Archery: “On Target For Life”
The National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) is a joint venture between state departments of Education and Wildlife. Several archery equipment manufactures and organizations are also partners. The program promotes student education, physical education and participation in the life-long sport of Archery. The program’s focus is to provide International Style target Archery training in physical education classes grades 4-12. The South Carolina program has however been modified in some schools to accommodate agricultural classes, in-school outdoors clubs and special education classes.
School teachers undergo an 8-hour Basic Archery Instructor (BAI) training program. The core content covers archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, and self-improvement. In turn they present archery to their students. The students shoot at bullseye targets placed before an arrow resistant net in their gymnasium.
Since the beginning of the program in Kentucky six years ago (SC in December 2004) the program has grown to 5000 schools in 46 states and four other countries. Last year nationwide there are 16,000 NASP certified teachers in archery and an estimated one million students participated in the program. The 2008 NASP national tournament was the largest archery event in North America (2865 participants).
In South Carolina the Archery program has grown from 10 pilot schools to 105 schools at the end of 2008. More than 200 teachers across the state have become certified to teach the program. As a culminating event of the schools that participate in the program we have the DNR sponsors a State tournament. Schools in the upper, middle and lower part of the State compete at this tournament. The 1st place teams and individuals are eligible to represent South Carolina at the National level.
Training dates:
- Archery in the Schools Training
Cotton Belt Elementary School, York County
August 3, 2009 from 9am-2pm
Please contact us for details and registration. Sgt. Dennetta Dawson at 1-800-277-4301, DawsonD@dnr.sc.gov