LPS students fill quivers with life skills during inaugural archery tournament

March 30, 2026

Lincoln Public Schools students picked up skills that will last a lifetime as they watched their arrows whistle through the air this winter.
 
Physical education classes from five LPS high schools traveled to the Turpin Outdoor Education Center for the inaugural LPS Archery Tournament. More than 200 teenagers from Lincoln High, East, North Star, Northwest and Standing Bear visited the indoor archery range. They zipped their arrows to circular targets during a full day of individual and team contests.
 
East senior Abbey and sophomore Piper said they had been looking forward to showcasing their archery skills at the range. They lined up next to dozens of their classmates and aimed their bows at the opposite end of the facility. They wore wide smiles when they saw their arrows had landed near the bull’s-eye.
 
“I was excited, because it’s definitely unique,” Abbey said. “It’s not something that I was expecting to be able to do.”
 
“I think it’s a really good experience, because there aren’t a lot of places that you can do this in Lincoln,” Piper said. “I think it’s a good environment as well.”

 
East senior Elle also spent her morning peppering her target with accurate arrows. She and Abbey counted their scores together after they had finished each round.
 
What did she think she had learned from trying out archery?
 
“It’s hard,” Elle said. “It’s not as easy as people make it look. It’s very impressive for people to be highly athletic and go to the Olympics and be consistently good at it.”
 
Megan Price said she enjoyed watching students like Abbey, Piper and Elle increase their archery precision during the day. Price is the hunting and shooting sports outreach coordinator for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC), which partnered with LPS for the inaugural tournament. She oversees National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) activities for more than 30,000 Nebraska students each year.
 
“It’s fun to see them light up and see those arrows go down range and realize that they have the control over that and they can improve,” Price said. “Even in a short amount of time, we see kids that aren’t on target initially, and by the end of it, they’ve gotten their grouping of arrows down a lot tighter. Just seeing that success happen in a little bit of time is always exciting.”

 
LPS has included archery units in physical education classes for nearly 18 years. LPS K-12 Health and Physical Education Curriculum Specialist Matt Avey said the sport teaches patience, raises self-esteem and develops motor skills like hand-eye coordination. He has watched many students express interest in pursuing the activity after experiencing it for the first time.
 
“I think it’s just a matter of them getting confident and realizing, ‘Oh, I can do this,’” Avey said. “It’s them saying, ‘This isn’t intimidating, because I really enjoyed it and want to do some more of it.’ That’s the whole point. They can apply their skills, and they’re like, ‘I can do this outside of school.’”
 
Price said archery also highlights the value of perseverance and concentration. She said students who excel at the sport can focus on the arrow in their hand instead of worrying about either the past or future. They are also able to shrug off missed shots because they believe in their abilities.
 
“After you’ve shot your arrows, you can learn from them, but focusing on them if you feel they were bad doesn’t help you,” Price said. “Just like in life, if you focus on mistakes and keep harping on those, it doesn’t help you. You just have to focus on what’s in front of you.”
 
Piper and Abbey said they liked the community aspect of archery, too. After each round, students walked to their targets in pairs and tallied up their scores. They had to determine where each arrow landed in the circle, properly count their results and resolve any disputes.
 
“I think it’s good teamwork, because you have to work with your partner and figure that stuff out,” Piper said. “I just think it’s a really good experience, because I wouldn’t even think to do archery, but it’s cool.”
 
“I like being here with all my friends and all the people from my class,” Abbey said. “I think it’s fun.”

 
Avey said he appreciates how much Price and other NGPC employees support the LPS archery initiative each year. The NGPC helps physical education teachers during the unit and supplies some equipment through grants. The organization also provided plaques and trophies for the LPS tournament.
 
“They are a tremendous resource for us and are the backbone of the program’s success,” Avey said.
 
Price said she felt LPS students like Abbey, Piper and Elle could apply their archery memories to all of their academics and activities.
 
“It teaches so many life skills,” Price said. “That’s really what I enjoy about it.”
 
Discover how LPS students reach academic and prosocial targets in their physical education classes.
 
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