Origins of National Archery in the Schools

A physical education curriculum entitled "Archery: On Target for Life" was co-created in Kentucky in 2002 by the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources. The objective was to engage more students in the educational process to improve classroom performance and reduce drop-out rates. The NASP was then created.

Kentucky has now enrolled over 800 schools in their program and NASP is now recognized as the leader in implementing school archery programs.

In February of 2004, the first teacher training workshop in our state was held at Deerlake Middle School in Leon County. Florida became the 24th state to offer the National Archery in the Schools Program in the physical education curriculum.

There are now 47 states, plus South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Australia, New Zealand, 8 Canada Provinces, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom participating in NASP. Internationally, more than 13 million children have participated in the NASP program in their schools, 2.15 million students last year alone. NASP is currently adding about 1,000 schools per year.