It was more than three decades ago that Richard Saul Wurman, an American architect and graphic designer, envisioned a conference that explored the convergence of technology, entertainment and design. Debuting in 1984, the first TED Conference was a financial flop. Yet the concept eventually took off and has exploded into a global nonprofit organization with headquarters in New York City and Vancouver, British Columbia. The first conferences were invitation-only affairs in Monterey, California. Yet several years in, the organizers broadened the scope to include local affairs — affixed with an “x” to indicate they are independently organized. And Friday evening marks the eighth installment of TEDxKC, which will bring a diverse set of presenters to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. The event sold out in minutes, but for the first time in its history, TEDxKC is providing real-time streaming from this site. TED’s mission of “ideas worth spreading” remains as straightforward as ever, and just as the organization has evolved over the years, the means to carry out that mission have expanded into areas that were the making of science fiction back when Wurman first hatched his idea. To get an idea of how some of these newfangled positions fit into the overall picture, Flatland sat down with Jamie Beard, social media coordinator, and Grace Gabel, who is responsible for community outreach. As the social media coordinator, Jamie can you give me an overview of what your job entails? I act as the mediator between the planning team and the public. Ensuring that the public is up to date…...

Updated 1:38 p.m. July 29 The family of a man shot to death by Kansas City police three years ago has filed a wrongful death suit against the department, alleging that its policies were to blame for an incident that quickly spun out of control. The suit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, alleges that the department’s governing board had “inadequate internal accountability measures (that) contributed to a pattern and practice of excessive force by KCPD, including the officers involved in the shooting death of Ryan Stokes.” The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, was filed by attorneys representing the mother and daughter of Stokes, who was shot by Officer William Thompson in a parking lot near the Power & Light District in downtown Kansas City. The suit was filed on the three-year anniversary of the incident. Police spokeswoman, Sgt. Kari Thompson, said the department does not comment on pending litigation. A spokeswoman for the mayor, who is a member of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners, was not immediately available for comment Friday, nor was board President Michael Rader. PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT_Ryan Stokes   Thompson shot Stokes in the early morning hours of July 28, 2013, after police officers had pursued Stokes and a friend as they went to retrieve a vehicle from the parking lot. Thompson was about 10 feet behind Stokes when he shot him. Police accounts said that Stokes appeared to have a gun and refused commands to drop the weapon, though it turned out he was unarmed. He had…...

Tom Taylor is about to rewrite a chapter of Kansas City history. Through research for an upcoming talk, the architectural historian has debunked the long-held belief that a group of apartment buildings on the west side of the Country Club Plaza are the sole work of well-known architect Nelle Peters. Jesse Lauck and Elmer Boillot also apparently put their architectural stamps on the buildings, distinctively named for literary giants like Mark Twain and Eugene Field. They are sometimes referred to collectively as the “Poetry Buildings.” The news has delighted Lauck’s 87-year-old daughter, Patricia Lauck Johnson, who hopes that her publicity-shy father will now get the recognition he deserves. Taylor’s talk, “They Built Kansas City: Elmer Boillet and Jesse Lauck,” is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, 4801 Main St. Flatland spoke with Taylor about his research, architecture, the impact of his discovery -- and why he considers  Boillot a “mystery man.”   What initially sparked your interest in Jesse Lauck and Elmer Boillot, and can you speak of the influence on Kansas City architecture over the years? I worked at Unity Village for 15 years, and was always interested in the history of the place. So that was the first connection, because Lauck and Boillot had designed the tower. But that was really the extent of information I knew, I didn’t know much more than that. The library contacted me based on the fact that I had worked there and suggested the program. And that sent me off on five months…...

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Sunday concluded a series of “healing services” it has held around the area for much of the past year, but Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. said the diocese will never forget the victims who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of its priests. As part of his 25-minute homily, Johnston broadly outlined ways the diocese will remember the victims and their families. It plans to: Erect a memorial that Johnston described as “a visible, permanent reminder, a special place” that will “honor the stories” of the victims. Establish a remembrance committee that will include victims, survivors and their families. The committee will aid in brainstorming the memorial design. Hold a diocese-wide day of prayer each year during Child Abuse Prevention Month, which is held in April. Create a multi-disciplinary team of diocese officials that will review church policies and implement “best church practices.” “I am here to apologize, confess and repent for the sins of those who held a sacred trust in the church, and betrayed that trust,” Johnston said. “I am here to express repentance for the priests, bishops, and anyone in the service of the church whose actions, or inactions harmed the lives of children entrusted to their care.” The diocese’s financial compensation to the victims has included a 2014 agreement to pay nearly $10 million to settle 32 cases that alleged sexual abuse by priests. Johnston encouraged the victims to set aside any animosities, saying that “forgiveness is a gift to yourself. We forgive because it heals us, but it isn’t…...

President Obama has called the Orlando, Florida massacre a case of "homegrown extremism," with gunman Omar Mateen reportedly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State during the attack at a popular gay nightclub. But the religious sentiment was altogether different at a Sunday evening vigil in downtown Kansas City to honor the dead and wounded from what is now being called the deadliest shooting rampage in American history. The event drew a variety of faith leaders, and Flatland gathered their perspectives on the tragedy as part of the KCPT and Hale Center for Journalism project Beyond Belief, a series of stories and discussions about faith in our city. 'True Muslims Would Never Commit Such a Terrible Act' | Abdulrahman “Wajeeh” Alkhiary, Human Rights Activist [FLEX-CONTENT] 'Stop, Pray, and Love.'  | Rev. Donna J. Simon, St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church  [FLEX-CONTENT] 'We Are All Created, As We Say in Hebrew, B'tselem Elohim: In God’s Image.' |  Rabbi Douglas A. Alpert, Congregation Kol Ami [FLEX-CONTENT] 'God Loves All of Us, Even the Person that Committed This Horrible Crime.' | Beau G. Heyen, President and CEO, Episcopal Community Services [FLEX-CONTENT] 'We are Bigger than This, We are Better Than This.' | Kevin White, Deacon, St. Mary’s Church, Kansas City. [FLEX-CONTENT] 'How Can We Make Changes in Our Society?' | Josh Paszkiewicz and Tam Bi, United Buddhist Church [FLEX-CONTENT] [FLEX-CONTENT] For continued coverage of the Orlando events, follow NPR's The Two Way blog. This story is part of the KCPT and Hale Center for Journalism project Beyond Belief, a series of stories and discussions about faith in our city. The project is part…...

At around 2:30 Thursday afternoon a long line begins to form in the back of Pak Halal, a local Middle Eastern grocery store in the heart of Lenexa. One by one, customers who had driven from “as far as Omaha” await their turn at the butcher counter to place their order. Most people are in line for the store’s traditional Islamic preparation of the freshly delivered goat, chicken and lamb, known as “halal.” Owner Munir Yameen, who is Muslim, said it’s not only Muslims who come through the door every Thursday when the shipment arrives. The store is a destination for people of all faiths and nationalities. “We cater to everyone, Turkish, Pakistanis, Persians, Middle Easterners, and Americans,” said Yameen, “goat meat has become very popular, and Americans come here for the goat meat to barbecue. They come back.” Yameen explains that halal prepared proteins are drained of blood, and are gaining attention as a healthier option for non-Muslims. Pak Halal has been in operation for 25 years; Yameen, an Army veteran, bought the store in 2003. This week the Islamic community begins Ramadan, a month of fasting and prayer. It is the store’s busiest month of the year. Photojournalist Lara Shipley captured sights from the store, and Flatland brings you Yameen in his own words about what Ramadan means to him, and how halal meat is prepared.   [FLEX-CONTENT] [FLEX-CONTENT] [FLEX-CONTENT] [FLEX-CONTENT] [FLEX-CONTENT] To learn more about Yameen’s life and service in the military, read Flatland’s in-depth profile here. This story is part of the…...

Federal regulators looking to crack down on abuses in the payday lending industry heard from both sides of the issue at a hearing Thursday in Kansas City. “If a lender can succeed when borrowers are setup to fail, it is a telltale sign of a malfunctioning market,” said Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  ”The harm done by these lenders must be addressed.” Thursday’s hearing, the third in an ongoing series planned by the bureau, came as the agency proposed new regulations to curb abuses in payday lending. The regulations would: Limit lending to a couple options, including one that would cap the interest rate at 28 percent, whereas the bureau said that payday loans typically have an annual interest rate of 390 percent or even higher Require a “full-payment test” to ensure that borrowers could repay loans and fees within 30 days while still affording basic expenses and other financial obligations Cap the number of short-term loans, making it difficult for lenders to push distressed consumers into borrowing more or refinancing the same debt Bar lenders from taking an auto title as collateral Require written notice before attempting to collect payment from a consumer’s bank account Limit the number of debit withdraw attempts on a borrower's account “These predatory lenders should be more strictly and closely regulated,” Kansas City Mayor Sly James said. “They are hurting families in my city and across the country. You tell me, in what context is that OK?” Industry representatives, however, argued payday loans provide credit for consumers who have no…...

The 70-year-old photo, discovered behind an old kitchen cabinet in Huntington, West Virginia, held tightly to its secrets; only the barest of clues were etched on the back in pristine penmanship. It’s a man in uniform, highly posed, perhaps in his mid-20s, holding a pipe to his mouth. He would be well into his 90s by now, but at the time it was taken in 1945, as one observer said later, he looked like “a stone-cold badass.” The picture might well have ended up in the trash had it not been for the kindness and curiosity of an Ashland, Kentucky, electrician named Aaron Matthews and the invention of what George W. Bush called “the Internets.” Matthews, who is fascinated with all things World War II, found the photo so “astoundingly intriguing” that he posted it on his Facebook page and asked for help finding its rightful owners. The image and its shrouded provenance fascinated Matthews’ Facebook friends. And friends of his friends. And friends of his friends’ friends. He said later he was “bombarded with responses.” And while the posting didn’t exactly go viral, it was shared more than 700 times. The mystery was solved in a matter of hours with a simple Google search by one of those friends of a friend of a friend. It’s a photo of my late father. How it found me so quickly is a testament to the sheer power of social media. What my father’s picture was doing on the wall of a West Virginia apartment, well, that’s another story altogether. A story about how World…...

A federal agency dedicated to protecting the public from debt traps has scheduled a public hearing in Kansas City next month. Convened by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the hearing is scheduled to include remarks from CFPB Director Richard Cordray along with testimony from consumer groups, industry representatives, and members of the public. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 2 at Municipal Auditorium, 301 W. 13th St. Created in the wake of the financial crisis, the bureau consolidated in one agency authority for enforcing federal consumer protection laws. The announcement of the hearing came during this week’s Moral Economy Summit at Rockhurst University, which was sponsored by Communities Creating Opportunity, a local interfaith organization. The organization has long called on elected officials to crack down on payday lending, where interest rates often exceed 400 percent. So what exactly is a moral economy? “Our definition would be an economy where all people have access to living wages, and workers have power,” said CCO spokesman Micah Chrisman. “When power is being held in a certain quadrant or section of society we have to question why that is. So when we say ‘moral economy,’ what we mean is it is pursuing every avenue that makes an equitable and livable society for everyone.” Kicking off the two-day summit, the organization recognized Kansas City Mayor Sly James for the new paid parental leave policy for city employees. Under the policy, which took effect this month, eligible workers get six weeks of fully paid maternal leave. The summit also featured keynote speeches by…...

After months of uncertainty about their future, local truckers held a rally Monday morning at Teamsters Local Union 41 in Kansas City celebrating the U.S. Treasury Department’s decision to reject Central States Pension Fund’s application to reduce pensions for more than 400,000 current and retired truck drivers. On Friday, Kenneth Feinberg, an attorney appointed by the Treasury Department to oversee the application, announced that Central States’ application did not meet the requirements set by the Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 and was therefore denied. Feinberg's letter says the fund's reduction plan failed to show that it would "avoid insolvency" or that cuts would be equitably distributed. As Flatland reported last week, Teamsters union truck drivers said the cuts would have had “devastating” consequences. Many said they would lose their homes or have to prioritize between paying their bills and buying medications. The Central States Pension Fund manages the retirement benefits for current and former Teamsters union truck drivers. One of the nation’s largest union-affiliated multiemployer pension fund companies, Central States filed the application after legislation passed by Congress in December 2014 allowed financially distressed pension funds the right to reduce benefits for retirees without a unionwide vote provided the reduction improved the solvency of the fund. According to Central States officials, under current financial conditions, the fund will be bankrupt by 2026. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, who had strongly opposed the pension cuts prior to Friday’s decision, made a surprise visit to Monday’s Teamsters celebration and was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation. [FLEX-CONTENT] “We won round one,” Cleaver said. “But we still have…...

French Culinary Institute-trained pastry chef Natasha Goellner is embarking on a new adventure this summer, her new food truck Cirque de Sucre. This “circus of sugar” will feature French macarons, treats, and high-end ice cream in the hope of delighting foodies around the Kansas City area and beyond. And in her corner Goellner has found the perfect business partner for her next venture: Mom. This Mother’s Day, Flatland sat down with Goellner (a new mom herself) and her Mother, Vicki Goellner, to learn more about their business, and how working as a mother and daughter team is the perfect partnership in the food truck world. Flatland: Take me back to the beginning: How did you come up with the idea of opening a food truck, and how did mom come on board? Natasha: Well, we owned Mulberry & Mott already, which is a retail shop, and the idea of the food truck was to be free from always being at one place all the time. And not having to pay rent on a food truck is really great ... and it gives us a ton of freedom, especially now since I have a baby. There is so much freedom in the sense that if it rains outside, we don’t have to be open, we don’t have to go anywhere, we can just stay home if we want to. Vicki: Absolutely, and you know, we’ve been partners since we started in 2005, and we have always loved the idea of a food truck, this is perfect for us, just like Natasha said, now that she has the…...

More than a quarter of a million Teamsters and their spouses are facing the very real possibility that their pensions may be reduced up to 70 percent by July 1st, as they await a decision by the United States Treasury Department on the matter this weekend. Managed by the Central States Pension Fund, which handles the retirement benefits for current and former Teamster’s union truck drivers, the pensions have long been seen as untouchable by law. However, legislation attached to the 2015 Omnibus spending bill and passed by Congress last December allowed financially distressed pension funds the right to reduce benefits for retirees without union approval provided it improved the solvency of the fund. Central States Pension Fund, stating it would be bankrupt by 2026 under current conditions, quickly became the first to apply for pension reductions under the new law. Shortly thereafter, around 400,000 Teamsters were mailed non-certified letters with the news: Expect less money in your pension check each month. A lot less. Protests sprang up all over the country, from Kansas City to Washington D.C. Many protesters called for an investigation, arguing the legislation that gave Central States the authority to cut their pensions got tacked on to the Omnibus bill at the “eleventh hour” and had never been debated in Congress. Others cried foul, noting that they had earned their pensions long ago by taking a reduced paycheck with the promise of being taken care of in their retirement, and that promise had been broken. Kenneth Feinberg, specially appointed to the Treasury Department by President Barack Obama, has…...

Walking out of her school library this morning, Manasvi Chennareddy gushed about spending the past hour learning about the variety of religions from around the world. “I didn’t know about Sikhs, or that other religions existed,” said Manasvi, a sixth-grader at Harmony Middle School in Overland Park. “And now I know all of their practices.” Manasvi is a Hindu, as is her friend and classmate, Suchira Somaraju, who thought it was “pretty cool” that other students were learning about her faith as well. “I think some students practice their religions at school, and some of the students wonder what they are doing,” Suchira said. “This teaches everybody, and keeps students from making fun of each other.” And that is what the Blue Valley Culture Trunk program is all about, said the teacher, Ronda Hassig: “Understanding.” Designed to educate students about Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism and Sikhism, the program provides a hands-on learning experience using various authentic religious objects. More than two dozen pieces travel to various schools in the Blue Valley School District in large trunks. This is not a museum; Touching is encouraged. Handling the artifacts is what engages the students to ask questions and spark genuine curiosity, Hassig said. A founding member of the district’s Diversity Team, Hassig is passionate about educating children to be open and inclusive to those who have a different belief system. “The only way our world has any chance of surviving is to love one another, and the only way you can love someone is to know where they are coming from,” Hassig…...

This story is part of our coverage of Kansas City’s SevenDays project, which aims to bring people together to conquer hate and celebrate diversity. The project is led by Mindy Corporon, who lost two family members in the April 2014 shootings at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas. For each of the seven days, Corporon joins us for a video intro to the day’s activities (above), and Flatland is running a daily dispatch inspired by the day’s theme. Flatland reporter Daniel Boothe wrote on today’s theme, “discover,” and the Tuesday dedication of the Jewish Community Center memorial. [FLEX-CONTENT] (Roll over the circles to learn more about the memorial) 3 Questions With Memorial Artist Jesse Small   Can you tell me what the three pieces represent, and what was your inspiration when designing the piece? We came up with the idea of having multiple elements other than a single object, but still understanding that they are connected to each other. I had this idea that perhaps, there is something more going on inside the wall, that perhaps those three pieces are linked on the other side. So for instance, try to imagine a child’s drawing of a dragon coming in and out of the water. As the head pops up out of the water, its back curves out, as does the tail, and so the brain completes the dragon’s body, even though the rest is unseen. It is that idea, allowing people’s imagination to fill the unseen in, to finish the story or to add to it.  The other idea I wanted to explore is how the shadows interact…...

After a year of campaigning by city officials to keep the 1 percent earnings tax afloat for the next five years, Kansas City voters will ultimately make that decision today in KCMO’s school board and special election. Generating around $230 million dollars annually, the earnings tax is the biggest source of revenue for the city and accounts for 45 percent of the city’s general fund, which pays for police, fire, trash, and other city services. Mayor Sly James said in his state of the city address last Tuesday that if voters reject the tax, more than 200 city workers will be laid off to make up the deficit. Originally conceived in 1963 by then-Kansas City Mayor Ilus Davis, the earnings tax takes a 1 percent cut from KC residents and people who work in the city. On average, an individual pays around $340 dollars per year to the city as part of the earnings tax. Critics hoping to abolish the earnings tax in Kansas City say it’s unconstitutional. Groups like Grow Missouri argue that the earnings tax hurts economic growth by funnelling money out of workers’ paychecks while still having to pay high sales and property taxes. A Forbes article from Patrick Ishmael, of the public policy think tank Show-Me Institute, recently pointed out that St.Louis and Kansas City are the only cities in Missouri to have an earnings tax, representing a mismanagement of funds by city officials. We talked to voters at Kansas City polling places from Red Bridge to the Northland to get an idea of how voters were leaning. Of the…...

Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Sly James delivered his annual State of the City address today to a lively, packed audience that nearly filled Midtown's Uptown Theater. Here are five takeaways, and some interesting tweets, from the mayor's speech. 1. Since Mayor Sly James has taken office in 2011, the city is doing a whole lot better, according to James. James opened his speech talking about the terrible condition of Kansas City before being sworn in as mayor five years ago. Since then, he says, Kansas City has seen Google Fiber make its home here, an increase in tech entrepreneurship, the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the emergence of the Smart City Initiative, a revitalized downtown, and a World Series Championship that concluded with a parade drawing 800,000 people downtown without a single arrest. While James did not personally take credit for these achievements, he did note that all of this has been accomplished under his watch. https://twitter.com/EDCKC/status/714851229990522880   2. If voters are happy with Kansas City right now, they need to pass the earnings tax April 5th. Or else. Originally conceived in 1963 by Kansas City mayor Ilus Davis, the earnings tax takes a 1 percent cut from KC residents and people who work in the city. Generating around $230 million dollars annually, James said the earnings tax is the biggest source of revenue for the city and accounts for 45 percent of the city's general fund, which pays for police, fire, trash, and other city services. If voters do not renew the earnings tax April 5th, James said the…...

Kansas City officials finally debuted the first tangible development in becoming a “smart city.” As the Big 12 tournament took center stage recently at the Sprint Center, bringing thousands into the Power & Light District, two interactive touch-screen kiosks were installed on the 1300th block of Grand Ave. As part of Kansas City’s Smart City Initiative, these two kiosks are the first of 25 that the city plans to implement throughout downtown by May. Last year, the Kansas City council approved a $15 million proposal with San Francisco-based computer giant Cisco Systems Inc., to turn a two-mile stretch of the streetcar line into a Smart City network. It is hoped the project will make Kansas City the largest digital city in the country. Designed by the New York-based company City Post, the kiosks aim to give users access to Kansas City information, activities, and services. Resembling a large iPhone with touch-screen apps, Kansas City’s Chief Innovation Officer Bob Bennett estimates that the kiosks cost the city around $1 million out of the $15 million dollar budget to construct. The screen's interface is laid out like a smartphone: Various applications connect the user with events, nightlife, restaurants, parks, and various points of interest. And Google maps gives directions from the kiosk’s location. After Flatland’s exploration of the kiosk, the question remains: Does the kiosk do anything that a smartphone can’t do? “No, they do not,” Bennett said. “As a matter of fact, you can download the kiosk as an app onto your phone,” he said. “And that is what we want.” [FLEX-CONTENT] Bennett said one…...

It is not easy being a teenager in Kansas City. As inner-city teens enrolled in the Youth Ambassadors program took turns reading each other’s original poetry, their works gave insight into the sometimes harsh realities and struggles facing our community's younger demographic. Teen pregnancy, life on the streets, drug addiction, violence towards women, and incarcerated parents are some of the many mature and difficult topics expressed by the teenagers during the Youth Speak event held at Unity Temple on the Plaza last Tuesday, March 1st. Nearly 20 Youth Ambassadors penned the poetry from their own personal experiences. While the subject matter tended to be emotionally heavy, Youth Ambassadors co-founder Tiffany Lynch said the idea behind the night of poetry was to inspire hope in the teens who took part in the event. “We are giving these teens an opportunity to share their voice, and share what life looks like from the urban core,” Lynch said. “It’s not often we get to hear the voices of urban teens in a positive way, and this allows them to work through some of their issues, and find hope through expressing themselves,” she said. Youth Ambassadors is a not-for-profit teen empowerment program, according to its website. Founded in 2010 in Argentine, Kansas, Lynch said Youth Ambassadors is essentially a series of non-credited classes that equip teens with “writing skills, job skills, life skills, writing, health, art and public speaking". Taking place in community centers around the city, Youth Ambassador's goal is to give teens skills and confidence for the larger world. Funded by the Kauffman, Hall Family, and Kemper foundations as well…...

Michael Brooks recalls witnessing racism in Kansas City at a young age. Growing up at 37th and Benton Boulevard, a wealthy neighborhood “filled with doctors and lawyers,” the former councilman and senior pastor of Zion Grove Missionary Baptist Church said he started kindergarten in 1967 at then-affluent Sanford B. Ladd Elementary. Then, he said, it was a racially mixed school with “around 50 percent white and 50 percent black students.” But within a few years, that demographic had changed dramatically. Brooks explains that real estate agents had begun blockbusting, or offering caucasian homeowners cash for their homes, warning them that African-Americans were moving in, so they had better move out before their property’s value diminished. “By the time I was in the second grade, the school was completely black,” he said. Ten years later, when Brooks began his freshman year at Center High School in 1978, the school had also undergone a complete racial transformation. And at a recent evening event with More² (pronounced “More squared”), Brooks did not mince words when addressing racism in Kansas City to a group wrapping up eight weeks of interfaith conversations about racial inequality. “Racism is a demon,” he said to the gathering of 20 interfaith congregations assembled inside the historic Zion Grove church. “And tonight we are deputizing you as exorcists to cast it out,” Brooks said to applause. “Leap Into Action” was the culminating event for the More² group. Filled with members from various churches from around the Kansas City area, Brooks congratulated the assembly for their participation in the series of conversations that he hopes will lead to…...

When Lee’s Summit West High School’s archery team broke the Missouri state record for highest team score on January 30th, head coach David Winslow looked over to his staff. High-fiving and hugging each other, his assistant coaches reveled in the moment. It was the accumulation of work that had been years in the making. Nearby, the students, perhaps not fully understanding the gravity of their accomplishment, “did not display the same enthusiasm,” Winslow said. Shooting had become so second nature, the high schoolers didn’t realize what they had just done, and what it meant. That’s because for many shooters on the team, archery has been a part of them for the better part of their lives. Many students on the team have been enrolled in the National Archery in Schools Program (NASP) and have been holding a bow in their hands since the third grade. “By the time they get to high school, they have shot a lot of arrows,” Winslow said. Archery is becoming somewhat of a phenomenon, a sport whose popularity is growing at a rapid pace, not only in Missouri, but across the United States. According to the Archery Trade Association (ATA), in 2015 there were 2.3 million students enrolled in archery at school, surpassing Little League Baseball with its 2.1 million students. Also, according to the ATA, the number of archers in the United States (including adults) has tripled in the last 15 years. There are currently an estimated 21 million archery enthusiasts in the United States. So, how has archery become more popular than the…...