This year is the start of something wonderful. There is a field trip that the current eighth graders get to have the experience of going on. On May 3, they are going to the Arizona State Capitol. They have to pay $8 in order to attend the field trip. It’s a new trip that has been planned this year by the eighth grade social studies teacher Jordyn Timmerman.

Timmerman proposed this event with her eighth graders in mind.

“The eighth graders this year learned about government, and how the government functions, so, I thought it would be really cool to go and see the actual building where the state government participates in their lawmaking process,” Timmerman said.

Timmerman hopes to show the eighth graders the capitol so they have a visual of things that they learned this year in class.

“I want them to be able to see where everything happens and get a good visual,” Timmerman said. “There’s also a museum there that has lots of different documents and artifacts.”

Timmerman wants this trip to be available for the future eighth graders that attend the Prep as well in the many years to come.

“Now that we’ve transitioned over to having the eighth graders learn government; I think it’ll be a really cool trip for them to be able to take every year,” Timmerman said.

The school’s principal, Chris McComb, agreed to the idea that Timmerman presented to him about this trip.

“I think it’s appropriate for her students in terms of their curriculum and what they’re studying,” McComb said. “It’s a fabulous opportunity for kids to learn about, not only government, but, Arizona government and history, so it’s a really cool kind of hands on experience, and the tour guides are fantastic as well. So I’m sure the kids are going to have a lot of fun and learn a whole lot as well.”

He hopes that the eighth graders will learn something new on the trip.

“There’s always opportunities where maybe history can come alive, and it’s one thing to kind of read out of a textbook, or have some discussions in class,” McComb said. “But to actually see artifacts, to look at pictures, and to kind of be in that environment helps to bring that learning alive, and to hopefully solidify it, so they can recall it and remember it a little bit better than something that they just discussed in class.”

Maya Ortiz, one of the eighth graders going on this trip, is really excited to go to the capitol.

“I am excited for this trip because it gives me the opportunity to see the work environment of people who run our government,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz is looking forward to learning new things about her government.

“I really want to learn about the overall architecture and history of the building because of how pretty it is,” Ortiz said. “I also want to learn about how working for the government actually looks like, and what the offices within the capitol looks like and the statues located there.”

Xavier Nevarez is another eighth grader, and he is hyped for this field trip.

“I am looking forward  to learning about how the capitol operates,” Nevarez said. “I want to see the whole capitol in general, and there’s nothing in particular that I don’t want to see; I want to see it all.”

Nevarez proposed another field trip that not only the eighth graders could go on, but other students as well.

“Maybe there could also be a field trip for the students to go to the White House in Washington D.C., because I think it would be cool for young people to see how the whole U.S.A. runs as well,” Navarez said.

Unfortunately, due to protests and camp-outs because of #RedforEd, the field was cancelled. Hopefully the eighth graders next year will be able to go and experience the Arizona State Capitol, and the history behind it.