Recently, about 50 students from local
schools spent a day on the beautiful grounds of the Spokane Country Club to
learn about ecology and the environment. They came from Cheney, Colville, The
Community School, East Valley and Shadle
Park high schools. Students
from Spokane Community College ’s Introduction to
Greenhouse Management class also attended.
“It’s neat for the kids to get out taylormade burner superfast 2.0 driver and see more, to get hands-on experience
with planting, do public service and also be introduced to golf,” Vanderpool
said.
This year, the students learned how to
plant seedlings from head landscaper Teresa Riddle. “You will be planting about
2,000 annuals in the beds around the clubhouse,” she said. “This is a huge help
for us because there are only four of us on staff to do it.”
Next up was a lecture on soil types and
how water moves through them by Tim Magney from Wilbur-Ellis. “It’s important
to understand this for watering the lawns here and when we need to use
fertilizers and herbicides,” he explained.
Golf course superintendent Jeff Gullikson
co-founded the First Green Foundation, which allows golf courses around the
state to host students for a day of learning. They also discover how much fun
golf can be through putting contests and other activities.
Diane Baye, an instructor taylormade burner superfast 2.0 fairway wood at The Community School, brought students
from the FFA (Future Farmers of America) program and her natural resources
class.
Tim Kohlhauff, former staff arborist and
current Urban Horticulture Coordinator for WSU Spokane County Extension, gave a
demonstration on water testing. Students tested multiple samples for excess
nitrogen, something the country club tests for every three months to make
certain there isn’t runoff going into the ponds or aquifer.
Becky Strite is the agriculture teacher at
Colville High School and also teaches about
floriculture and forestry. “Most of the kids with me today are in my turf and
golf course management class. They are learning about landscaping and how to
plant a garden,” she said.
The last presentation was Fertilizer 101,
given by Gullikson. He taught the students about the nutrients plants need to
thrive, how to calculate fertilizer quantities needed and when to apply them.
“This program is wonderful because
everything’s provided so it’s not a burden on the school. They have wonderful
workshops and my students get to interact with kids from other schools. They
see the relevance between what I’m teaching and what they’re doing here.”
“I’ve been bringing students here for 12
years,” she said. “It connects the students to industry – which is the discount golf clubs school’s mission – for possible career
employment and for an overall awareness about what they’re learning in school.”
“And the kids are able to identify
wildflowers on the country club grounds for their wildflower collection,”
Collins added.