This school year, students at three BCS elementary schools spread their creative wings, thanks to a project that connected their classrooms with kids and conservationists in Mexico.
As part of an educational response to declining monarch butterfly populations, Journey North’s Symbolic Migration Project encourages young students to decorate Symbolic Ambassador Monarch Butterflies. These collages of pictures and words describe the students, their schools, and their region. BCS classes mailed their completed “butterflies” to schools near the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Central Mexico. Teachers at Johnston Elementary, Avery’s Creek Elementary, and Oakley Elementary participated in the project with help from BCS district staff and community partners.
“The curriculum incorporated art, science, and social studies to introduce the project,” said BCS K-12 Science Specialist Kate Whittier. “I was able to teach one of the lessons in a school and it was incredible! The students were so excited to not only connect with a school in Mexico, but to learn about the Monarch migration and the importance of conserving this species. In the spring, they will be getting a symbolic butterfly back to them from the students at the schools in Mexico.”
Ambassador butterflies will be delivered to Mexican schools through the end of February.