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Monarch Heroes: Celebrating 10 Years of Wonder, Curiosity, and Stewardship of the Monarch Butterfly, Part 2
Mural at Baker Montessori, Houston ISD.
In Part 1 of this Monarch Heroes celebration, we talked about the beginnings of the Monarch Heroes program and its multi-faceted approach to monarch conservation. Here, we’ll highlight a handful of schools and partners who have worked with us to make this program so successful. We would also like to recognize and thank our funders for their support and dedication over the years.
In 2015, NWF launched Monarch Heroes in 10 schools in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) and six schools in Houston ISD. Each city now boasts 77 and 75 graduated or active Monarch Heroes schools, respectively. Two consecutive five-year agreements with each school district helped solidify our partnerships and propel the program.
Austin
Austin ISD (AISD) has been a leader of the Monarch Heroes program since day one with 10 schools joining our first cohort of Austin area campuses. Building off a robust partnership with NWF starting with NWF’s Schoolyard Habitats program in 2010, a demonstration schoolyard habitat built in partnership with AISD, and the decision to hire an outdoor learning specialist, the district was well positioned to embrace the Monarch Heroes Program.
“Austin ISD are huge fans of the Monarch Heroes program! Having gardens on school campuses offers so many benefits—beautification, enrichment for our school communities and the larger environment, opportunities for hands-on learning and sensory engagement, and so many more. When students are engaged with a garden and equipped with the education about the impact of the spaces they are creating in the environment around them, it is empowering. Students have a chance to see their actions make a positive ripple effect in the world around them.”
– Colleen Garland, Outdoor Learning Specialist, Austin ISD
Linder Elementary School (2019–2021)
One of the many gifts of a school garden are the mental health benefits for both students and teachers. Throughout the pandemic, teachers commented to us how grateful they were to have their gardens for the peace, hope, and beauty they provided during a very difficult time. Linder Elementary is just one example. They joined the Monarch Heroes program in September 2019 and stayed with us throughout the pandemic as we pivoted to remote learning.
Jayan Pillai, ACE Coordinator (Afterschool Centers of Education) at Linder Elementary commented, “Our Monarch Heroes Garden provided the perfect focus for outdoor learning. It gave us a bright spot to keep us going this year. Students and teachers alike have delighted in watching the garden burst into bloom. It also gave us one of our first in person family/community events, and our most well attended garden day ever.”
Garza High School, AISD (2022-2024)
Many of our Monarch Heroes gardens become the inspiration for beautiful murals. This is just one example at Garza High School in Austin, Texas. This is a favorite because like the garden itself, which was designed as a student leadership project, the mural was painted by the students.
“I love that the garden is such a well-used spot on campus and that people enjoy it so much—even our neighbors! It is well taken care of by our students because so many were involved.”
– Nicole Howard, 9th-12th CTE STEM/Math
Presidential Meadows, Manor ISD (2023-2025)
In the first year of the program, Presidential Meadows took advantage of the shade provided by two lovely cedar elm trees for the backdrop of their Monarch butterfly garden. The trees provided both a comfortable place to sit and observe the garden and a potential roosting sites for fall migrating monarch butterflies. In the second year, to maximize the use of the space as an outdoor classroom, the students and teachers added picnic tables and planted additional shade trees.
“The garden has provided a beautiful outdoor learning space for us. We have enjoyed making observations in the garden and using the picnic tables to bring cross curricular learning outdoors.”
– Ms. Vera, 1st Grade Teacher, Presidential Meadows ES
Monarch Heroes Showcase
Austin also served as the first place we held our now annual Monarch Heroes Student Showcase. The showcase is an opportunity at the end of every school year for students, teachers, families, and community members to celebrate and share the results of their hard work, connect with other Monarch Heroes school teams, and teach the general public about the plight of the monarch butterfly and actions they can take to help with recovery of the species.
Houston
Piney Point Elementary, Houston ISD (2015-2017)
Piney Point Elementary in Houston ISD (HISD) is one of the first campuses we worked with. Under the leadership of Ms. Kimberly Boyce Quentin, the program evolved into a premier Project Based Learning (PBL) and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) program.
“The Monarch Heroes program gave me the inspiration, resources, and structure to develop a comprehensive Project Based Learning program. It allowed me to weave all core subjects, fine and performing arts content, and technology together seamlessly. My favorite thing about the program is how empowering it is for students. Even our 4- and 5-year-olds were proud to be responsible for the health and well-being of the butterflies. The evidence of their power to positively impact their community was all around them.”
– Kimberly Boyce Quentin, Former K-5 PBL and STEAM Teacher
In an effort to avoid digging into the hard clay soils in the Houston area, Ms. Boyce opted for raised garden beds that also made for easy maintenance and observation by her first graders. The program and gardens soon spread to campus wide beautification inside and outside. Ms. Boyce shared that the habitats were popular spaces for classes to read, paint, take nature walks, and have lunch with visiting family. Staff also enjoyed just spending time in the gardens. Ms. Boyce stated that it was really important for her to let students know that beauty is a choice, and that they could choose to improve their environment.
Petersen Elementary, HISD (2023-2025)
Petersen Elementary chose to implement a wildflower meadow for their Monarch Heroes garden. Students created seed balls (a mixture of clay, compost and native seed rolled into small ~ 1” balls) to spread in the garden and planted one-gallon plants to jump start their habitat. The garden generated so much interest that PK-5 Special Ed Teacher, Ms. Asteriou, tells us that gardening is now an official after-school offering on their campus. This is a huge accomplishment given the restructuring within the HISD and the New Education System (NES) that many schools are now a part of.
“Monarch Heroes has brought a unique perspective to teaching at Petersen Elementary. It encourages me to focus not only on academic outcomes but on student identity, voice, and emotional growth. I’m more intentional about creating a more inclusive classroom where my students feel safe to share and lead. Monarch Heroes has also assisted in my ideas on being able to integrate social-emotional learning. “
– Dionne Rogers, PK-5 Special Ed Teacher Petersen Elementary
Houston ISD Foundation
Soon after launching the program in Houston ISD, we developed an essential partnership with the HISD Foundation (a model we later adopted with other school districts). This enables teachers to be successful with their projects and has helped reduce the stress often felt as they strive to purchase the best materials to create a solid foundation for their monarch gardens. A strong foundation built using native plants and mulch as well as organic soil is essential for the sustainability of these outdoor classrooms and the health of monarch butterflies, pollinators, and other wildlife.
“What an incredible milestone and testament to the power of this program. It has been such an honor to see Houston ISD be part of the story since the very beginning and to watch its impact grow across the years. My favorite part of the program is witnessing the joy and ownership students feel when they see monarchs return to the habitats they’ve helped create. That spark of excitement shows them their work matters, and it’s incredibly powerful to see learning translated into real-world impact.”
– Jennifer Tweeton, HISD Foundation
San Antonio
Drawing upon the success in Austin and Houston, we launched Monarch Heroes in San Antonio in six schools in 2016. San Antonio is now home to almost 60 Monarch Heroes campuses. In 2022, in an effort to make our curriculum accessible to more students, we were fortunate enough to work with three Gifted and Talented Instructional Specialists from SAISD who helped us create a bilingual version of our Monarch Mission Curriculum.
Bonham Academy, SAISD (2016-2018)
Under the leadership of Jason Siptak (6th grade science teacher at the time), Bonham Academy took the study of biodiversity to heart. Mr. Siptak grasped the opportunity early on to discuss the importance of biodiversity and how that ultimately helps us as a society.
Students used their garden and a broader study of the campus to track biodiversity over time allowing them to gain a greater sense of the importance of inner-city habitat and an understanding of the need for biodiversity within the urban setting. Students also practiced botany by pressing flowers and different grasses to help them ID species and create beautiful artwork. They were also one of our first schools to try growing native milkweed. And they were successful!
“Having the opportunity to create biodiverse habitat on our campus has been a huge asset in teaching middle school science curriculum. Ecology and organism interactions is taught in all middle school grades, and our involvement in the Monarch Heroes program has provided an excellent example and outdoor lab where students can see and interact in a hands-on way. Students, teachers and the community have learned about the importance of natural spaces in the city.”
– Jason Siptak, Environmental Science, Bonham Academy
Briscoe Elementary School, SAISD (2022-2024)
Building on the success of their Monarch Heroes garden, Briscoe Elementary expanded outdoor learning through engagements with Phil Hardberger Park and campus-wide inquiry walls.
Cari Richter, IB Coordinator says, “Hallway displays became interactive stations filled with poster-size images of students investigating nature. Curiosity spread across the campus as classes shared photographs of butterflies, lizards, birds, and insects, sparking sticky-note reflections and student-generated questions. This hub of inquiry—rooted in our exploration of the monarch butterfly—ignited a schoolwide culture of wonder.”
As you enter Briscoe Elementary, you walk down one of these inquiry hallways that leads to their Monarch Garden. As an example, one station includes a photo of a squirrel splayed out on top of a concrete wall (a behavior known as splooting). Beneath is a table with post-its where students can write their reflections or ask more questions.
The table also displays elements for the students to interact with such as acorns, twigs, dried seed pods, and leaves that you would find in a squirrel’s habitat. On another wall is a large map depicting the migratory journey of the Monarch butterfly with paper monarchs the children add to the map each day following the live migration.
“The Monarch Heroes program has transformed Briscoe into a vibrant community of inquiry and action. As a learning community, one of our goals is to provide students with rich, authentic experiences that connect them to the world around them. Through Monarch Heroes, we were able to create the outdoor learning environment our campus was missing.”
– Cari Richter, IB Coordinator
Dallas
Sudie L. Williams, DISD (2017-2019)
This Monarch Heroes garden in Dallas ISD is a great example of how a small grant can bring a new focus and purpose to a beautiful outdoor classroom—the recovery of a species. Under the leadership of Mr. William Gatlin, students envisioned a beautiful garden in the shape of a monarch butterfly. In two phases over the two years of the program, they built a ~400 sq. ft. garden for the monarch butterfly and enhanced biodiversity in their pocket prairie with their neighborhood community garden group.
“Monarch Heroes is a wonderful way to bring the natural world into everyday learning. Students not only discover how fascinating monarch butterflies are, but also gain a deeper understanding of habitats, native plants, and the vital role of pollinators. I’m truly grateful for the program—and I often wonder if, without it, I’d still be teaching inside four walls instead of inspiring students in the living classroom just outside our doors.”
– William Gatlin, 5th Grade Science, Sudie Williams, DISD
Adamson High School, DISD (2022-2024)
Monarch Heroes is designed to be multi-faceted, both creating the environmental stewards of the future and helping students succeed. Our end-of-year teacher surveys show that students have increased environmental literacy and feelings of environmental stewardship. Monarch Heroes also provides students opportunities to build their resumes with leadership experiences.
The story of Abraham Moreno, a student from Adamson High School in Dallas is just one example. He and their garden area were featured on Telemundo! Because of the interview and his leadership on this and other projects for the Adamson community, he was chosen as the City of Dallas District 1 Youth Commissioner. NWF also invited Abraham to share his experience with teachers at Monarch Heroes professional development for teachers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Fort Worth
Diamond Hill Elementary School FWISD (2022-2024)
Diamond Hill Elementary joined the program in 2022. They inspired us throughout the two-year program with their culture of collaboration, dedicated teachers, and can-do attitude. They held regular community workdays, incorporated a monarch butterfly storywalk into their garden, and tracked the fall migration of the monarch butterfly at all grade levels.
Their work in both Monarch Heroes and providing food to their community through vegetable gardens and a new fruit orchard landed them a spot on Tarrant County Food Policy Council’s farm and garden tour during the summer of 2024. They were also the host for our Monarch Heroes teacher professional development workshop in the fall of 2024.
“Every year my students are involved in our garden is a joy. They grow more and more in their knowledge about nature and how everything is connected. Ally, one of my return garden club members, is such a leader. She has drawn her parents and classmates into numerous projects this year. It shows me that the brief interactions in the garden enhance learning but also helps them understand the world around them and its vital role to human survival.”
– Tina Culp-McDonald, 2nd grade teacher
Dia de los Muertos
As Dia de los Muertos approaches, we are reminded of the cultural significance of the monarch butterfly, and we love that the Monarch Heroes program provides an avenue for students and communities to connect with their cultural heritage through these gardens. A student from Oak Meadows Elementary School in Manor ISD, told her teacher, “My family says the Monarch Butterflies are my abuela y abuelo coming to see us in Manor! I love giving them a safe home.”
Feeling inspired to take action?
Join EcoSchools U.S. today to start a schoolyard habitat in support of the monarch butterfly. A library of Action Cards will help you achieve your goals and certification as an award winning EcoSchool. Topics include how to build pollinator gardens, designing schoolyard habitats, biodiversity and how to host a Monarch Butterfly Town Hall. Choose the Mayors Monarch Pledge Action Card to advocate for wildlife and habitat.
Ready to plant a garden in Texas (Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Dallas/Fort Worth)?
Download a 10X10 monarch garden template complete with a native plant list and start planning your garden today.
