DASHER — The Georgia Christian School Turf Program received $1,500 from the Georgia Sports Field Management Association for the furtherance of the program by Kyle Patterson, President of Georgia SFMA, on March 7, 2024, after the school’s joint chapel services.
Georgia Christian is one of only two schools in Georgia with student programs in turf management.
Georgia Christian’s high school student turf program is led by science teacher Willis Colson.
An alum of Georgia Christian School, he recalled playing soccer on what he calls “the worst surface you can imagine.” For the last 20 years, he has been working to help improve the fields at Georgia Christian for its students.
At a 2017 STMA Conference, Colson’s attendance at Dr. Trey Rodgers’ “Turfgrass 101” presentation was a turning point for him. At the following year’s conference, Colson learned about a curriculum that had been developed by Dr. Mike Goatley, Marc Moran, and Andrew Miller. That curriculum has been used as the base curriculum for the GCS high school turf grass program since then.
This is a capstone course that students have been prepared for through physical science, biology, and chemistry, and ultimately put into practice the knowledge and skills they have acquired through that training.
As enrollment in turf management programs at the university levels are dropping across the country, Georgia Christian has been able to grow and sustain an extremely successful turf program at the high school level, with students going on to pursue the green industry as a result of the program. This is due to the fact that the program has survived long enough to develop a following, like any other sport or team at Georgia Christian. Students take pride in their facilities, enjoy the camaraderie, and feel empowered in the tasks they accomplish.