Students at Henderson K-12 Inclusion School, in Boston, MA work to make their "butterfly wishes" come true! Keep reading to learn more about this featured school.
Spring brings new opportunities to involve your students in long-lasting, educational opportunities.
Hello, and happy spring to you all! In case you did not see the email and survey sent out in January to explain the current status of the Monarch Waystation Network...we're back:) However, the sole, active component of the MWN is the newsletter. The MWN website is not being maintained, but it is still live, and has a plethora of resources for you. I encourage you to visit it for curricula and much more.
Now, on to the fun stuff... in this newsletter you will find updates about the spring monarch migration, the monarch population, tag recoveries, and inspiration from the students and staff at Henderson K-12 Inclusion School!
With the migration now under way, now is the time to provide educational opportunities for your students that go beyond the classroom walls. As a fellow teacher, I know firsthand just how much students (and staff) can benefit from these experiential educational opportunities.
As always, if you have questions, comments, or requests after reading the newsletter and perusing the website, you'll find contact information within this newsletter. Thank you for your continual support and participation!
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Spring Migration:
The front of the spring migration is making its way through the southern United States and keeps moving north. According to Monarch Watch Director, Dr. Chip Taylor, "The first monarch in Arkansas was reported on March 19, and the first sightings in Oklahoma will be within a few days!"
Want to get your students involved with the excitement of the spring migration? Head over to Journey North's website, where you can read weekly migration updates, track the migration on real-time migration maps, and sign up as citizen scientists to report your sightings.
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Population Update:
World Wildlife Fund Mexico in collaboration with CONANP and the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) recently announced the total forest area occupied by overwintering monarch colonies. Nine colonies were located this winter season with a total area of 2.48 hectares. Although this is a 14.77% decrease from the previous season, Dr. Taylor predicts, "...the population will increase this year due to more favorable conditions in the breeding season." The graph below is a great tool for your classroom.
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Tag Recovery:
Monarch Watch pays locals around the monarch overwintering sites for recovered tags. At this time we are still waiting to receive three sets. Once these arrive and processed for accuracy, we will post the list of codes. Postings of tag recovery data typically comes at the end of April. Stay tuned into this newsletter and the Monarch Watch Website and Facebook page for updates.
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Looking for real-world applications for your math standards?
Click on the graph below to view it in a larger size, print it, download it, or whatever you need to get your students involved with real data!
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The MWN Spotlight is on...
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Henderson K-12 Inclusion School; Boston, MA
When a school has "Inclusion" in its name, and its motto is "Better Together", you know there must be great things happening! After reading first grade teacher, Joceyln Rivera's, thoughtful input on our recent MWN survey, it only felt natural to shine our "Spotlight" on her, her students and everyone involved with the rich, educational opportunities happening at her school.
Enjoy their pictures that radiate pure joy, and then I encourage you to take four-to-five minutes to read the lovely article Joceyln has provided for us all. It is well worth your time. I guarantee you will feel hope and inspiration...something all of us can use a little more of!
*See the end of the newsletter to learn how your school can be featured here!
Students working in the garden.
Students tagging a monarch.
Time to release a monarch.
Post-release celebration.
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Butterfly Wishes
by: Jocelyn Rivera, First Grade Teacher, Henderson K-12 Inclusion School
The circle of eager six year olds held on to their “Butterfly Wishes”, soft, fluffy milkweed seeds, some with assistance from a paraprofessional, some with assistance from the Special Education teacher, and all with hopeful anticipation as they chanted, “Bring Monarch Butterflies to Our Garden”. That was nearly ten years ago. At the time there was no milkweed growing in the courtyard at the lower campus of the Henderson K-12 Lower School in Boston, Massachusetts. The Henderson K-12 Inclusion School is home to a diverse student population. Students from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds with and without disabilities, students with diverse learning abilities to students considered gifted and talented learn with and from each other. The school’s motto is “Better Together”. The K-12 school is housed at two campus locations in the Dorchester section of Boston, Massachusetts. It was almost ten years ago at the lower campus on Dorchester Ave. where the first grade teachers made this circle of milkweed seed dispersal, AKA, “Butterfly Wishes” an annual gathering for their fresh crop of first graders each fall. After letting our seeds go we would focus our attention on the Monarch caterpillars we were raising in the classroom. The Monarch caterpillars were gathered from soccer fields in Wrentham, MA and from wild meadows in Westport, MA. All of the Monarch caterpillars that were raised in the classroom in Boston, MA were gathered from afar and released as beautiful butterflies ready for their amazing migration. The teachers had always hoped to one day collect Monarch eggs and raise the caterpillars in the classroom.
In 2010 first grade teachers wrote a micro grant to establish an Inclusive Butterfly Garden in the Lower campus’ enclosed courtyard. The simple garden was expanded the following year when the school received a grant to establish an Outdoor classroom. It was at this time that the butterfly garden was expanded. First grade General Education teacher Jocelyn Rivera, and Special Education teacher Caren Pfeffer, co-teaching partners had spent over 10 years teaching about Monarch butterflies. As the garden became established with a variety of plants that bloomed throughout the summer, milkweed made its’ appearance! We were beyond excited that our “Milkweed Wishes” finally came true. We thought we had our dreams came true but when examining the underside of the milkweed plants, we still had not found one Monarch egg. That is until this fall 2017, years after our first circle of “Milkweed Wishes” our wish came true, and a lovely female Monarch butterfly laid her eggs on the milkweed plants in the Lower campus’ courtyard garden! It was late August as teachers return to set up their classrooms when Jocelyn Rivera looked over the garden after being away for the months of July and August. The tender little milkweed growing out from cracks in the sidewalk in the garden held the precious cream-colored Monarch eggs. It was like finding gold! This was a dream come true for Jocelyn Rivera as she had led the Garden Club and taught about Monarchs and their need for milkweed and nectar gardens, way stations for the migrating Monarchs that pass through the city on their journey south. This would be an epic year. Six Monarch butterflies were raised in the first grade classrooms. Before they were released to the migration to Mexico, they were tagged with tags from Monarch Watch. Imagine if one of our tags are found in Mexico that would just complete the circle of our milkweed wishes.
We have more to look forward to this coming year and years to come. The past few years the Garden Club maintained the garden beds and the cleanup each spring and fall. The students have kid-sized tools for their planting and grooming in the garden. This year, however, the Henderson K-12 has partnered with City Sprouts. They have come along side the teachers with the support of an experienced gardener who is there to support teachers to incorporate the garden into the curriculum, assist in the maintenance of the garden and support the Garden Club in their learning adventures in the garden. We are excited for the new partnership with City Sprouts and with the wonderful wild Monarchs who’ve found our garden to be a sanctuary for their offspring. We truly have our Butterfly Wishes come true.
Written by Jocelyn Rivera, First Grade General Education Teacher, Henderson K-12 Inclusion School Lower Campus,1669 Dorchester Ave., Boston, MA 02122
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Citizen Science Opportunity
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Monarch Watch is seeking assistance from you and your students in collecting observations of monarchs in your area during the spring and fall. Click HERE to learn more about the Monarch Watch Calendar Project.
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Two primary ways to contribute to future MWN Newsletters:
- Let us "Spotlight" your school and students, just like we did with Henderson K-12 Inclusion School. This is a great way to show your administrators, colleagues, student's parents and community members that what you are doing is extremely important work! If you would like this opportunity, please send your story, pictures (as .jpg file attachments), and any other pertinent information to matt.tucker@monarchwatch.org.
- Share your expertise with others! If you have direct experience with specific topics, such as: co-existing with your school district's maintenance crew when planting milkweed; garden pest management; amazing curricula ideas; grant opportunities for teachers; building partnerships with colleagues, administrators, parents and community members; or any other topic you feel could benefit other MWN participants, please email me!
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- A big THANK YOU to all of you MWN participants who took the time to provide your input on the survey!! Your input and participation is an integral part of the continuation and success of this newsletter:)
- Just as a reminder, the Monarch Watch Education Coordinator position is now very much part time and now only exists to create this newsletter. However, the MWN Website is still live, and offers numerous resources, including curricula, gardening, insects, monarchs, challenge questions, direct action opportunities and much more. I encourage you to check it out!
- If you want to encourage others to sign up to receive our newsletters, or if you want to view past issues, click HERE.
- Some email browsers, such as Outlook, may distort your view of this newsletter. If this occurs, simply click "View this email in your browser" at the top and it should remedy the problem.
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Thank you all for everything you do! You are part of the solution, and your energy truly makes this world a better place:)
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