Taekwondo Club launches at Washington High School

Students at Washington High School came back to school with one more activity option. The Taekwondo Club, taught by Tanner Wenger and assisted by his wife, Cailee Wenger, held its first meeting on Monday, Aug. 26, 2019.

Tanner is a special education BD (behavioral disorder) teacher at Lincoln Elementary and Cailee is the vocal music teacher at Washington Middle School. Tanner said he first became interested in taekwondo in 2003 and has been practicing for the past 16 years. He got his start at a dojang, or training hall, in his hometown and has worked his way up to be a fifth degree black belt and holds a coaching endorsement.

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that is relatively new, having been created formally on April 11, 1955.

'It takes bits and pieces from other martial arts, but its own separate entity and it's known for its kicks,” he said.

Although martial arts can sometimes have a bad reputation for teaching students to fight, Wenger said the five tenants of taekwondo - courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control and indomitable spirit - will be the primary focus.

'Those are what I will really try to push and stress and hopefully, you will learn these skills and learn them so you hopefully never have to use them and if you do have to use them, you use them as a last resort to potentially protect yourself or a loved one,” he said. 'It's not to be learned to go out and be misused.”

Emma Kaye, a freshman at Washington High School, said she wanted to get involved because she had been involved in taekwondo at her previous school. Kaye said she has played traditional sports, like soccer, in the past, but taekwondo is the activity that she feels most comfortable with and enjoys the most.

Washington High School Principal Erik Buchholz said when he first heard the idea for the club, he was enthused by the idea but concerned about liability purposes. Having taken taekwondo in college, he felt more comfortable with the idea once the Wengers presented to the school board and laid out the experience they had.

'I just thought it was a great opportunity for our students that they may not find anywhere else,” he said.

Offering a variety of activities is a goal for Washington High School as they offer more than 15 different clubs and activities, aside from traditional sports, for students to partake in. Buchholz said he feels it is important to open doors for students and allow them to try activities because not all students are interested in traditional sports.

'You just have students that have interest in a variety of different areas and you need to provide as much as you possibly can to help those students find their niche,” he said, explaining the archery club the school implemented has seen attendance rise to now having more than 150 members.

Wenger's wife, Cailee, assists with the class and has been practicing for three years and is a third degree brown belt. She said her goal for the students is to learn more about themselves through the craft of taekwondo.

'As a teacher, that's one of the things that we see a lot of times that they struggle with. It also teaches perseverance, which I think is another trait that I think students can learn from,” she said.

Tanner said learning the skill is similar to the Spiderman quote, 'with great power comes great responsibility” and is hoping to instill that in the seven students signed up. The club will meet twice a week from 4-5 p.m. in the Lincoln Elementary School gym on Mondays and Thursdays.

Students are welcome to sign up anytime and those who need to ride the activities bus back to Brighton can do so as well. Anyone with questions can contact either of the Wengers at: twenger@washington.k12.ia.us or cwenger@washington.k12.ia.us.