Butterfield Elementary’s new principal not new to Maricopa

Slightly more than a year ago Kathy Drum was working as an assistant principal at Pima Butte Elementary School.

She had moved to the city of Maricopa to be close to her two sons and continue her career as an educator.

Her time in the city was struck short when a family emergency in Kansas arose.

“I had to leave my job and move back to Kansas,” Drum said.

While back in her native state Drum secured a role as principal of an elementary school in the Seamans School District, in which she had worked for six years before moving to Arizona.

While an emergency brought her back to Kansas, it was an opportunity that would bring her back to Maricopa.

“The district told me they were opening two new elementary schools and looking for principals,” Drum said.

She applied for the positions and was eventually hired to be the new principal at Butterfield Elementary.

Drum said she was interested in the position because she had always dreamed of opening a new school.

However, opening a new school was not all that brought the Kansas educator back to the city. She views the educational woes in the Arizona school system as a challenge.

“I would say the educational system in Kansas is ahead of that in Arizona, but that is mostly because of a lack of diversity,” Drum said.

Drum added that even though the educational system in Kansas may produce higher tests scores, this lack of diversity hinders the development of children.

“Kids need to be subject to different cultures and life experiences in order to fully develop,” Drum added

Drum said she believes a perfect educational system would be a blend of the two states.

In an effort to boost the learning experience of children at Butterfield, Drum will focus on self-esteem.

“Children cannot realize their full potential until they believe in themselves,” Drum said.

Drum has experience in making non-believers into believers.

While in Kansas she oversaw a program that prepared at-risk 4 year olds for kindergarten.

The program would identify kids from low income or single family homes who may not have had the same experiences as kids from more traditional families and helped further the development of these children in an effort to prepare them for school.

One of the models for self-esteem development Drum will be enforcing in her new school focuses on the six pillars of character building.

These six pillars are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

“We cannot teach values in school but we can re-enforce positive character traits, so when we see our student showing one of these traits it is our jobs as educators to recognize it,” Drum said.

Besides the development of students, Drum has experience in developing teachers.

Drum served as a professional development coordinator for two years at the University of Washburn in Topeka, Kan.

While in that role it was Drum’s duty to help prepare potential teachers for a career in education.

“I believe my experience in preparing teachers will help me in the opening of the new school,” Drum said.

Butterfield Elementary, 43800 W. Honeycutt Road, is one of three new schools opening for the 2008-’09 school year.

The 76,500-square-foot facility will host 850 students, kindergarten through fifth grade.

Photo by Michael K. Rich