For the past ten years, South’s head baseball coach, Coach Bayer, has worked to maintain the school’s athletic facilities, diligently making sure they are ready for each and every sporting event. Coach Bayer, along with Mr. Pileggi, created a new class that will target the students in the school who have interest in working outside and striving to have a career in golf course management or sports turf management. Students at South express their interest in lawn care and landscaping. Many of them have started their own lawn care businesses and it has grown throughout the years into something bigger than just a neighborhood helper.

“We have a couple of students in the school right now that do their own landscaping business on the side,” Bayer states. “They are so big as juniors and seniors that they had to become registered because they are doing so much work. It really hits home to them and I am very excited about it.”

This class is brand new to both South and the county. South Forsyth High School is the only school in the county who has put this new class into place. Being in the CTAE pathway, this class will open the door to any students in the county; whether they are from North, Lambert, or Denmark. This class will also provide many opportunities for college scholarships. UGA has a great turf management program and South hopes to be able to partner with them and provide scholarships to students from South.

Coach Bayer will design this year-long class to cater to the interests of students in the class. They hope to work with the students and get them to interact and learn about turf management in a new way, outside of the normal classwork and worksheets.

“My whole game plan is to really build it around what their interests are and go from there. We have a lot of freedom for the school and the school district, which is great” commented Coach Bayer.

Though it focuses on work done outside, there will be times when students will be in the classroom. Students will take some written exams identifying tools and basic procedures. Projects and other assignments may be physical performances and maintaining parts of the campus. The school is looking into adding a small greenhouse on campus to practice maintenance and learn about the types of grass and plants. Projects, like painting the fields and getting equipment set out on game days, will be assignments to accommodate students interested in sports turf management, as opposed to landscaping and golf course management.

“We even explored the possibility of doing a unit that is going to be tying in with culinary. So kind of a farm to table sort of thing,” says Coach Bayer.

Towards the end of the year, there will be competition opportunities in central and south Georgia. These competitions will test students skills with developing, reseeding, and maintaining sports turf.

In response to community service, Coach Bayer said, “We have talked about getting involved with Sharon Springs or Joint Venture. We want to stay in South district; at the parks that would directly relate to our students and families.”

This class will provide new opportunities for students with interests outside of business or marketing.