skills won't need to look farther than the Wilkinson Student Center this coming fall semester, when BYU Student Activities will begin offering an intermediate bowling class in the BYU Bowling and Game Center.
Student Activities currently offers STAC 116, a beginning bowling class that is taught various times throughout the week. The class has been so popular among students that the Student Activities leadership began brainstorming how to offer more to students.
'Student Activities is pleased to offer STAC 117 intermediate bowling class ... beginning this fall semester,' said BYU director of Student Activities classes Glenna Padfield. 'We have been working toward adding the class for some time (due to) the STAC 116 beginning bowling class being very popular.'
The learning outcomes of STAC 116 are to help to develop fundamental bowling skills through the learning of rules, vocabulary, techniques and the ability to score manually.
Padfield and the Student Activities board hope to build upon the STAC 116 beginning learning outcomes by offering STAC 117 and furthering the curriculum.
After deciding to offer an advanced class, Padfield approached one of the instructors who had demonstrated advanced skills in bowling.
'I really wanted to take an advanced bowling class while at BYU, but no one could teach it,' Ben Everett, a beginning bowling instructor for Student Activities, said. 'After working as an instructor for Fall semester 2014, the Student Activities board offered me a position as the intermediate bowling instructor, and I knew I wanted to give other students the opportunity I had wanted to further my skills.'
Student Activities has been collaborating with Everett to develop the class curriculum for Fall 2015. They hope to accelerate bowling skills through class drills, practice and competition.
'One of the biggest changes we're looking for between the intermediate and beginning level is the students' ability to continue to improve their game without an instructor having to tell them what to do or how to do it, for the student to think through the strategy and be able to do exactly what works best for them,' Everett said.
Whether taking the class as a fun break throughout the week or as an easy way to fill a half credit, students are eager to see what STAC 117 will have in store for them.
'With the beginning bowling class, they teach you a lot of the basics of bowling, especially the first three weeks,' said Geoff Taylor, a senior taking a bowling class from Everett. 'Now students will get to learn real technique and strategies that will actually help them get better personally. Plus, I get to learn something I can do the rest of my life for fun.'