By Deone Roberts
AU Sport Development Manager

At the beginning of 2002, the American Racing Pigeon Union shared information about a wonderful project beginning in Mississippi. You may recall that the members of the Meridian Mississippi Racing Pigeon Club approached their local power company with a request and a plan to help youth take part in racing pigeon fun. Their plan incorporated participation for those who are not able to have pets of their own. As a result, the community will be left with a positive impression of fanciers and the kids will have a chance to grow in ways that may not have been possible otherwise.

This project, created by the members of the Meridian Club and named Eyes To The Skies, involves students from two counties and three school districts, with a total of 300 students. AU club member, teacher, and group coordinator, Ronnie Shumaker, has taught grades 4-6 for the past ten years. His project-based themes enhance the learning process for the children. They will receive positive influence and education regarding pet ownership responsibility, breeding programs, training and teamwork.

The Mississippi Power Company provided funding to cover the cost of the project, such as loft
construction, racing clocks, pigeons, ARPU memberships, loft surveys, feed and grit, computer software, pigeon magazine subscriptions, books and videos, and other supplies for each of the three schools.

Donations from businesses such as Continental Breeding Station, in Oklahoma City, and Lauderdale County Co-Op in Meridian, Mississippi, have boosted the efforts of the project planners. Pigeons were donated to the project by members of two clubs: the Meridian Mississippi Racing Pigeon Club and the Southern Skies Racing Club.

As Eyes To The Skies progresses, we thought you might want to see an update.

The learning process includes reading tests utilizing information such as articles appearing in the Racing Pigeon Digest magazine. The tests are short lists of questions to help the children think through situations that may arise with their birds.

Students have participated fully in the loft building process from the beginning. The challenges of carpentry have helped students understand what housing is required to have a healthy race team environment. The carpentry skills that the students might never have experienced, other than in this project, will possibly be of benefit in some manner later in their lives.

Building begins.



Nearing completion.



Double-checking the measurements.

The students feed and water the pigeons daily. As they prepare for the competition in the spring of 2003, they study how pigeons and man have partnered throughout history. They will learn about genetics for developing the type of bird they want and they will learn how to calculate the race results. Then they will share what they have learned by making presentations to other local schools.

As one loft nears completion, Ronnie Shumaker reviews the process of bird selection, "Today, September 11th, 2002 my class is reflecting on the tragedy of one year ago. However, we are joyous that our pigeon loft is almost complete. Clarkdale begins construction of their loft today, and Newton Elementary will start construction on September 18th.

Members from the Meridian Pigeon Racing Club and other pigeon breeders are donating young birds to go into each loft. Each school loft will start with 30 young birds. How do we decide which pigeons go to which loft? Our webmaster, Beverly Brewer, who teaches at 6th grade at Clarkdale Attendance Center, will create pages students can view on the internet. For instance a page will be listed for M&M Loft. These birds donated by Mr. C.W. McElroy will be on the website for all three schools to critique. On "AU Pigeon Draft Day" each school will enter a private pigeon chat room. Here we will take turns selecting pigeons from M&M Loft until all birds are gone. Then we will go to the next loft of donated birds.

At the end of the project, the lofts and birds will be auctioned and proceeds given to each school's PTA or PTO.

This has been quite an endeavor for the Meridian Club and teacher Ronnie Shumaker. When asked what some of the challenges and rewards have been, Ronnie revealed, "Some of the challenges were things like staying within budget when alterations were needed, situating the building materials so that there were no injuries or theft, and watching a child hit a nail 17 times when I could have finished with 4 blows with the hammer.

On the other hand, the rewards, which were much greater than the challenges, were things such as watching students use a cordless drill for the first time; reading letters my students wrote to club members who donated birds and the mechanics and spelling is almost correct; never hearing the students say, 'But I don't know what to write' when thanking donors; having students write comparison essays about a blue bar and a grizzle and enjoy it; and of course the thrill of watching a child putting on safety glasses and hitting a nail 17 times.

I would have to say that the ooohs and aaahs of the students and teachers as they see our beautiful birds makes me forget about the challenges of the project."

Members of the Meridian Mississippi Racing Pigeon Club freely share information about this project so that others may develop the same opportunity in their own communities. Acting in the role of mentor will help an interested school or youth group develop their own project. Ronnie wants all AU members to know that he will come to any school district to assist teachers in duplicating this project in their schools.

For more information, please contact Everett Stenman of the Meridian Mississippi Racing Pigeon Club at 601-485-2346, or email Ronnie Shumaker at rshumaker@mpsd.k12.ms.us , or contact the American Racing Pigeon Union at 405-848-5801. We have several information resources that will help you create your own project. Call us for ideas. We can help you help your sport.