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During a Michigan Connections Academy field trip, Dylan Korman, a 7-year-old second grader from Pinconning, gets a boost from his uncle, Dave Green, from White Lake, to view tree frogs at the LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
Elizabeth Sullivan, from Oxford, lives out a dream by petting a capybara during a Michigan Connections Academy field trip to the LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium. Sullivan attended the field trip with her niece, Kinley Eggers, a 12-year-old seventh grader from Rochester.
Photo by Patricia O’Blenes
UTICA — Students, staff and family members from Michigan Connections Academy were able to attend an in-person field trip to the LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium Feb. 13.
Michigan Connections Academy is a full-time, tuition-free virtual school that provides remote learning opportunities for students across the state of Michigan. The school began in 2010 and currently has around 1,700 K-12 students.
“I think we really focus on the ability to individualize for students,” said Niebal Atiyeh, high school principal with Michigan Connections Academy. “So, being an online school, it allows us to do that. It gives us the structure to be flexible so we can provide families with that flexibility.”
The academy tries to do in-person field trips at least once a month. It has previously gone to locations such as the Henry Ford Museum and the Air Zoo Aerospace & Science Museum in Kalamazoo, and the school is planning to go to the Thumb Octagon Barn & Agricultural Museum in Gagetown later this school year. The number of students who are able to attend these field trips depends on the location, though there were around 30 to 40 kids attending the LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium field trip.
“We try to spread them out,” Atiyeh said. “So, since the students are online every day and they’re typically at their home, it’s really important for us to schedule field trips that they have an opportunity to engage in person with their teachers.”
The LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium is an indoor zoo located at 45550 Van Dyke Ave. It provides the opportunity for attendees to view different reptiles, fish and mammals.
Merrick Arquette is a kindergarten student who attended the field trip with his mother, Tina Arquette. This is Merrick’s first year with Michigan Connections Academy, and the trip to the LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium was his first field trip with the school.
“We attempted public school last year, and it didn’t go so well because he has a bit of a speech impediment and hearing issue, and we started with Michigan Connections Academy the beginning of this year. … He’s been doing phenomenally,” Tina Arquette said. “Leaps and bounds better than public school.”
Dante Jenkinsfleors was excited about seeing the larger snakes. He is a middle school student who has been with Michigan Connections Academy for around a month.
“It’s very good, no complaints,” Jenkinsfleors said.
For more information on Michigan Connections Academy, visit connec tionsacademy.com/michigan-virtual-school. Visit legaseaaquarium.com for information about the LegaSea Aquarium & Reptarium.
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