INDUSTRY EDUCATION
Hands-on Experience
High school students leading the way on community field renovation projects
All photos provided by Dave Gossman
Students from the Turf / Field class at Atwater High School ( Atwater , California ) recently teamed up with students from Golden Valley High School ( Merced , California ) and experts from West Coast Turf for a City of Atwater field renovation project .
Students from both programs were able to tour West Coast Turf ’ s facilities prior to renovating two city softball fields . Renovations included removing a large infield / outfield hump , laser grading infields , resetting base anchors and installing sod .
“ The primary objective is to expose high school students to , and get them excited about , the opportunities available in the turfgrass and sports field management profession ,” said Dave Gossman , Atwater High School agriculture instructor , FFA advisor , and department chair .
Gossman began his career as a dolphin trainer working in Hawaii , Tahiti and Bermuda before deciding to “ pay if forward ” and becoming a high school agriculture teacher . For the past 23 years , he has been teaching at Atwater , a school of 2,100 students from an 80-plus-percent socioeconomically challenged and diverse population .
During his time at Atwater , Gossman has helped to grow the agriculture program from 250 agriculture students to more than 1,200 students — making it one of the largest agriculture programs in the nation .
However , it wasn ’ t until 2019 , and the STMA Conference in Phoenix , that Gossman was exposed to the opportunities the sports field management profession had to offer .
“ Being an agriculture teacher , I saw the direct connection to agriculture — soil , turf and irrigation ,” he said . “ I became enthused because I felt like I had discovered an untapped niche in the horticulture / agriculture pathway that I could open and create at my high school as a course for students .”
In 2019 , Gossman submitted California ’ s first “ Turfgrass and Sports Field Management ” course within the state ’ s Agriculture / Horticulture CTE pathway . Utilizing SFMA certification and education topics as a resource , he developed a course that continues to expand .
Gossman credits much of the growth and success of the Atwater program to SFMA members and industry professionals , including Marc Moran , CSFM , Atlee High School and Drew Miller , Brentsville Turfgrass Management
26 SportsField Management | December 2024 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com