Army Recruiters teach a three day assault prevention and combative course at Pisgah High School

Pisgah High School P.E. teacher Heidi Morgan watches the students practice moves they learned from Staff Sgt. Kevin Shultz.

Pisgah High School, located in Canton, N.C., welcomed Army Recruiters to teach a three day assault prevention and combative course. Sgt. Jonathan Flowers and Staff Sgt. Kevin Shultz, both from Asheville Recruiting Center, incorporated their instruction in different gym class periods November 4-6, 2014, to teach the female students assault prevention. They used an outline from the Army’s SHARP program, Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention and taught basic combatives moves.

Sgt. 1^st Class Charles Jones, of Asheville Recruiting Company, realized he and his Recruiters could fill a niche.  Pisgah High School Physical Education teacher Heidi Morgan said the school had a former resource officer who was teaching assault prevention and defense. When he left to become a police officer, it left a void.  In stepped the local Army Recruiters.   “I think they did a fantastic job,” said Morgan. “They communicated at their (student) age level and didn’t use terminology that was over their head.”

 “We focused are first day on assault prevention, be aware of surroundings, avoiding certain areas, wearing earbuds and not paying attention,” said Flowers. They also did a few basic moves to help if a person is attacked from behind. The second day was all combatives, which the girls said was a lot more fun. “It was great, I had fun, it was educational, it gave us skills to protect ourselves,” said several students. “The Recruiters were nice and very funny.” The third day was more combatives, an after action review, and filling out leads cards if anyone wanted more info about the Army. 

Pisgah High School students enjoy watching and learning as Sgt. Jonathan Flowers pins down Staff Sgt. Kevin Shultz.

 

“This has been a great opportunity,” said Flowers. “This has already opened doors for us.” 

  “We’ve already been asked to come in and teach other classes,” said Shultz.
The recruiters ask each of the 80 students four questions at the end to help improve the course going forward.

Below are the summarized questions and comments:

What did you learn from this class?

Learned how I could possibly save my life

How to defend myself

How to create space

Strength doesn't matter, it is strategy 

Do you feel that you can protect yourself better?

I honestly do, especially learning these techniques
Yes, this  class taught me a lot
Yes, I feel safer and more aware
Yes, but I would like to know more!

Would you recommend this class to others?

Yes, 100%
Yes, I think this is a great class
Yes, it was helpful and fun
This is something every kid should learn
I think everyone should take it at least once
  

 Three things you liked about the course.

That you don't have to be strong
How good the movers were described
We actually got to try it
I liked that I felt confident