From left/front- 2nd grade students, Emily Casey, and Tallulah Maier. Back left Stephanie King/Pre School Teacher, Mary Case/Kindergarten Teacher, Morgan Armison/Teacher Aid for Pre-school and Karen Green, School Principal.
St. Joseph’s School playground is a sweet place. Especially for monarch butterfly caterpillars, who decided to take up residency on the playground when they found several milkweed plants. In early October, Mrs. King noticed them next to a bench. After a conference with Teacher’s Aid, Ms. Armison, they both agreed that Kindergarten Teacher, Mrs. Case, would be the best person to assist and create a habitat for them.
“Normally, if we’re going to do something like this, we will be going out in a field and searching for them and trying to find them on milkweed somewhere else, but never here right at the school. And Mrs. Case, it’s always great about doing this, she loves to hatch out monarch butterflies, so it was a perfect activity,” says Mrs. Green, Principal at St. Joseph’s School.
Mrs. Case shows her Kindergarten class the attached Chrysalis on Friday afternoon.
Once fully grown, the caterpillar will leave the milkweed plant to find a safe place to pupate. Mrs. Case and Mrs. Green supplied the habitat with fruit, flowers and placed it in the cafeteria for all the students to observe each day.
“Emily and Tallulah, were outside, and they helped harvest the caterpillars. So we brought them in, and we built a different kind of looking habitat. So, we had this huge tote was full of milkweed, and then we put sticks in it for them to be able to build their chrysalis on them. And then when they get to chrysalis state where they’re ready to turn into a chrysalis, they climb to the top and they spin some silk, and they hang there. It takes about two weeks for them to hatch so that’s why we had to have a three-week time span,” says Mrs. Case.
“So just watching them, they were able to hold them, they were able to feel their sticky feet. They were able to see their probosis come out, their long, curly tongue and see them drink. And they held them so they got an experience that most kids will not get. So that’s a lifelong experience,” Mrs. Case said.
Bridget Plato, a Teacher’s Aid in Mrs. Case’s class, set a few of the butterflies free on Friday afternoon. A total of 14 were let go and 6 remained in the habitat to keep the one that is ready to come out company.
Video -Monarch butterfly release with 1st and 2nd grade watching from inside their classrooms. Kindergarteners assisted Mrs. Case, Mrs. Green and Mrs. Plato with releasing the monarchs on Friday afternoon.
