[00:01] Announcer:
Welcome to Principal Center Radio, helping you build capacity for instructional leadership. Here's your host, Director of the Principal Center, Dr. Justin Bader. Welcome everyone to Principal Center Radio.
[00:13] SPEAKER_00:
I'm your host, Justin Bader, and I'm honored to welcome to the program Dr. Tommy Floyd. Dr. Floyd is president of the National Archery in the Schools Program and served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in public education in Kentucky schools for over 30 years. Tommy was hired in 2015 to serve as NASP's first vice president and general manager, and he's now the second president since the inception of NASP in 2002. And we're here today to talk about the National Archery in the Schools Program.
[00:43] Announcer:
And now, our feature presentation.
[00:46] SPEAKER_00:
Tommy, welcome to Principal Center Radio.
[00:47] SPEAKER_01:
Thank you, Justin, for having me. It's a pleasure to be here and a pleasure to talk about NASP.
[00:52] SPEAKER_00:
Well, I'm excited about it because as a principal, we had archery in our school through the PE classes. And as a young person, I had many opportunities to participate in archery through scouts and other camps and things like that. And I'm excited about the possibilities for making archery accessible to more and more students through programs like yours. Let's start with the basic case. Obviously, a bow and arrow is kind of a weapon. And these are times when people might raise an eyebrow at something like that.
[01:23]
What's the basic rationale for archery in the schools?
[01:26] SPEAKER_01:
I think the thing that I'll begin with, that's an excellent question to start with. Why should I even listen? to something about an archery program for a school, any kind of school, which is some of the conversation I had with my assistant principal when I first saw this program had come to Kentucky back in 2002. We were involved in my high school, Somerset High School, where I was principal, and we had that same conversation. But let me just say that what I saw in 2003, I still see today in 2023. We're a 21-year-old program with a 21-year impeccable safety record, We're in 49 states, just under 9,000 schools, currently active, 1.3 million students received archery lessons last year without incident, and over 17,000 adults trained reported
[02:21]
involved with kids. So back to the original question. What I began my interest in the National Archery Schools Program was because at the time I was an archer since I was a little boy. I was a bow hunter. We put it out there. We had about 20 kids show up for the first little bit.
[02:40]
What I saw happen with the archery program that we introduced there at Somerset, who it brought in, what happened to them and how it affected them for the positive that really wasn't about archery. And if you're an administrator, you're an administrator because you probably went kicking and screaming from the classroom to say, well, okay, I'll do this. And then you realized you have an incredible opportunity to really make some decisions that affect hundreds, thousands of students. I think the thing that I would want to say first to the person listening to this, is simply for 21 years, I have seen this program attract students that I wasn't reaching before with something else. Two, I watched it totally grab them and cause them to be engaged, engaged academically, engaged behaviorally, engaged socially with other people.
[03:38]
I saw extremely shy students become spokespeople for what the archery program had done for them. It brought them out of their shell. Number two, With that new insurgence of fired up, engaged kids that had been basically invisible before, I saw an improvement in my school culture because those kids were very, very positive about something. Third, I had the realization that I now had a practice after school. I now had a tournament on the weekend. I had a chance to become a much more involved role model.
[04:12]
with these students. And then the last in one of my favorites was I had some parents that I had never met show up and want to start helping us with the program. When we have some of our larger tournaments, we have one in Louisville in the second week of May. We're going to be right at 15,000 bullseye archers. But there'll be 45 to 50,000 people show up because parents and grandparents attend these events. They follow the buses.
[04:41]
Think about it. For these kids that are now archers representing their school, they've never represented their school before. They haven't found that thing that made them want to be connected with that school. And we have seen for 21 years, we have seen NASP become that thing.
[04:59] SPEAKER_00:
I love it. And I think just the opportunity to have a sport that is a little bit more accessible, that you tend to have one group of students who are going to play basketball, football, baseball, things like that. Talk about who can participate in archery in terms of physical ability and disabilities and things like that.
[05:15] SPEAKER_01:
Well, almost anyone can. We have students who are obviously physically challenged, emotionally challenged. We have students missing limbs, visually impaired students, deaf students. We have students...
[05:29]
who have a myriad of neurological issues, but communities come together. I've seen repeated examples where communities get together, they go down to a machine shop, they build a brace, the student brings the chair in on the brace, they shoot from the chair. The only people who have a really difficult time shooting NASP are the extremely long armed, really tall people whose draw length is so much past the bow that we shoot. We have to change their delivery but they too can participate. Probably the thing that makes us so proud are the number of students who, I don't want to use the term normalized, but they have become just like everyone else. And if you have someone in your family who has suffered from a physical or even a mental or emotional challenge, they don't want to be singled out.
[06:20]
They want to be like everyone else. Again and again and again, Justin, I've seen examples where students participated in NASC just like everyone else. But what's even more special is when the community that they live in celebrates the fact that they have figured out a way so that they can shoot the bow with their mouth because they don't have any arms. They don't have both of their legs and they sit on something while they shoot. Or as I've seen once, a student who could not see the target, father stood behind them and helped direct their aim. They got to participate in one of our events as a visually impaired student.
[07:00] SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. So just the potential for participation and the broadening of inclusion is just incredible. Let's stop just for a second to talk about the safety aspect. You said that there have not been incidents. And I think we naturally are risk averse in schools. We're concerned about safety.
[07:16]
And certainly we always want to make sure that we're putting safety first and foremost. Something that's unsafe is a deal breaker. Talk to us a little bit about that safety aspect for archery in the schools. How is this safe? And how, especially if we have You know, young people, we think sometimes you can't even give a kid a can of soda and not have a safety problem.
[07:34] SPEAKER_01:
Well, I would say that the safety aspect of us is number one. And our training protocols, we conduct a training called a basic archery instructor training. People go through a day's training on that. Our program involves whistle commands, one, two, and three whistle blasts, all that means something else. The instructors are trained to wait for the students to comply with the particular thing that they teach them. There's a waiting area.
[08:03]
The students approach the bow rack. They remove the bow. They come to the shooting line. They put the bow on their toe. They're waiting for the first whistle or the second whistle, which is a single blast, which tells them there's time to shoot. We utilize an archery curtain.
[08:17]
Curtain, which is safety and fire proven for gyms in America and elsewhere. This curtain sits and touches the floor, so any arrow that bounces, they do not damage the floor. I have put down and refinished enough floors to spend the night on. That's been something. I have great experience with. Our equipment does not damage the floor.
[08:37]
The curtain prevents any damage in case an arrow misses the target. We shoot a 20-pound Genesis bow. We shoot an 18-20 aluminum arrow with a chisel tip. It will stick in the target. It is not a high-poundage bow, so it is very safe for an indoor setting. But The behavioral expectations of what is taught during the basic archery instructor class, we believe is the number one reason why we've had 21 years without a significant problem with 21 million students going through the program.
[09:13]
I'll say that again, 21 years, 21 million. We didn't mean for it to line up like that, but it's really neat that it did because of the people in the schools. So I'm sitting there and I'm listening to your recording and I'm finding out that there's this archery program and I would think, well, why do I want to do that and potentially put my facilities at risk or have to explain to the superintendent about insurance rates or liability? None of that has proven to be true. Now, I've heard from hundreds of administrators asking me the question over these last several years, you know, well, what about insurance? What about liability?
[09:49]
Because we're one of the safest sports in existence, I can say this. you're looking at a lot more of an expense for injuries for ball sports than you are for archery. As a matter of fact, I think the Archery Trade Association came out and talked about how safe archery really was. Table tennis is one of the only sports that's safer than archery. So, you know, ping pong, good luck. You're a little bit ahead, but we know based on based on our 21 year track record, it does not affect schools, insurance rates, liability, school damage, injury rate, any of that stuff that every administrator probably is going to ask listening to this program.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. And certainly, you know, just the baseline rate of injuries from things like, you know, football, basketball, you know, we know those aren't zero. We want them to be as low as possible, but you know, we're not even, not even a blip in comparison here.
[10:45] SPEAKER_01:
So, you know, I will say this for the folks out there that hear this for the first time. NASP is easy to find on the web. naspschools.org is our website. But you know, 1,346 new schools joined our program last year somewhere. The state of Vermont and the state of Rhode Island joined our program for the first time on our 21st year.
[11:09]
The state of Maryland, Wyoming, their agency took back over the program. But 1,346 new schools joined NASP. Currently, among the 1.3 million, we're a 50-50 male-female mix. 66% of our participants are new archers. And here's why.
[11:31]
To be a NASP school, you must agree to offer archery during the school day at least 10 hours a year, which means... The chances of you introducing it to someone who has never shot a bow before is very high. And that's why 66% of our people are first timers. But I'll give you two more.
[11:52]
I'll give you two of my favorite stats. Number one, 58% of our kids indicated on our most recent survey participating in NASP caused them to engage in their school. The kids told us that. But here's an even bigger one. 40% of the students said NASP was a significant factor in their academic motivation. And it makes sense.
[12:15]
I've got a role model now, my coach, and I don't want to disappoint him or her. They expect me to do things in the hall, in class. They expect me to have my work done so that I can be on the team. I can shoot my bow. This is an expectation that transcends the sport itself. It's the same thing that banned sports, cheerleading, everything else experiences high expectations.
[12:39]
But second of all, it's a motivator in the classroom. We recognized over 34,000 kids last year for being successful on their local school's honor roll, meaning that academic excellence is something that we strive for. So again, your administrator out there that's hearing about NASP for the first time, you know, I would say this, do you have students in your school that you're not reaching. Regardless of what state you're in, you have a coordinator that can tell you how to get started. You find a teacher, you get that teacher trained, you get an equipment. We actually offer equipment grants for half the cost.
[13:22]
A kit, a new kit is about three grand, a little bit over 3,000. We provide half of that in a grant to the state to give to the school to take off of that amount. So when you consider the equipment that you have to purchase to start a new sport, archery is relatively low. And then I ask a question again. Do you have students in your school that you're not reaching, not engaging? They get on the bus, they come to school, they get on the bus, they go home, they get off the bus.
[13:52]
They didn't do anything wearing your colors. Look around in your state and see who's offering this program. Go and visit a school, talk to another principal or assistant principal that has the program. I'll bet you it will reach your unreached population just like it's done for so many.
[14:10] SPEAKER_00:
Wow. Now, I want to make sure to ask about the program model in just a moment and learn more about that. But let's talk about the cost just a little bit. That does seem very low. You said about $3,000 total. And what are people getting when they get that kind of starter kit?
[14:24] SPEAKER_01:
A little bit over $3,000 for a kid. They're getting the bows, the arrows, five targets, a backstop curtain, You could easily run a PE class. I'll pick on that because a lot of people offer it during the PE courses. You can find ways to put the curtain up behind the targets and you can get it to where it protects anything and everything behind it. We teach the BAIs to guard the gym with signs and they ward off so there's only one exit and one entrance into the gym during archery time. They get everything they need to offer archery instruction in their school.
[14:59]
And again, at about 31 or $3,200, we're offsetting that with a national grant to the states. And if someone's not in a public school, that's okay. Private school, even virtual schools, homeschool associations get together. We have all kinds of schools that have found a way to come together. You know, a lot of these schools that are non-traditional, they get together anyway. They get together for physics, chemistry, advanced math, some kind of a field trip to see something that they can't necessarily easily produce at home individually.
[15:32]
We just have so many different kinds of schools that participate in it. But as far as getting started, anybody that wants to reach out to me or their state coordinator, they can go to our website. where it says about us or contact us and coordinators is one of the topics.
[15:52] SPEAKER_00:
Fabulous. And just in terms of like, boy, that's not a lot of money. Like, frankly, you could probably ask a couple of people and raise that amount of money locally. Talk to us a little bit about replacement. I mean, obviously kids break things, things break, wear out over time. How much do people need to expect to kind of keep that equipment in good shape and replace things that break?
[16:11] SPEAKER_01:
Excellent question. Let me go back one thing to the cost. You know, when I was principal, I put out a flyer. I went to Chamber. I went to Rotary. I went to Kiwanis.
[16:20]
I went to Ducks Unlimited. I went to National Wild Turkey Federation. I went to everybody who would care that we were starting archery. The first two kits, I didn't spend school money. People were so excited that archery was going to be taught and they knew it would reach new kids. They told me, though.
[16:37]
They told me that. As far as attrition and replacement, we have a grant for that, too. We actually give a grant. to the states for active programs. What you're gonna look at as far as replacements, your targets are gonna last a really long time. We teach you how to maintain the bows, they're gonna last a really long time.
[16:55]
You're gonna need to refletch and re-knock arrows that are hit by other arrows because the kids will hit certain arrows easily done. You don't have to be an arrow expert. We have videos on our website on how to do all that. When you buy kits, you get a repair kit, It has fletchings. It has knocks. It has the glue to fix it.
[17:16]
You're back in business in no time. Plus, if you want to get revamped and reactivate, we have a grant for that as well. It's really a low-cost program as far as upkeep. It is not something that's prohibitive.
[17:32] SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, no, certainly very reasonable. I mean, and on the scale of any other PE activity, you know, for example, any type of sports equipment is going to have some sort of initial cost and replacement cost. Let's talk a little bit more about the program model. And I think in my school, when I was an elementary principal, you know, the older grades did archery and they did it in PE class. The PE teacher was entirely responsible for that. And you said in the models that you see nationally and support nationally, things are happening during the school day.
[17:56]
So this is not an afterschool activity for the most part.
[18:00] SPEAKER_01:
It is designed to be an in-school program. Fourth, fifth, and sixth, seventh, and eighth, nine through 12. And those are our three divisions. If you are a school and you offer the in-school program to any group of students, you have a systemic way to offer archery to a new group of kids every year. you can then turn around and turn this into an afterschool program as well. And everybody at that school is eligible to show up, receive the safety training, be taught how to shoot the 11 steps and begin.
[18:35]
A lot of schools begin with like the PE teacher, he or she teaches it, but then the PE teacher may or may not be the one who comes in and says, Hey, you know, I'm all about archery. I'd like to help the teacher. Would you all be interested in afterschool program? The principal gets behind it. Then you have students who are staying after school. There's ways for transportation.
[18:57]
They work a lot like your 21st century and other grants for after school programs. A lot of schools use this as an incentive to get kids to stay after school for tutoring, all kinds of things. But the archery becomes an after school event that benefits those students because of that in-school class. We require the school to be in school. You know, we have schools in lots of states that have three and four teams. They have 100 kids participating in archery.
[19:25]
They take two buses to where they go. They do fundraisers. They offer tournaments. A lot of these schools, like in my state in Kentucky, they'll have a tournament and the tournaments will fill up the same day they open. So they just kind of take turns shooting in each other's gyms and they raise enough money to attend the state tournament. They raise enough money to attend the national tournament in Louisville if they qualify.
[19:49]
It is a self-perpetuating, parentally involving activity.
[19:56] SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, and speaking of the parental aspect, I'd imagine there's not a ton for students to purchase in the way of gear. They don't need special shoes or anything like that, right?
[20:04] SPEAKER_01:
That is the key. We shoot a original Genesis bow, an 1820 arrow. Everything the student needs to participate in NASP comes in the kit. The school can own the equipment. Do students buy their own bows? You betcha.
[20:18]
They buy them and customize them and paint them all kinds of crazy colors. And then the parents get together and they do a fundraiser and they make shirts. And all the kids wear the shirts. We have removed the arms race. if you would, when it comes to equipment. So there shouldn't be any different between the affluent student in lane one and the student that's on free and reduced lunch in lane two.
[20:42]
They're both wearing an archery shirt. They're shooting a school bow. And even if they're not shooting a school bow, one shoots a school bow, the school bows are identical to the ones the kids buy. School usually owns the arrows. So there's not a difference in whose dad can afford the best equipment, okay? I would liken it to football.
[21:01]
The football team owns all the equipment, maybe the shoes, but even, you know, the rest of it's owned by the school. Same with us. So there isn't a significant issue regarding the impact of poverty. One thing that I just would be remiss if I didn't say, anybody that's listened this long and they've not quit listening, I just want them to hear one thing. We call ourselves an archery program. But having done this administration thing a long time, the best parts, the best years of my life, I was doing it, but they're all good.
[21:34]
We call ourselves an archery program, but we're really a success program. If you're sitting out there and you're thinking, you know, okay, I've listened this far. Maybe I'll find somebody that already has NASP in my state. We're really a success program. Because I may not be where you are, wherever you are listening to me, but I know this. Every child comes from a different situation.
[21:56]
And the one thing, regardless of the red, yellow, black, white, boy or girl, doesn't matter. They all need success. Some of them have not tasted success. They don't know what it feels like. They don't know what it's like to be a part of something bigger than themselves. They have not participated.
[22:14]
The one thing that I absolutely dearly love about NASP It enables a whole group of kids to experience success. Because here's what happens. You go to PE class, your PE teacher teaches you how to shoot the bow. Scared to death of it at first. Oh my gosh, arrows everywhere. Can't get them to go where I want to.
[22:33]
Three or four volleys, I can control the arrow. Third or fourth time I shoot, I'm pretty good. Then I shoot my first all 10 group or I shoot some nines and I cannot wait to tell my friends at the lunch table, tell my friends on the bus, tell my friends somewhere, hey man, I'm shooting archery and I'm one of the best in my class because that's success. And then they make the archery team after school and then they get a shirt and then they get to tell grandma they're selling candy or they're doing something because we're going to go to the other school in the other county and we're going to shoot against them and we're going to beat them. They've never experienced any of that. Archery opens that door for millions of boys and girls every year.
[23:16]
And that's what I'm about. I want anyone to know that promoting the success for kids is what we're about. Anybody willing to try this, we'll work very hard to help you be successful if you want to launch NASP in your school. Don't be afraid. We got millions of people that have found that it's a great thing for kids, and you will too.
[23:40] SPEAKER_00:
I love it. And I think what you're describing with the sense of mastery that students develop, it strikes me as something that's similar to the feeling that students get from playing video games. I think that's why so many students get addicted to video games is because they get that feeling of mastery. I'm good at this. I, you know, build skills, but we don't really want our students playing video games anymore than they already do. So what a great opportunity to get that same feeling and that same reinforcement from something that is not on a screen.
[24:05] SPEAKER_01:
And, you know, they need it so badly. And if they get to the end of high school and they still want to continue, there are other archery programs out there. Next step archery programs to get into. There's 3D archery. There's bow hunting. There's target archery.
[24:19]
They can shoot a bow for the rest of their life. So they're like me and their shoulder gets sore.
[24:24] SPEAKER_00:
Absolutely. A lifelong sport. So tell me, if people want to look into this a little bit more, get in touch with your organization, what's the best thing for them to do?
[24:34] SPEAKER_01:
The best thing for them to do is get on their computer and look up the National Archery in the Schools Program. And that is NASP, N-A-S-P, schools, plural, naspschools.org. They can learn everything there is to do, but I would bring your attention. We have this nifty, I like that adjective, this nifty graphic that we've created that says, how do I get NASP to my school? How do I start NASP at my school?
[25:02]
We broke that down. It took us a long time. We now have an explanation for how you can start NASP at your school. Regardless of the state you're in, even in Canada, nine Canadian provinces, there's a way to bring NASP to your school. There's grants available for your equipment. There are trainings available for your teachers, principals, assistant principals, any level of administration.
[25:25]
This will help you reach a group of kids that you haven't reached yet.
[25:29] SPEAKER_00:
So naspschools.org is the website. And Dr. Tommy Floyd, thank you so much for joining me on Principal Center Radio. It's been a real pleasure.
[25:36] SPEAKER_01:
Thank you, Justin. God bless.
[25:39] Announcer:
Thanks for listening to Principal Center Radio. For more great episodes, subscribe on our website at principalcenter.com slash radio.
