Butterfield sixth-graders storm CAC campus

Sixth-graders from Butterfield Elementary School attended classes at the Central Arizona College Maricopa campus Thursday as part of a program to get them thinking about their academic futures.

The field trip was part of the school’s new Science Technology Engineering Arts Math (STEAM) academic focus. Students had an opportunity to learn what the college has to offer.

The field trip also showcased the Promise for the Future Program, a partnership between the college and the Maricopa Unified School District, said Elizabeth Zimpleman, master teacher at Butterfield Elementary School.

Promise for the Future lets eighth-grade students and their parents sign a contract to stay enrolled in a Pinal County high school. Through the contract, if the student graduates with at least a 2.75 grade-point average and performs community service each year, he or she can receive a tuition-free scholarship for up to four consecutive semesters of classes.

“The goal of the field trip was to get students thinking about college and career at a younger age,” Zimpleman said.

As part of the STEAM focus, students attended math, science, arts and culinary classes Thursday designed for their age group.

As part of the science focus, the culinary teacher discussed the science of making cheese, for example.

In the science class, students got to use a proscope, which magnifies an object and displays the image on an iPad.

Student Ashleigh John magnified a small flower petal as part of her class participation. She said it was interesting to see bugs through the proscope she otherwise could not see.

“I’m seeing the atoms,” she said.

Another student Benjamin Thompson magnified a carpet square.

“You expect to find it looks soft and fluffy,” Benjamin said. “(Instead), it looks like the system inside your body or like how skin looks.” 

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