Students at DeKalb Middle and DeKalb West schools will soon have the opportunity to participate in the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP).
NASP is a joint venture between state departments of education and wildlife. Several archery equipment manufacturers 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 program is a two-to-eight-week archery course designed to teach international style target archery.  The students shoot at bulls-eye targets placed in front of an arrow resistant net in their gymnasium.
The core content covers archery history, safety, technique, equipment, mental concentration, core strengthening, physical fitness and self improvement which is necessary in order to participate in and enjoy the sport of archery as a lifetime activity. The safety and instructional guidelines were adopted from the National Archery Association (NAA) and the National Field Archery Association (NFAA).
Before presenting the program, schools must send at least one teacher to an 8 hour training course to become a certified archery instructor. This training is conducted by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
In this curriculum are reading and writing assignments, physics and science projects, history lessons and other essential scholastic achievements that turn a simple recreational activity into a fun and powerful learning experience.
The total cost for the equipment is approximately $3,000.  A $1,000 reimbursable grant is offered to the schools to help with the funding of the archery kit.
NASP was launched in Tennessee in October 2004 and 265 schools from across the state are now participating.
Tennessee was the 17th state to join the program. At this time there are 48 U.S. states, Australia, Mexico and Nova Scotia/Canada participating in the program with other states and countries (Japan, parts of Europe) coming on board each month. 
The TWRA conducts a Tennessee State NASP tournament each year and the winners of each of the three divisions (elementary 4-6 grade, Jr. High 7-8 grade, High School 9-12 grade) and top males and females get an automatic bid to compete at the National Tournament, which is held in Louisville, KY.   
Educators are reporting that NASP "engages the unengaged" and inspires students to greater achievement in school. As far as safety is concerned, archery is safer than all ball sports except table tennis and extra insurance is not required by the schools to teach archery.
Anyone wishing to help with contributions to pay for equipment for the NASP program at DeKalb West or Dekalb middle schools should contact Principal Randy Jennings at DeKalb Middle, or Assistant Principal Sabrina Farler at DeKalb West.