In a back stairway of a grand glass and sandstone building five miles north of Disneyland, Alejandro Barajas and cohorts are setting up to shoot a scene for a movie.

With a mat of dyed green hair atop his skull and scenes dancing in his imagination, Barajas is discussing camera angles, lighting and dialogue. 

The script is an ode to kindness, how two kids overcome problems they are having at school. 

The screenplay is ever changing but the heart of the story remains intact. Barajas later edits scenes on a high-tech computer.

Barajas, 12, is right at home in a 35,000-square-foot studio otherwise known as the TGR Learning Lab on 1 Tiger Woods Way, a brick-and-mortar behemoth of educational opportunity.

“This doesn’t feel like school. You’re not forced into it. I come here to have fun and I learn at the same time,” Barajas said between shoots. 

“It’s better than staying at home with a lot of down time. Tiger Woods built this place for us and it’s cool. Tiger Woods helps the community.”

Woods, the 79-time PGA Tour winner with 14 majors on his resume, just smiled when told of Barajas. It’s one of thousands of stories Woods hoped to hear when he created his foundation, now known as TGR, which unites his entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors.

Opened in 2006, the Learning Lab is the backbone of Woods’ goal to provide kids a safe place to learn, explore and grow. The Lab offers students from low-income households and underfunded schools a variety of classes in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

The Lab’s backyard is a driving range and a par-3 course that is home to Golfology, a class where kids learn about turf management and how to hit a 9-iron. The Lab also  offers college-prep workshops.

Besides after-school programs that last two to three hours Monday through Friday for students in grades 7-12, thousands of fifth- and sixth-graders visit the Lab on weekly field trips. During the summer, students between fifth and 12th grade can attend the Lab.

“Hitting a golf shot isn’t going to make anything better,” said Woods, the headliner in this week’s Quicken Loans National at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in Bethesda, Maryland. “What we’re going to do, beyond our lifetimes, is lead education into the future. And that to me is far more important than anything I have ever won.

“There are so many kids who have talent but they don’t have the opportunity. We’re giving them the opportunity.”

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