Stories
The annual school-wide event began last year to remember the short life of Erin Getzler, who was 6 years old and a first-grader at the school when she succumbed to a brain tumor. The child loved butterflies, and the creature is also the symbol of the Bellmore-based Guardian Brain Foundation, a non-profit group that provided support to Erin and her family during her illness. The butterflies are incubated in small mesh cages in every classroom. The students watch them develop from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis in their classrooms over several weeks until they reach adulthood, ready to spread their wings, free to fly.
Last year, thanks to unseasonably warm weather, the butterflies were released on the school's front lawn, with butterfly bushes planted nearby to serve as their home.
Realizing that the butterflies could not survive this year's chilly days and nights, students in Tiffany Joosten's second-grade class came up with an idea to save them.
"Butterflies should only be released if it is over 55 degrees," explained Joosten. She discussed the situation with her students. They agreed that they wanted the creatures to survive, but thought that the little mesh cages that they developed in were too small for adult butterflies. "They didn't want them to live their whole lives in our small classroom cages," she said. The children felt the creatures needed to spread their wings. "Some of the children started telling me about the butterfly habitat that they went in at the Bronx Zoo," she said. "We downsized the idea into our habitat."
The habitat is set up in the school's lobby. It took quick action -- the butterflies were beginning to spread their wings in crowded cages throughout the school -- and a group effort for the idea to take flight.
Colleagues joined Joosten in brainstorming ideas about what materials to use and how to construct an indoor habitat that would work. Head custodian Scott Schick built the habitat's frame in a day from leftover PVC piping he had in storage. Second-grade teacher Mary Carrea worked into the night with Joosten to cover the structure with netting, with an artificial ficus tree inside. An access panel was created in the netting to enable the butterflies to be released into the habitat, and food, including plates of sugar water and orange slices, could be placed on the dirt floor.
"This all took place in 24 hours," said Principal Dr. Mark Wiener. The next day, class by class, the students came to release their butterflies in the habitat. "A few were flying around," Weiner said,
The butterflies are called Painted Ladies, one of the most common butterflies in the world. They live in temperate and some tropical climates, and can only fly if their body temperatures are above 86 degrees, so they sun themselves to warm up in cool weather.
"We think they are happy in there," said Joosten. "We keep thinking of ways to make it more like their natural habitat for them."
Kuhn added, "This is an absolutely wonderful school-wide activity. It has promoted so much conversation and dialogue between teachers as well as students from grade to grade."
When Kuhn said she hoped the school could do the project every year, Wiener responded, "Of course we can!"
Comments about this story? nhiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
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