Laura
08-23-2010, 05:17 PM
from SiLive.com:
http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2010/07/hungerford_school_builds_a_but.html
Home > Staten Island East Shore > Weekly East Shore Print Edition
Hungerford School builds a butterfly garden
Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 11:40 AM Updated: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 11:43 AM
Diane Lore
http://media.silive.com/advance/photo/-46135bbc0f087f67_custom_120xauto.jpg
Monarch butterfliesHungerford School students and staff launch the Monarch butterflies into the garden in front of the Clifton school building. (Photo Courtesy of Hungerford School)
STATEN ISLAND, NY - CLIFTON - Butterflies are free, at least at the Hungerford School.
All year long students had planned and waited for the perfect moment. Finally, on a warm spring day last month, students and staff came together outside to celebrate the opening of the Hungerford Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary.
Students released adult Monarch butterflies into the garden, hoping that they and their descendants will reside in the garden, migrate to Mexico each fall, and return each spring.
The Hungerford School serves students with special needs.
Kids and staff beamed with pride and delight as the butterflies fluttered overhead, then into the garden. It was a moment they had worked for months to achieve.
The garden was awarded certification on the International Monarch Waystation Registry. It is the first successfully completed by a school in New York City and the only site in Staten Island.
"This is the coolest I've ever seen," declared student David Garcia, as a butterfly landed on the wooden butterfly house created by students in the Occupational Therapy Program. Student Daishaun McCain pointed to a colorful Monarch clinging to a fellow student's shirt. "Butterfly pretty!" she exclaimed.
The project began in October when a class of autistic students read about the Monarch butterfly and the many problems it faces today.
They were inspired to do their part to conserve the Monarch and spurred to action.
Hungerford Principal Dr. Mary McInerney was approached about creating a Monarch habitat. Dr. McInerney supported the idea and approved the creation of the garden at the school's main site at 155 Tompkins Ave.
Teachers at the site collaborated and created a hands-on curriculum that supported the study of the Monarch and related topics, such as metamorphosis, migration, habitats and plant growth.
The Castle Manor Garden Club gave a presentation and performance on the difference between moths and butterflies. Lucille Bauer and Margaret Canney, members of the Castle Manor Garden Club, shared rare butterfly and moth specimens with the students.
On a rainy spring day, Hans Wiesner of Wiesner Brothers Nursery, Willowbrook, and his staff, broke ground for the new garden.
Wiesner, who volunteered his knowledge of horticulture and design, oversaw the project.
The students then transplanted the special milkweed seedlings they had cared for in their classroom into the garden.
The garden is located in the front of the school, and has all the elements needed for the Monarch butterfly to flourish.
Several species of milkweed, butterfly bushes and nectar plants such as black eyed Susan and purple cone flowers blossom in the garden.
A birdbath, which is refilled daily, provides the Monarchs with water, and a wooden butterfly house, created by students, acts a shelter from wind and rain.
The students look forward to seeing the butterflies, and in the fall, they and the staff plan on tagging the Monarchs and tracking their migration to Mexico.
http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2010/07/hungerford_school_builds_a_but.html
Home > Staten Island East Shore > Weekly East Shore Print Edition
Hungerford School builds a butterfly garden
Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 11:40 AM Updated: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 11:43 AM
Diane Lore
http://media.silive.com/advance/photo/-46135bbc0f087f67_custom_120xauto.jpg
Monarch butterfliesHungerford School students and staff launch the Monarch butterflies into the garden in front of the Clifton school building. (Photo Courtesy of Hungerford School)
STATEN ISLAND, NY - CLIFTON - Butterflies are free, at least at the Hungerford School.
All year long students had planned and waited for the perfect moment. Finally, on a warm spring day last month, students and staff came together outside to celebrate the opening of the Hungerford Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary.
Students released adult Monarch butterflies into the garden, hoping that they and their descendants will reside in the garden, migrate to Mexico each fall, and return each spring.
The Hungerford School serves students with special needs.
Kids and staff beamed with pride and delight as the butterflies fluttered overhead, then into the garden. It was a moment they had worked for months to achieve.
The garden was awarded certification on the International Monarch Waystation Registry. It is the first successfully completed by a school in New York City and the only site in Staten Island.
"This is the coolest I've ever seen," declared student David Garcia, as a butterfly landed on the wooden butterfly house created by students in the Occupational Therapy Program. Student Daishaun McCain pointed to a colorful Monarch clinging to a fellow student's shirt. "Butterfly pretty!" she exclaimed.
The project began in October when a class of autistic students read about the Monarch butterfly and the many problems it faces today.
They were inspired to do their part to conserve the Monarch and spurred to action.
Hungerford Principal Dr. Mary McInerney was approached about creating a Monarch habitat. Dr. McInerney supported the idea and approved the creation of the garden at the school's main site at 155 Tompkins Ave.
Teachers at the site collaborated and created a hands-on curriculum that supported the study of the Monarch and related topics, such as metamorphosis, migration, habitats and plant growth.
The Castle Manor Garden Club gave a presentation and performance on the difference between moths and butterflies. Lucille Bauer and Margaret Canney, members of the Castle Manor Garden Club, shared rare butterfly and moth specimens with the students.
On a rainy spring day, Hans Wiesner of Wiesner Brothers Nursery, Willowbrook, and his staff, broke ground for the new garden.
Wiesner, who volunteered his knowledge of horticulture and design, oversaw the project.
The students then transplanted the special milkweed seedlings they had cared for in their classroom into the garden.
The garden is located in the front of the school, and has all the elements needed for the Monarch butterfly to flourish.
Several species of milkweed, butterfly bushes and nectar plants such as black eyed Susan and purple cone flowers blossom in the garden.
A birdbath, which is refilled daily, provides the Monarchs with water, and a wooden butterfly house, created by students, acts a shelter from wind and rain.
The students look forward to seeing the butterflies, and in the fall, they and the staff plan on tagging the Monarchs and tracking their migration to Mexico.