This project connects to Mrs. Rimmer’s curriculum, where classes study butterfly refuges as part of an ecotourism and environmental conservation unit. Mrs. Rimmer found the online group “Monarch Watch” (monarchwatch.com), which is “dedicated to education, conservation, and research of the Monarch butterfly.” She was inspired to start the project at Mount Pleasant after learning more about the benefits of a butterfly garden on the website.

            The butterfly garden will be a haven for all butterflies, especially the Monarch butterfly. Kali Panella, the president of Spanish National Honor Society and a senior at Mount Pleasant, explains the importance of the butterfly garden: “The population of monarch butterflies has been steeply declining, the main cause of which is a lack of their natural food (milkweed). Basically, widely used pesticides have been eradicating milkweed. So people build these gardens to attract the butterflies and provide them with food and a safe place to live and reproduce.” Panella adds that the garden will be pesticide free. The garden will contain milkweed, nectar plants, and butterfly bushes, as well as a trumpet vine and a water feature. The plants will be bought, donated, and collected from other student and teacher gardens. Mrs. Rimmer has been in contact with a master gardener to help plan the garden. Hopefully, this garden will also attract honeybees, other insects, and birds.

            Mrs. Rimmer hopes that the garden will not only be a safe place for butterflies, but serve as a learning opportunity. As part of the Spanish curriculum, she hopes to make students more environmentally conscious and aware of the crucial connections present in nature. The garden will also be “something for the students to take pride in,” according to Mrs. Rimmer. Spanish National Honor Society secretary and junior, Casey Wakai, adds that the the butterfly garden’s goal is to “better the school grounds.” Mrs. Rimmer also hopes to become involved with other schools that have gardens, and perhaps track the path of the Monarch butterflies, which migrate to Mexico every year.

            The butterfly garden will be built in the senior courtyard at Mount Pleasant. Plans for a garden at Mount Pleasant have been in the works for some time. Ms. Thurlow, the IB Middle Years Program coordinator, has been hoping to build a “healthy food for healthy kids” garden, in which herbs and vegetables that could be used in cooking would be planted. The vegetables would then be used in some cafeteria food, in the hopes of promoting a healthy and organic lifestyle.

            While the garden will be started by the Spanish National Honor Society, its upkeep will become part of Mrs. Rimmer’s curriculum, with her Spanish classes helping with the garden later on. The garden will also hopefully work as the “healthy food for healthy kids” plan. Mrs. Rimmer hopes that the Special Education department will work in the garden with the same goal of student pride and increased environmental awareness.

            The construction of the butterfly garden is already in the works: several bulbs have been planted. However, milkweed, the most important plant for Monarch butterflies, grows from fall to spring, and will have to be planted in autumn to germinate over winter, with the milkweed blooming in spring.

            As the jardín de mariposas grows, student pride and environmental consciousness will flourish, and Mount Pleasant High School will become home to a beautiful sanctuary for both butterflies and humans alike.

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