Students wish Monarchs a safe journey to Mexico

Given the troubling news reported about the decline in Monarch butterfly populations this year, École élémentaire catholique Marius-Barbeau’s “Monarch Butterfly Project” couldn’t have come at a better time.

Katherine Hayashi, a Grade 1 teacher who has also been certified by the Monarch Teacher Network of Canada, applied for (and was awarded) a WWF Green CommUnity School Grant earlier this year, which helped the school create a butterfly garden, a place of refuge for migrating Monarch butterflies.

Since last May, students and teachers at the school have been working to prepare the site for the butterflies and, in September, they welcomed ten caterpillars and four Monarch chrysalises from the Montréal Insectarium to the garden. “Creating a welcoming place for a Canadian emblematic animal species helps us to raise awareness in our community as well as for future generations about nature preservation and the importance of promoting biodiversity,” says Hayashi.
Last week, the school community gathered to release two adult Monarch butterflies, wishing them a safe journey to their winter home in Mexico.

Interested in helping your students understand why the decline in the Monarch butterfly population matters? Download our free Schools for a Living Planet resource “Exploring Habitats,” which introduce students to habitats and food webs and explores how living things (including butterflies) and non-living things rely on each other.
WWF’s Schools for a Living Planet connects educators and students of all ages to WWF’s conservation work.  Join the S4LP community and learn how you can inspire your classrooms and classmates to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.