Symbolic Migration Update: October 23, 2002
Today's Report Includes:
- Ooooh! Aaaah!
- Coming Together to Go to Mexico
- Butterflies Now Staging in Minnesota
- Symbolic Migration Art Gallery Now Open
- Very Special Deliveries
- Try This! Are You an Ambassador for Your Country?
- Butterflies Fly Free, Thanks to UPS
- Mark your Calendars! Here's What's in Store
Ooooh! Aaaah!
"Oh, that's so pretty!", "Look at this one--it's so beautiful!", "That's so Cool!", "This one even shows the friendship and goodwill of all three countries!" This is a soundbyte of what the Journey North office has sounded like for the last week as we opened all of your envelopes of beautiful butterflies. Take a look at some of what we've been seeing:
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Coming Together to Go to Mexico
Grade school, middle school, high school, girl scouts, cub scouts, college
students, garden clubs, nature centers and libraries! These are just some
of the groups that have come together to participate in the Symbolic Migration
this season. The diverse community and growing generosity of everyone
has been heartwarming.
Butterflies Now Staging in Minnesota
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| Beth Allen coordinates the Symbolic Migration each year. Thank you, Beth! |
Since the deadline a few weeks ago, the Journey North staff and volunteers have been taking on the enormous task of processing the big beautiful butterfly cargo, in preparation for the rest of its migration to Mexico.
We check to see if all of the necessary information is on your return envelope which helps provide the best chance of a safe return of butterflies back to you (and it keeps Beth very happy too).
But before your Butterflies are tucked into their boxes for the final leg of their fall journey, we've paused to take LOTS of pictures.
Take a look!
Symbolic Migration Art Gallery Now Open
Journey North's premiere art curator Mary Hosier is busy displaying many of your butterflies in the Symbolic Migration Art Gallery. We think you'll love visiting this special exhibition of your fine artwork! And even though we couldn't display all of the thousands and thousands of butterflies in the Gallery, we consider all of your work masterpieces!
Tour the Gallery, see if you can find YOUR Butterfly, and discover more too:
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Very Special Deliveries
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Maggie, Jessica,Renee and Kelsey surprised us when, at the end of two days of hard work processing the butterflies on their vacation, they donated their wages to MBSF! |
Fifth graders from Cari Andrew's class at Central Elementary in Holton KS spent several weeks selling cotton candy after school with a machine lent to them by a local store, and some of the nature art class students have made crafts to raffle too.
Students from Gerald Axelbaum's and Kathy Lewis' classes at The College School in St. Louis MO held bake sales before during and after school for three days. They also raised more funds by writing a letter to send home with students, and by going to speak about the MBSF in other classrooms.
And Ms. Givens, Ms. Eibels, and three classes of 6th grade students from Alliance, OH teamed up with the Alliance Garden Club and raised $300.00 for MBSF!
These are just a few examples of the generosity that so many of you have shown. More heartfelt thanks will come later, but on behalf of the MBSF, the monarchs, and the future generations that we hope will witness the miracle of migration, THANK YOU ALL!
Try This! Are You an Ambassador for Your Country?
Symbolic monarchs that we exchange are ambassadors that carry messages between northern students and students in Mexico, where the monarchs overwinter. The symbolic monarch you made represents you and expresses your interest, friendship, and appreciation for the role the Mexican people play in monarch conservation.
As you follow the migrations of real and symbolic butterflies this year, plan to look for similarities and differences between the migrations. Keep a list of comparisons all year in your Journal and watch it grow. If you haven't already done so, here are some questions to consider and some lessons to try.
Journaling Questions:
- Who is responsible for the monarchs at each stage of their lives?
- What happens when the butterflies cross national borders?
- What obstacles might they encounter during their migration?
- How do the butterflies find their wintering grounds?
- Are there times during the fall, winter or spring when the entire population is at risk?
Symbolic Migration Lessons:
- Lesson 1: Monarch Butterflies as a Shared Natural Resource
- Lesson 2: All Countries Make Their Own Rules
- Lesson 3: What is an Ambassador?
- Lesson 4: What to Expect Next Spring
- Lesson 5: Looking for Parallels Between Real and Symbolic Migrations
Butterflies Fly Free, Thanks to UPS
For the 6th year
in a row, all of your butterflies--thousands and thousands of them--will
be migrating to Mexico, all thanks to UPS (United Parcel Service)! Their
generosity, year after year, is an important part of this successful Symbolic
Migration. We hope you'll take the time to send them a thank you note for
their support--they'd love to hear from you!
Please send your thanks to:
Mr. Ed Gill
UPS Minnesota COO
3312 Broadway St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
Mark your Calendars! Here's What's in Store for Your Symbolic Butterflies
Watch for these updates over the next few weeks and get your terminals warmed up because here's what we're planning:
COMING NOVEMBER 5th:
- Symbolic Butterflies take off for Mexico!
- Passenger Lists (so you can make sure your Symbolic Butterflies were on board).
- Challenge Question #1: Facts will be posted to help you predict the total number of symbolic monarchs migrating to Mexico.
- Challenge Question #2: A special UPS Tracking number will be posted so you can try to predict exactly how many days, hours, minutes and seconds the symbolic migration will take to Mexico. (To be sure you're ready, bookmark the UPS tracking system now:
- UPS Online Package Tracking System
COMING NOVEMBER 20th:
- Total number of Symbolic Butterflies revealed.
- Total days, hours and minutes it took to reach Mexico.
- List of donors to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation displayed proudly.
- While your Butterflies are in the care of the Mexican people, read about life in the sanctuary region.
The Next Symbolic Migration Update Will Be Posted on November 5, 2002.
Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
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