Westlake students participate in symbolic migration project
A paper butterfly that returned to Westlake students last year carried messages from students in another country.
For the second year, first-grade students at Dover Elementary School and Holly Lane Elementary School “sent” butterflies on a symbolic migration to Mexico as part of Journey North’s Symbolic Migration program.
Journey North is a program that educates students across the United States, Canada and Mexico about butterfly conservation.
Spanish teacher Kelsy Wermer collaborates with Dover first-grade teachers Karen Glesius, Jennifer Doyle and Julie Hildebrand, and Holly Lane first-grade teachers Sarah Gorius and Lisa Forshey to create paper butterflies that are sent to Minnesota, combined with butterflies from other areas of the country, and then sent on to Mexico, where the monarchs spend the winter.
In the spring, when the monarchs depart from Mexico, the paper butterflies return north carrying special messages from the students in Mexico, Canada or from around the United States.
Last year Westlake students received butterflies form more than 20 different states and three countries. The butterfly migration project creates a connection between Spanish classes and the International Baccalaureate “Sharing the Planet” project.