Butler Middle School kids rewarded with scuba trip for good grades

COTTONWOOD — As a reward for good grades and good behavior, about 100 students from Butler Middle School went scuba diving Monday.

Swimming at the bottom of the 12-foot-deep tank at the Cottonwood Heights rec center, the students looked like black sharks.

"It's really like a different experience," said seventh-grader Sophie Stowley. "It's totally a different world."

The students were taught hand signals, how to use the regulator and how to inflate the buoyancy control device.

"I think I want to take it in the summer," one student told his teacher from the pool. "You know, get certified," he said as he sank back under the water.

Some of the students were nervous at first, but once they got in with heavy metal tanks strapped to their backs, they were all exploring the depths.

"It's just a whole new world," instructor Lean Wilber said, "lot of different things that you get to see, just the beauty of the sea and everything that's under is just gorgeous."

"And it's a great way to get chicks," instructor Joe Ney added.

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