Journey North Symbolic Monarch Butterfly Migration

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A visit to Sierra Chincua Sanctuary
Estela Romero visits the sanctuary and shares her visit: The Sancutary at Sierra Chincua, is a cheerful place this year. As soon as I arrived I noticed a very optimistic athmosphere. The monarch population has rebounded after last year's record lows. A preliminary counting of the number of trees holding big clusters of butterflies was a big surprise! Sierra Chincua has around 7 more times the population of last year!

The cost ticket for an adult is 45 pesos and for a child, 35 Pesos. Being a child or grand child of an Ejidatario grants you the right to get employed at either of the two Sancturies. This creates a festive mood with families all working to highlight the monarch viewing.

Around 85 people are employed as tourist guides, plus 30-50 more people including children and women who are trained to attend to the forest and Sanctuary activities.	The children of an Ejidatario work around the visitor center and the grounds.

All guides, without exception wear their special vests, as authorized guides at the Sanctuary, specially trained by the tourism Ministry in the state and the Biosphere Reserve Office in the region.		Many tourists visit. Mostly co-nationals are seen here, but people from all over the world come to see the monarchs.

	Visitors are to keep silent while in the forest colony and told not to touch Monarchs, either dead or alive. In town, in Angangueo, frequent foreigner visitors are seen throughout the week.


*Adolfo López Mateos* Cierro Prito Community, El Rosario Ejido, Michoacán


Children on the way to school. They see Rocinante coming and start shouting guessing whether Journey North has arrived!	The school is located on this hillside. Can you see it?	Physical education class.

Estela going into the monarch life-cycle phases with the groups, who immediatly give their rapt attention to listening to the great challenges monarchs have to overcome in order to survive.	Children all agree we should reinforce our work to preserve our Oyamel Forests, the winter-home for monarchs. Students ask their counterparts in the USA and Canada to care for and guarantee the milkweed population.	Students are excited to write letters to their new friends in the north.

.A teacher from Minnesota visiting the monarch sanctuaries stopped by to the school. His students in Minnesota have participated in the Symbolic Migration and he explained how cold winters in north are and importance of the Oyamel forests for monarch winter habitat.		Students receive books and gifts.

Group photograph.	Students with their Symbolic Butterflies.

Sharing the butterflies.	Break time and the snack table.	Recess gives students time to play.


Redención del Campesino Elementary, San Cristóbal Community
San Cristóbal is an indigenous community located in the Second Belt surrounding the Monarch’s Sanctuary. Most families in this community make their livings from forest benefits. Journey North's visit to these schools with the hope that the children will see the value of the forest, the winter home of the Monarch Butterflies.

The school proudly displays their name.	Estela will share the butterflies and story with 4, 5, and 6 grades.	The students come together to the main patio of the school, to listen to Journey North's message.

The youngest, are learning for the first time that a delicate Monarch butterfly can be so strong and brave to achive their long Journey South-North.	They're also interested to know how different life conditions are in the North for the monarch generations reproducing there, and how challenging and different conditions are for the adult population staying over the winter in Central México.	The students take the letter-writing very seriously!

Focusing on their letters.		Everyone receives an Ambassador butterfly!

Children showing the "Un Regalo para Tí", envelope with their letters and presents from their counterparts in the North.		Receiving books from Monarch Across Georgia.

A group photograph.	Kids having fun at recess.	Big jump rope game at recess.

Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary School Located in Angangueo
This school is located at the entrance of the town. It is one of the oldest and most populated schools in town. Most of the children in our region attend public/government schools. The two nearest private elementary schools in the neighbouring towns are mostly not affordable for parents, but still a few of the public/government schools are considered to have a very good academic level, sometimes as good as a private school.

It is almost 9 a.m. Children are arriving to school on time; the youngest children come with their mothers.	Students line up to listen to news from their Director or simply to bid "good morning" and to wish a good day to their teachers. This is a tradition in almost all schools, after which they go to their classrooms where they will attend all subjets taught by their teacher.	Although it is winter time now, the buildings are open, children can freely play at the yard. Winter weather is not affecting our lives in a really significant way.

Explaining the monarch life cycle. Students were surprised about facts like "Monarchs main eating phase takes place during their caterpillar phase", "once they come out of their crysalis, they are adults", etc.	Estela speaks to the large group and displays the flags from 3 countries where monarchs live.	Students are concentrating on writing to their new friends in the USA and Canada.

Children celebrate and share their ambassador butterflies and the messages they carry.

18 de Marzo Elementary El Paso Community, Ejido de Ocampo
In this community schools are attended by children of families which main living comes from forestry resources. Journey North considers it important to make these children aware of the importance of the preservation of the Oyamel forests and the ecosystem our region represents, as winter home of the Monarch Butterflies.

Most Public schools in México bear the name of important people in our history. Names can be also important dates. “18 de Marzo” is the day when oil industry was declared to be under the State regulation and exploitation.	Students in their "outdoor" classroom learning about the monarch migration and the important role of the wintering habitat.	The students help display the maps and materials for the lessons.

Students displaying the life cycle models for the monarch.	Children enjoy very much filling in the letter sent to their Northern counterparts, asking them to commit as the three hosting countries to the Monarch Butterfly to preserve their habitat.

	Children receiving and opening their Ambassador Monarchs, opening and removing their letters and even in some cases receiving a small present.

Children were thrilled about looking at the map from where the letter, the Symbolic Monarch and real monarchs themselves come from! They even aligned themselves and their bodys in a way one can hardly believe...	The students proudly show the classroom Symbolic Monarch that they received!
		Most of our children, specially the older ones who have already participated in the Journey North project, know that our region so famous, and our Oyamel forests are the winter home for monarchs. ManyBecause their livelihoods depend on the forests it is easy to ignore many of the main facts and challenges the species' survival implies. Through Journey North, they renew/regard conciousness of all this, feeling immensely proud of it.
Students from these classrooms received new books!

*Octavio Paz* Palo Armarillo Community, Secondary School, State of Mexico

Estela introducing Journey North to students announcing the arrival of letters from their Northern counterparts. Explaining the honorable responsability of hosting the Monarchs among the three countries.		The secondary students display their butterflies.

Children and teachers in this school receive Journey North in a particularly enthusiastic way. They love to receive their letters and write on them about their lives, likes and about how proud they feel of their homeland, --winter-home of the Monarch Butterflies. They decorated their letters in a wonderful way. Children giving the last touch to their response letters for sending back to their counterparts in US and Canada.

	Teacher Ignacio Días highly motivated to have children to reflect on the visit by Journey North, and is interested in holding mail communication with US or Canadian teachers and their students. He has been teaching in this school for around 20 years now.	The students proudly and gratefully display their new books.

Another book gift.	Another book and display of their new butterflies.	These girls are asking Journey North to come back next year, since "Journey North make us reflect about a kind of a deadlin to mankind to stop endangering nature."

*José María Morelos y Pavón* Angangueo Town Elementary School
This is school is located in the “passing route” of Monarchs both for arriving and leaving their Sanctuaries to and the sanctuaries. Since it is located along a river side, children watch how a monarch might stop to drink water on their way. Right now, once in a while, a restless Monarch can be seen come down to this point in town looking for water or nectar, or simply exploring (?) far from her site in El Rosario Sanctuary.

Students get ready to enter the school.	The first day of each week of school the students all participate in honoring the Mexican Flag.

Students honoring the flag.	Estela refreshes students understanding of the monarch migration.	The students are very proud as they learn about Mexico's role as the monarchs' wintering grounds.

Each of the children holds one stage in the monarch life cycle.	Drawing and writing a letter about themselves to send back to their new friends in US, Canada, and Germany.

The students carefully draw and write to their new friends.	Children marvelled at receiving their letters and little presents from children in the North. Impressed, at the same time of knowing about how far their letters are coming from and how far their own response letters will travel soon after packed.

	Books received.
		The director of the school, one of the best teachers in town, was the kindergarten teacher to Estela (now 46 years old!). Estela continues to admire her great feeling for education of children in town. Often there are schools in the area with the same name. This school is located in Angangueo town, whereas the previous José María Morelos y Pavón was located near El Rosario Sanctuary in a comunity called "La Cantera."
Students with their teacher.	The whole group proudly show their ambassador butterflies.


*11 de Julio Elementary* Palo Amarillo Community near Sierra Chincua Sanctuary
This is one of the oldest schools surrounding the “Sierra Chincua” Sanctuary. The grandparents of these children say they were born seeing the arrival and overwintering of Monarchs without imagining this would be of such scientific relevance someday in the future.
Estela’s Mother, now 70 years old, was born in this community, and attended this school where children then could only learn to read and write. Estela admires her mother’s roots since her mother owns a natural wisdom, cleverness and inner and outer beauty due to her values, ideology, and traditions, which the whole family tries to preserve in all aspects.
	Students are very excited to have Estela visit.	One key piece is to teach how the monarch has a complex life-cycle

Also, students learn the importance of having safe habitat for each life cycle phase.	Children writing their response letters; concerned at wondering themselves or asking Estela, whether their friends in the North will like their drawings, since they are hand-made, to which Estela responds that that is exactly the great value of a letter made by themselves.

A close-up of this child's letter.	Students show off their gifts that came with their symbolic butterflies.

Sharing their butterflys and the messages they carry	He can now see who sent the butterfly!	Some new books for the classroom.

Children delighted to show their letters, Ambassador Butterflies and gifts received.

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