IT'S ALL ROCKET SCIENCE TO WOODS' PUPIL STUDENT GETS A BOOST AT GOLF STAR'S LEARNING CENTER.

Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Jose Giron attended an informational meeting for the Tiger Woods Learning Center only because there was free pizza.

The center had yet to open, but the director was targeting first-generation children who showed potential. Giron, 17, was high on promise but low on motivation. He was intrigued by the curriculum, which was unlike anything he studied at Savannah High of Anaheim.

Giron joined the pilot program for the rocket-science course. Not only did he like it, he was good at it. He assembled a homemade rocket made of a paper-towel roll, plastic bottle and ping-pong ball.

He wrote the phrase TWLC on it, then launched it outside on the driving range.

Now, Giron is the unofficial department chair of aerospace engineering. He knows what the SAT is -- something he'd never heard of before -- and why it's so important in gaining admittance to the Air Force Academy. He carries vocabulary flash cards he made for the test everywhere. He even fancies golf and knows how far he can hit his 6-iron.

The Tiger Woods Learning Center officially has been open for less than a year, but that was more than enough time to change Giron's life.

``Career exploration is what motivated me to be here,'' Giron said. ``I wanted to do something with my life. All of my other friends aren't doing anything or they're working minimum-wage jobs.''

Giron had to leave some of his friends behind, and that was the difficult part. Hanging out in a classroom wasn't cool to them.

At first, Giron was hesitant he wouldn't fit in with the kids at the learning center. Instead, he became a leader, mentor and inspiration.

``We're changing lives,'' Woods said. ``That's what the TWLC is all about -- not just Jose's grades, but his life is changing for the better. He expects more from himself now that he has a support system.''

Giron is one of six children in a single-parent home. He admires his mom, Cecilia Valdez, who works long hours and treasures the little time they spend together. Giron is pretty busy these days too, since he's at the TWLC every day except Sunday -- the only day it's not open. The rocket-science room, computer lab and golf course are his second home.

He has spent so much time there, some of his old friends might not recognize him anymore.

``He looks much different than when I first met him,'' said Katherine Bihr, the executive director of the TWLC. ``He had baggy Dickies pants and shirts buttoned up to the top. He had that rough-and-tumble look.

``His buddies were saying, `Come on, let's go.' But he stayed and did rocket science.''

Bihr was delighted when Giron walked into her office after the pilot program ended and explained that the rocket-science class helped him better understand his physics course at Savannah. It was a proud moment for Bihr, because it was exactly what the hands-on philosophy at the TWLC was designed to do.

``It was like a light went on,'' Bihr said. ``What he was saying went way over my head, but he clearly understood what he was talking about.''

Woods is the nation's richest athlete and made $87 million in 2005, according to Forbes. He formed the Tiger Woods Foundation and has given back to the community, a lesson that's instilled in the children at his new center.

One group of girls cleaned 28 walls that were blemished by graffiti. TWLC students have sent gift packages with personal letters to orphans. They invited foster children to the learning center, where they read passages of the late Earl Woods' book: ``Start Something: You Can Make a Difference.'' Then they discussed the passages and answered questions. The instructors watched with pride.

Giron is giving back by teaching kids what he learned. Bihr was astounded as she watched Giron in the first official rocket-science class. He asked children about the aerodynamics of the rocket, but the kids just wanted to see a launch. Giron wouldn't let them until they could answer every question about what made rockets launch. That happened about a week later.

After he's done with classes at Savannah High, Giron walks down Gilbert Street to 1Tiger Way. He has his own keycard to enter the center. He even walks through the office door that reads ``Staff Only.''

Over the summer, instructors were worried about Giron, their prized pupil. He was in trouble at school and had problems at home. He had to get two jobs to help his family.

Bihr solved that problem by offering Giron a job at the TWLC. He doesn't have a driver's license, but he has fun when he drives the ball-retriever cart that picks up golf balls on the driving range. He still gets a bit scared every time a ball hits the plastic windows.

``It freaks me out,'' Giron said. ``You think it's going to hit you, but it never does.''

When Giron showed up for his first day on the job, Bihr hardly recognized him since he was wearing slacks, a polo shirt, belt and Tiger Woods cap. He has made much progress.

``He's walking taller,'' Bihr said. ``He's thinned out. He's confident. He's smiling all the time. I've watched his grades improve. His attitude is different. He's a nice boy. He's very respectful. He has such potential. It's heartbreaking, the things he had no idea about when he was in school. He probably wouldn't have finished.''

As Giron was preparing a rocket for launch on family night Thursday, teacher Margie Dancel leaned around the door to the rocket-science room and asked if he would help her class as they did trial launches.

Of course, he obliged.

He knows what works and what doesn't. For instance, he did a trial run with his rocket the day before and the ping-pong ball broke. His rocket, however, went 256 meters, which was about what he expected.

He was busy adding a cone over the ping-pong ball, talking about the apogee, cosign and drag, something the adults in the room knew nothing about.

Giron has experienced a physical transformation, too. His hair is slicked back with gel and he now wears glasses. He was having trouble with his vision and mentioned that he needed glasses. The TWLC set him up with an appointment. The optometrist had no idea how Giron had managed without glasses since he needed bifocals. Now, everything is much clearer.

He's eating healthier, too. The vending machines are filled only with healthy snacks and drinks.

He's talking more, too.

Giron's teachers at Savannah told the learning center that he hardly ever said two words. But when he took a hard-hat tour with Woods around the Anaheim facility, he couldn't stop talking. He told him what he wanted to do and what he wanted to be. Woods told him to work hard.

``He said the learning center made him feel like Superman,'' Woods said. ``That was awesome.''

Giron can talk golf with Woods now, too. He knows his stuff. When asked how far he could hit the ball, he replied: ``It depends on the iron.''

Good answer.

``At first, I wasn't able to hit a ball,'' Giron said. ``I tried, but I couldn't do it. I'm good now. But don't ask me about my driver. Whenever you want to have a match, let's do it.''

It was a confident challenge for a boy who had never picked up a golf club or taken a lesson 12 months ago.

``You have to be confident,'' Giron said. ``That's what you need in golf. It's a mental game.''

Sound familiar?

Giron is the poster child for the TWLC. A picture of him watching a rocket launch is in the member application, something all children must complete before gaining admittance.

He spoke at Tiger's Block Party at The Grove and his speech drew compliments from Woods. He knows his transformation was made possible by Woods, and he's awfully appreciative.

``I think it shows he cares,'' Giron said. ``Even though he has all that wealth, he wants to get back to where he came from and give back.''

Many of the children who attend the TWLC will be at Tiger's Target World Challenge Tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday at Sherwood Country Club.

Some of them will be standard-bearers.

Giron will be a fan in Woods' gallery for the final round.

He can't go that Saturday because he will take the SAT.

Maybe he'll get to shake Woods' hand again. That was one of the things that impressed him most about the world's top-ranked golfer.

``He has a tight handshake,'' Giron said. ``It shows you're firm in your thoughts and you know what you want.''

Next year, Giron will be the first among his five siblings to graduate from high school. His goal is to get into the Air Force Academy or USC and be an aerospace engineer.

``It's a big satisfaction for me,'' Giron said. ``I don't know why my siblings didn't do it. It's a good challenge.''

And it all started with a slice of pizza.

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