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Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Elementary, Grades 4-6 The school is considered to be an Indigenous school, teachers and the Academic program taught to students should be under a bilingual method, that means Spanish and Mazahua –students mother language—should be taught as part of their academical education. A warm, warm, welcome from students to Journey North! “Here our butterflies from the North have arrived!" they shouted to each other as they ran, spining, and dancing and running all around with the flags and basket containing their symbolic Moarchs in their arms! Estela shares,
This community is an Mazahua Indigenous settlement. Around both sanctuaries –“Sierra Chincua” and “El Rosario,” the Otomí and Mazahua indigenous populations are still alive; their traditions are still prevailing in their lives, and in some places, like in this community, their language is still a little spoken by children. Their parents are mostly bilingual as are most of their grandparents, but many are only monolingual, speaking Mazahua or Otomí as their only language. Before starting the presentation, two boys welcome Journey North singing a song in their mother indigenous language –Mazahua. Again, as at every school, students go over again on life-cycle of Monarchs, average living time and life-lapse for the generation that stays all winter; reason for migration, overwintering in our forests, local hábitat provided for their survival; other polinators accompaning Monarchs in our surrounding, mating time and leaving. At writing their letters, students share about the different tree types in our forests. The Oyamel tree is specially mentioned. As students reflect on the many years a tree needs to reach the average optimal height and width, they are astonished; they may have never heard that it should have taken thousands and thousands of years for our local hábitat and forests to have formed the way we know it now! They seem thrilled to know a little more and more on the topic, and show themselves as if wanting to spend a couple of more hours speaking to Estela and listening to her as she tries to let them realize how valuable our natural reserve is. They love to see their gifts, and learning more about their friends in the north through the letters, postcards, drawing and else attachments brought to them by their symbolic Monarchs! At the end of their class, every day, students take turns at the end of the day to clean up their classroom getting it ready for next day’s class. Then they share their " Good byes" with an attitude of having learned something very different this day; a very special lesson which has let them see how special and important our region’s ecosystem is for a whole equilibrium of life for humans, plants and animals inhabiting our dear homeland. One girl, having reached home after school, has told her father about the visit to the school by Journey North, and her father expressing appreciation to “teacher Estela” and asking to come back soon to their children in the community! The day closes with a real feeling of compensation, at trying to contributing to a change of mind in the new generations of our local society, which may, hopefully, bring a better future to these children in their adult life. Gifts to the classroom: “Damas Chinas,” ; “Frida Kahalo,” book; “Abremente” game. Butterflies Received Brigantine Norh Middle School, Brigantine, NJ
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