Pacific Palisades, CA …
Tour Miss: What do you have in place here at this year’s Genesis Open?
Dr. Kathy Bihr: What we have here in the TGR Learning Lab tent on course at Riviera is four stations that are really inter-active where young people can come in and see what activities we undertake.
Standards are a very important subject to us … science engineering and technology, so we are really trying to inspire more young people to go into those fields and look at why are they taking science process for their physics classes or their maths classes. We take a very practical approach to it and if you are taking geometry it is because you want to become an engineer or whatever it might be.
So, in the tent this week we have four stations with the first station actually a tinkering station that focuses on engineering where people can go in and work on how to complete a circuit and where they will put some wires together that will light up a light bulb.
Dr. Kathy Bihr, Vice-President & Executive Director of the Tiger Woods Learning Center.
The second station we have in place is to calculate the Stimp metre reading of a green, so they are actually rolling the ball out and seeing how far it goes and then having to measure the Stimp metre reading for the grass that they have there. They are also discussing what happens to the reading when rolling the ball into the green and also against the grain.
There is also a technology where we have a Sphero set-up which is actually a small, round device that we’ve actually programmed with a putting program. So, the kids actually get to go on it and learn how to programme it, put it in the right direction so that it strikes the Sphero and get to try and sink it into a hole
The fourth station is a soil testing station where the kids get the chance to test the PH level of the soil like how many nitrates or phosphates are in the soil sample. It allows also for a comparison to be made of the various type of soils we have provided for sampling.
So, with the help of Genesis, we are giving kids the chance to see what it’s like to be working in a TGR learning lab and really provide them with the chance to talk to us about their future and their learning aspirations, and really just to discuss what they want to do with their future.
One of the four ‘Learning Stations’ being hosted by the TGR Learning Centre at this week’s Genesis Open.
Tour Miss: What is the general age of the children you are speaking with?
Dr. Kathy Bihr: Generally, from around 10 years of age and all the way up to children of high school age. We also have some adults going through, as well. So, we welcome everybody. Though the activities we have in place are really focussed on the kids aged in that age 10 to 18.
Tour Miss: Do you believe that all children in this age group need to know more about what you are looking to teach them this week?
Dr. Kathy Bihr: Yes, I do because it’s easy to take things for granted.
One of the things happening now on a national and also an international level is this huge focus on stem. Nobody knows what that means necessarily. But stem is everywhere. It is in everything we do. It is in the ground we are walking on and in the grass that is growing, and it has implications for everything that we do in our life.
So, I think it is important that everyone who comes into the TGR tent really understand how we behave as human beings really depends on science technology and sharing information. We are encountering technology every day. We are encountering engineering feats every day. We are encountering the need to use maths every day and the TGR tent this week is a way to help inspire this.
Tour Miss: Do you have a section for physics?
Dr. Kathy Bihr: You see physics when it comes to engineering but we don’t actually have it this week in the TGR tent.
However, we do at the leading lab in Anaheim teach a class where we teach the physics of the golf swing and give the kids a chance to actually design golf clubs, and really kind of calculate things like swing speed and look at things such as distance, and what they can do with regards to their own swings to improve their game overall.
Tour Miss: Many players on Tour now are using devices such as ‘Trackman’ and while that is good, many don’t understand how the devices work. Do think that by exposing the children you are working with to such devices it will also improve their skills?
Dr. Kathy Bihr: It is good you mention this as we are exposing young people those and other devices so that when they do get older they will be in a strong position to use them more dramatically in the future.
When you look at young children these days with new technology in their hands, well they are fearless. They are not afraid embracing new technology whereas a lot of adults are scared of using new technology.
I do think as technology continues to grow and young people continue to be very curious and innovative, we are going to see an increase in the amount of young people who will rely on technology to play their games better and live their lives better.
Tour Miss: Is your team thinking to expand internationally?
Dr. Kathy Bihr: We are and we actually last year the Tiger Woods Foundation celebrated 20 years, and we started a very bold strategic plan for the next five years. We are at the very beginning of that now where our goal is to reach millions of kids around the world. We hope to that by getting our programs out to teachers and by conducting training classes across this country and across the world.
Also, we are looking to enter more people into our training and scholarship programs and also put a lot of our content up on line. We have a new website – www.TGReduexplore.org – where teachers can go on-line and download lessons and really interact with the software.
Importantly, it gets the kids to interact and it’s continuing to build over time.
Tour Miss: Thank you so much Kathy and my congratulations for your excellence work and continued success.
Dr. Kathy Bihr: Thank you very much. You’re welcome.
ABOUT DR. KATHY BIHR
Dr. Katherine Bihr is the Vice President of Programs and Education for the Tiger Woods Foundation, where she’s spent over 12 years implementing award-winning STEM curriculum and after-school programs for under served youth through the TGR Learning Labs across the country.
Through the foundation, Dr. Bihr also oversees the Earl Woods Scholar Program, bringing college access, financial aid, mentorship and internships to promising students in financial need. Dr. Bihr serves on the board of directors for the El Viento Foundation and Project Tomorrow.
She’s been recognized for her work on the Board of Councilors for the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California as well as the USC Alumni Board of Governors. In addition, Dr. Bihr sits on the Department of Education Leadership Council for the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Fullerton.
In Washington, DC, she is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Cesar Chavez Charter Schools for Public Policy. Dr. Bihr has presented at the United States Department of Education and was an invited panelist in an International Education Forum at the United States Department of Education in November of 2008, focused on Fostering Global Responsibility and Leadership.
