José Palomares Quiroz Elementary, 4th, 5th, and 6th Grades
José Palomares Quiroz Elementary is located in the Rondanilla Community. It is the first belt back forests surrounding territory to Sierra Chincua Sanctuary.

Most fathers to these children make a living within their own forests. Their income is made by selling their logged timber to outsider getting an average of three thousand pesos for a 3 tons-truck timber, that is one thousand pesos per timber ton. [*Note: 1.0 US dollar = 20 Méxican pesos) Families here also practice agriculture for some of their income.  The third income source is relatives’ financial support coming from working in big cities in México or USA.

During the time when the students review the life-cycle of the Monarch and about habitat the children show themselves expert at teaching Estela names of trees, wild plants, local birds and some other local animal species. They know a lot of that from their parents and grandparents! Most children get so enthusiastic as speaking about the many wonders of our region and its natural habitat, that the moment they decorate their latters, they just cannot help showing off the habitat surrounding where they live, proudly sending back, in their Ambassador Monarch, wonderful colorful letters back to their counteparts in the United States and Canada!

BOOKS DONATED: “Manualidades de Papel” and “Pulseras”

At this school, “José Palomares Quiroz” Elementary, one more Ambassador Monarch coming from Kaiserslautern Germany was received! It causes a big surprise for children and teachers at the schools where the German symbolic butterflies are received.  These become special butterflies since the moment children look at the attached map and the so long distance children get amazed at the surprise! Estela explains about the mail-flight they must do to reach the rest of Ambassador Monarchs in US, and then to fly to México.

Thanks to the school children in Kaiserslautern, Germany for their participation every single year now!

More about this region:
The final few photos taken in Josè Palomares Quiroz show some new ways of life being adopted by local families around the Sanctuaries.  For a few years now, families have started to open themselves to the traditional, but now somehow lost practices of self-sufficiency. This includes raising and breeding backyard animals, raising homefruits and vegetable crops for home-processing into marmelades and etc. This life-style farming helps families to have an alternative living other than forest logging.

There is an example of a house built by families with relatives working away in big cities in our country and abroad. This kind of house is somewhat common to see around. In the far distance is a view of the forests guarded by these children’s families in the mountains where Sanctuary Sierra chincua is on top of them at over 3,000 meters asl.

Estela Romero
Angangueo, Michoacán, México.

Butterflies Received
This school received Ambassador Butterflies from the following U.S. and Canadian Schools:

Friends School of Wilmington, Wilmington, NC
Fire Island UFSD, Ocean Beach, NY
Friends School of Wilmington, Wilmington, NC
Calvert Elementary, Lincoln, NE
Waterloo Elementary, Atwater, OH
Roosevelt Elementary, Livonia, MI
Cluny School, Newport, RI
Our Lady Of Mercy School, Madison, CT
Cincinnati Christian School, Fairfield, OH
Dalton Elementary, Dalton, OH
Springmont School, Atlanta, GA
Springmont School, Atlanta, GA
Ann Street School, Newark, NJ
Oxford Elementary, Oxford, MS
Andover Elementary, Andover, CT
Annie Vinton Elementary, Mansfield, CT
Annie Vinton Elementary, Mansfield, CT
Fairbanks Road Elementary, Churchville, NY
Oownak Elementary, Piwnal, VT
DeSoto Central Primary School, Southaven, MS
Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, PA
Rocky Branch Elementary, Bogart, GA
Leisure Park Elementary, Broken Arrow , OK
Vogelweh Elementary, Kaiserslautern,
Main Dunstable Elementary, Nashua, NH
Gunn Memorial Public Library, Yanceyville, NC