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Monarch Heroes in Texas
This past October, our first grade Eco-Schools USA Monarch Heroes at Piney Point Elementary hosted a fabulous Garden Party in Houston, TX! The students in two of the classes had been working since they returned to school in August on this project, and the Heroes event marked the celebration of their accomplishments so far.
Monarch Heroes is an initiative of the National Wildlife Federation’s to help students save the declining Monarch population by providing more habitat and raising awareness of their plight.
By participating in this program, our first grade leaders have learned a lot about the monarch: its life cycle, diet, habitat needs, and annual migration.
They participated in the Annenberg Foundation’s Journey North Symbolic Migration by sending paper ambassador butterflies to Mexico, selecting appropriate native host plants and nectar sources, designing their garden, and launching a print and video campaign to raise funds for their garden.
Their Monarch Money fund drive collected almost $800 which they then used to purchase planters, soil, and plants.
The students set up the beds and got everything planted in the fall, and have been hard at work ever since making signs, learning plant facts, and helping design fun activities for their garden launch party.
Visitors made seed bombs, added their handprints to the planters to decorate them, and were treated to an informational tour of the garden featuring an “artist’s conception” of how it will look when the monarchs return in the spring.
Piney Point Elementary is certified with the National Wildlife Federation as a Schoolyard Habitat since the area offers places for wildlife to find food, water, cover, and places to reproduce and raise their young. The area also is maintained through sustainable gardening.
We are Panther Proud of all the leadership shown by these fabulous first graders!
Certify Now Learn about how you can create and certify your schoolyard today!
About the Author: Ms. Kimberly Boyce-Quentin, Piney Point Elementary Teacher and Project Based Learning Instructor