STEM Learning Journey Kicks Off with Pizza and the Ballpark

Beneath Comerica Park’s snow-covered tigers, excited fifth grade students gathered to begin a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) learning journey complete with tours of the stadium and the Little Ceasars Global Resource Center.

“At my old school, we only went on field trips to the opera house, and it was so boring,” said Sofia Childress, a 10-year-old student at Stevenson Elementary. “This is the coolest field trip I’ve ever been on— this and Greenfield Village.”

Tech United, a group of chief information officers and IT professionals committed to expanding STEM opportunities for local youth, developed the Learning Journey program as a way for students to explore future STEM careers. Since its inception, Tech United has raised more than $423,000 to support technology access and distributed 1,209 devices to students in our region.

The pilot Learning Journey included nearly 90 students from our Community School in Southfield, Stevenson Elementary.

“A lot of the students have never been inside Comerica Park, and it’s an experience that some might never go back to,” said Lena Parrish, fifth grade teacher at Stevenson. “We didn’t know so much math and science went into pizza— the students were engaged the whole trip.”

At Comerica Park, the Detroit Tigers’ math geniuses presented the data-driven side of baseball, led by the VP and assistant general manager, Jay Sartori. At the Global Resource Center, students participated in a pizza box folding competition, conducted sauce viscosity tests and taste-tested breadsticks.

“Did you know pizza companies hire scientists? Well, now you know!” said Dr. Hiba Kakish, director of quality assurance at Little Cesears. “I do a lot of testing on ingredients to make sure our ingredients taste the same all over the world.”

Students met with Pizza Portal engineers and witnessed how the ordering app allows customers to order from their phones and grab their pie from the Pizza Portal in-store.

“This experience was definitely one we can take back to the classroom, I’ll use this stuff teaching math today actually,” said Lena. “I was telling my kids, the next time you order a Little Caesars pizza, think about all that stuff that goes on in the background.”

At the end of the event, students waved goodbye to the mascots of Little Ceasars and the Detroit Tigers, and took home a Little Ceasars goodie bag along with a new understanding of how STEM brings us both pizza and baseball.

“Seeing every single STEM job in one headquarters was just amazing for the kids,” said Melanie Land, Community Schools coordinator at Stevenson Elementary. “The math with the baseball diamond and the science with the pizza, it brings the kids full circle as to why their education is important.”

Stevenson is one of four United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s Community Schools in the region that offers wraparound support for students and families. For many of the fifth graders, the opportunities have created bittersweet feelings about moving on to middle school.

“Students being promoted on to sixth grade next year keep saying that they don’t want to leave Stevenson because of the opportunities they’ve been given here,” said Melanie. “Because we are a Community School through United Way, we have been afforded some amazing experiences these last four years.”

Thank you to Ilitch Holdings and Little Caesars, for hosting our students and to all the volunteers who made this event possible.

Read more about our Youth Opportunity impact here.