A spark in a local interest of monarch butterflies began when Montie Wedel met Mary Qasim at the Vicksburg Farmers’ Market.

Wedel, a teacher at Warrenton Elementary, and Qasim, a member of the Morning Gardeners Garden Club, formed a friendship through the mutual interest in saving the lives of the orange and black butterfly that is often referred to as “America’s butterfly.”

The members of the garden club discussed at one of their meetings how much the monarch population fluctuates because their homes are endangered because trees are being cut down in Mexico.

The garden club thought it would be fun for students to see the emergence of the butterflies themselves, so they collaborated with a couple of area schools, South Park Elementary and Warrenton Elementary.

Monarch Rescue

Dr. Bill Stark, biology professor at Mississippi College, is the local director of the Monarch Rescue project and the source of South Park and Warrenton elementary schools’ monarch caterpillars. People with an interest in monarchs and their survival can follow the Monarch Watch Society and Journey North Web sites to stay current on the issues. The sites are www.monarchwatch.org and www.learner.org/jnorth.

Monarchs are tracked at the Clinton Nature Center, 617 Dunton Road, Clinton, www.clintonnaturecenter.org.

 “The kids are very proud of setting them free so they can start new generations. They are very enthusiastic about it and are absolutely thrilled,” said Qasim. An estimated 900 people are involved with the Monarch Rescue project this fall; including 16 ecology students at Mississippi College, about 100 people from the public attending tagging demonstrations at Clinton Community Nature Center, all the classrooms at Clinton Park Elementary, and several classrooms at Mount Salus Elementary, Warrenton and South Park elementary schools.

Taffy Stewart’s third-grade students at South Park Elementary school received their caterpillars Sept. 19, and they were changed into a chrysalis Sept. 30. “Having the caterpillars here teaches the kids to respect nature, the beauty of nature, and they are amazed at how fast they grow. It started our collection of critters. Kids have brought in a goldfish, cocoon and wolf spider,” said Stewart.

“When we release them, we can go play with them,” said Dalton Day, 8, grandchild of Debra and John Hopper. “I like the chrysalis because it has sprinkles on it. I can’t wait until the butterfly comes out so I can see it,” said Frances Shelton, 9, daughter of Marikka Shelton.

A mixture of students in third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades from Kat Hilderbrand’s and Wedel’s classes at Warrenton learned about butterflies, too.

“If the butterfly has spots on it, then it’s a boy and if it doesn’t, it’s a girl,” said Shunterrance Walton, 10, son of Brigett and Pat Walton. They discovered that their butterfly was a girl and named it Cinderella.

After learning about butterflies, their classes had a butterfly release party outside around a butterfly bush.

“I’ve learned that butterflies don’t have a mouth. They suck the nectar from the flowers and they taste with their feet,” said Jason Lee, 9, son of James and Leigh Ann Lee.