Beyond the classroom

Editor's note: This story is part of Lawn & Landscape's "Back to School" series that culminates with the debut of our newest cover story September 10.

When Dr. Drew Miller first took over the turfgrass management program at Brentsville District High School, he never imagined it’d turn into an opportunity to share some pretty cool experiences with his students.

“There’s been a lot of really cool, fun events that our students have been able to be a part of,” he says of the last nearly 10 years. “We had two students as part of the all-female grounds crew for the softball Little League World Series. That was not something I had on my bingo card when I started this position, but it’s moments like that where I can see my students thrive in a professional setting and learn from industry professionals.”

One of those students was Julie Kessler — a former protégé of Miller’s who now works as the stadium field manager at CMPK Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. The stadium is home to the Kansas City Current, a female soccer team, whose stadium was the first built solely for the purpose of a women’s professional sports team.

Kessler credits a lot of her success to her early learning days back at Brentsville in Miller’s classroom.

“Everything we learned in that program was the foundation,” she says. “Everything he taught us I’ve basically been building upon over the next few years.”

Kessler says after graduation Miller served as a guiding light for her to continue her education.

“I wanted to go to Virginia Tech for college, but I wasn’t sure what to go for,” she admits “Once I joined the program, Drew told me that I could go to college for this and do it as a career, and I was just like ‘If you say so.’”

Miller then helped her organize an internship with the Pittsburgh Steelers — a former employer of his,

“I’ve had some opportunities to work in collegiate athletics and then ended up with opportunities to work for the Mets, where I got to work the World Series, and then I worked in Pittsburgh with the Pirates and the Steelers,” Miller notes.

Additionally, Miller says his turfgrass students visit the Carolina Panthers NFL stadium yearly to help prepare for all sorts of events — Like the ACC Championships.

“I remember the first year we went and their groundcrew was sort of astonished by how much the kids knew already,” he says. “Those are the things that keep me going.”

Kessler says its experiences like those that truly gave her a passion for the green industry and set her on her current career path.

“In life in general, it’s a good thing to learn about different careers but especially in high school,” she says. “Who knows — these kids can go on and do something else and then later on they realized how much they liked Mr. Miller’s class and want to go into a career like that.

“It also gives them an appreciation for people who do have a career like that and take care of the MLB or NFL fields. Not a lot of people know that groundskeeping is a job. It brings awareness to that as well,” she adds.