DANVILLE, Pa. — It was a beautiful day on the golf course for students from the Danville Area School District. The fifth graders spent the day at Frosty Valley Resort and Golf Course.
"Teaching them to measure square footage area, teaching them irrigation on how to measure volume, a little bit about golf, some golf activities," said Tom Height, Frosty Valley Golf Course superintendent.
It's all part of the First Green program. The program uses golf courses as learning labs to give students unique lessons in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
"The kids saw me carrying my calculators here today and they were like, 'No!' And I said, 'Yes, we're doing math.' It's just to see what we do in class and relate it to out here. It really meant something to the kids. I think," teacher Ann Marie Yost said.
"They're learning everything they would in school with the STEM programs, and the golf course serves as their classroom for the day," Height said.
Nearly 200 students from Liberty Valley Intermediate School took part in the program, the entire fifth grade class.
"We had some fun chipping some balls into a dragon, and we got to ride on some of the equipment," student Jon Height said.
The students rotated through different stations and had a lot of fun.
"We just learned about the different types of grass, more about the golf course and what the lengths are, what they like, what they don't like. We learned how to hit the golf ball high in the air," student Reagan Snyder said.
Organizers say it was the first time this program was held at Frosty Valley Resort, but it won't be the last.