AMERICAN HOMING PIGEON INSTITUTE AND
AMERICAN RACING PIGEON UNION JOIN FORCES TO ASSIST STUDENTS

By Deone Roberts, AU Sport Development

Most students, when given a choice to have a free hour, or to attend class, will choose the free time. However, in the Iron County area of Utah, 4-H Coordinator and AU member, Tyler Garfield, has seen a great deal of interest on the part of students to learn more about homing pigeons during the lunch hour class on homing pigeons.

The American Homing Pigeon Institute donated funds to the AU for the purpose of introducing the sport to young people in programs such as this one. Through their generosity, the AHPI has made it possible to maintain the educational offering with a contribution to be used for the purpose of bringing pigeons to the classroom.

Around thirty kids attend each week from two schools. Though not yet a formalized program, Tyler presents information based on a curriculum he developed that includes the history of pigeons’ service during wartime; the homing instinct; the bird’s skeletal system and eye; their life cycle and much more. He utilizes handouts from the AU that have been helpful in developing the lessons and certificates for the awards program. The kids always go home from the program with a handout to share with their families. When available, old leg bands have been handed out to the students during the course of the classes. It is not uncommon to see some of the kids from the previous years wearing them on a neck chain or bracelet.

The program has been a great success and stimulated interest on the part of the families of students that attend. Many of them have asked for small loft plans. Area elementary schools have asked Tyler to teach the lunchtime Pigeon 4-H Club again. “I have come to fully appreciate the great teaching tool that the racing pigeon is. You can apply so many human life lessons to the bird and the kids are naturally drawn to these awesome animals!” said Tyler.

A primary goal of the program is to provide an educational tool to children that will inspire them to learn how to learn. The second is to promote friendship and sportsmanship. These are important life skills that become very real to the students as they go through the course.

Most notable of the program is the fact that this presentation occurs during lunch hour one day per week in two schools. Students have attended the classes as an option. They could have been playing outside. Also, the kids are from an area of town where behavior problems are common. Not once during the past sessions did the class require supervision. The kids were very quiet and eager to learn. They were just that interested in the birds and learning about them.

Tyler experiences that same appreciation in his own family. The Garfield clan has made a family affair of the racing hobby. Tyler’s sons sent birds to the Youth Race and are excited about competing again. His son Cooper took 9th place in the 2005 Youth Race. Cooper is very proud of these results and thinks pigeon racing is a “blast!”

It is with pleasure and appreciation that the AHPI and the AU lend support to the Iron County Pigeon 4-H Club project.