Born in Celina, Ohio in 1987, Mrs. Butterfield grew up as a middle child with an older sister and younger brother. Growing up, her family was and still is incredibly important to her. The relationships that she cultivated with her family were ones she knew would last forever. 

“I have many wonderful memories of growing up with my family with special traditions. Church camp was a huge part of my family life and faith development; as we spent every summer there serving and growing,” said Butterfield. 

She also recalls numerous camping trips along with other family vacations that she enjoyed. She specifically valued the relationships she contained with her grandparents in a special way. One of her four grandparents had sadly passed away when she was at a young age. However, she was extremely close with her other three grandparents. She spent a bulk of her childhood life with her dad’s parents as well as all of the cousins on that side of the family. They all lived in close proximity to each other, which made hanging out much easier.

“A special tradition we had on that side of the family was a Thanksgiving Log Cut each year the Friday after Thanksgiving. All of the families would come out to grandpa’s woods, and the dads and children would go to the woods to cut firewood for everyone for the winter ahead,” said Butterfield.

Fast forward a few years, she landed at Taylor University studying Biology for her Bachelor’s and a minor in Christian Education. Her faith was an important part of her life ever since she was young. The minor in Christian Education for the purpose of youth ministry. She then stayed at Taylor for a masters in Environmental Science. However, she moved back to Saint Louis and then decided to complete her Masters in Secondary Education. 

“I grew up in a family of Christ-followers, so learning about the Lord has been a part of my life since I was born. Spending my summers at church camp also reinforced my learning and gave me other role models to learn from. As a fifth grader, a high school girl from church mentored me, and that had a profound impact on my personal walk with the Lord as we met weekly to study God’s word,” recalls Butterfield. 

Butterfield felt the sense of encouragement and challenge as she and the girl from camp continued to study his word. She believes that it was because of this experience that she was able to grow her relationship with the Lord. This relationship with the Lord shone through her newborn son’s heart defect shortly after he was born.

Towards the beginning of the pandemic in late March of 2020, she gave birth to her third and youngest son, Samuel. In the first couple of days after he was born, she and her husband learned that Samuel had only a pencil line of blood flowing through his heart. 

“We truly had to rely on the Lord as we had no strength or wisdom of our own; he was our refuge and strength. Just as with all hardships we have encountered, we look back on that challenging time and see the Lord’s many provisions and tenderness towards us, and how he went before us for each detail of Samuel’s procedure,” said Butterfield. 

This was one of the greatest challenges the Butterfield family ever had to overcome. However, it was because of the Lord’s graciousness and support that they made it through. Along with her youngest, Samuel, she and her husband of 11 years, Ben, also share two other sons: Elias (6) and Josiah (4). 

It is no question that teaching is Mrs. Butterfield’s passion. She first realized this during her classes in Environmental Science as she was culminating her Master’s Degree. She was teaching Chemistry lab courses in order to accumulate a stipend, and she figured out her love for teaching.

“I really enjoyed teaching and the process of seeing students understand what was once unclear to them. That started the process of me pursuing a career in education,” explained Butterfield.

In total, she has been teaching for 11 year, with 9 of those years being at Westminster. The fascination she experienced during her AP Biology course is responsible for her choosing to teach Biology. She absolutely loves connecting with students every single day of her job at Westminster.