DALLAS, TX – Dallas Ecological Foundation's (DEF) Outdoor Adventures program was well represented at the recent National Archery in the Schools (NASP) program with 200 students from nine North Texas schools participating in the competition out of a pool of more than 13,000. The tournament was held in Louisville, Ky. May 12 through May 14. Furthermore, a cumulative total of $21,000 in scholarship monies was awarded to Outdoor Adventures students because of their outstanding archery accomplishments

Outdoor Adventures (OA) is a copyrighted and fully accredited physical education curriculum that can be taught in both public and private secondary schools throughout the nation. NASP archery is just one of many great units offered during this 180-day curriculum. OA also provides students with the opportunity to learn skills related to hunter education, wildlife conservation, competitive shooting, angler education, boater education, survival skills, camping, orienteering, outdoor cooking and CPR/First Aid. While OA is designed to develop student's outdoor skills in a fun and interactive way, the course also helps improve confidence and self-esteem and provides its scholars with an opportunity to learn valuable life skills that can be applied throughout life.

Schools represented at the tournament include: Allen High School, Lewisville's Arbor Creek Middle School and Lamar Middle School, Argyle ISD, Arlington Martin, Brock, Ennis, Flower Mound's Marcus High School, and St. Mary's Catholic School in Sherman, Tx.

Cameron Copeland is a Senior at Allen High School with a degenerative illness known as Alexander Disease, a neurological condition which attacks the white matter in the brain. Although he was unable to participate at the national tournament because of a scheduled doctor's appointment in Philadelphia, Pa., Cameron has benefited greatly from four years of exposure to Outdoor Adventures, where he has competitively shot at three State tournaments and numerous local tournaments during his high school career. "The [OA] program has allowed Cameron to participate in a sport that has given him so much confidence, self-worth, and pure excitement," said Cameron's mother, Charla Bruns. "Thank you for introducing Outdoor Adventures to Allen High School. It has made a huge impact on my son and I am so grateful he has this opportunity!" Cameron is also a two-time "Eagle Award" recipient at Allen High School and has most recently been recognized with another distinguished leadership award.

Out of the nine schools that competed at Nationals, seven teams qualified for NASP worlds to be held at the Myrtle Beach Sports Center June 24-26. Congratulations to all of the Outdoor Adventures students for your outstanding accomplishments this year!

About Dallas Ecological Foundation
Dallas Ecological Foundation was established in 1981 with the primary purpose of obtaining resources to help fund grants related to teaching outdoor education and promoting and funding conservation of wildlife worldwide. In addition to the OA course curriculum, DEF has subsidized numerous equipment grants to schools that have adopted Outdoor Adventures and provided those schools with supplemental teacher-training workshops at no additional charge. Each year, DEF also affords a limited number of grants to qualified applicants who are in support of wildlife conservation projects. To learn more about Dallas Ecological Foundation and Outdoor Adventures, please visit our webpage a www.dallasecologicalfoundation.org

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Media Contacts:
Scot McClure, Dallas Ecological Foundation, scot@dallasecologicalfoundation.org