CARROLL COUNTY, Md. — Some fifth graders from William Winchester Elementary School put down the pencils and went to the golf course for hands-on education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, or STEM.
Over 80 students took to the greens to use the golf course as a learning lab through the STEM program called First Green.
"Well we learned about the soil and how they keep the grass alive and like the water system,” said Savannah Bacelka, who is a student at Winchester Elementary.
The Environmental Education program takes students through the Westminster National Golf Course, stopping at six stations that not only teach them about science, technology, engineering and math-- but also the importance of keeping up the golf course.
Winchester Elementary student Kwabena Boakye said he learned, "How they use the sand to get most of the water out from the grass.”
The goal is to give students hands on experience in STEM education. Learning everything from soil and grass to the physics of putting.
"Kids are going to have a fantastic experience and learn more by using a trundle wheel, learning that golf is measured in yards and doing the yards to feet conversion, “said Ryan Kraushofer, Westminster National Golf Course Superintendent and General Manager.
The Westminster National Golf Course has been hosting the course for eight years, bringing in students from Carroll County and Baltimore County.
Kraushofer said, "They might be sitting in a classroom thinking well why is this important to me. Now they get to see first hand how science is used out in the real world, how people are using it for their jobs."
