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NASP History

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.

In Maryland, a committee from the Maryland Bow Hunter’s Society (MBS) started the NASP ball rolling by bringing Roy Grimes, the NASP National Director, to the table with representatives of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service (WHS), a few interested physical education (PE) teachers and members of some of the state’s conservation organizations. WHS made the decision after that meeting to implement NASP in Maryland.

Maryland launched its first NASP program at Glen Elg High School in late October of 2005. On that day Maryland became the 33rd state to join the NASP ranks and now joins 42 other states as well as Australia and Canada in adopting this highly popular program. More than 1.4 million children from 3,751 schools have participated in the NASP programs as of June 2007. The plan is to have NASP implemented in all 50 states by 2007. State departments of Natural Resources across the country expect many of the students to become archers and support the shooting sports, some even becoming hunters.