Wednesday, September 20, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
BUTTERFLY: Students
will continue
monarch study
BOOK: Proceeds
will benefit SMS
butterfly program
Continued from page 3
Continued from page 20
released two monarchs —
Hope and Journey. Each
of the monarchs had been
tagged with small stickers.
55 days later Werts received
a phone call — Journey had
been found in Carpinteria,
California — an astounding
800-mile journey from his
home in Sisters, Oregon. In
fact, his migration was the
longest on record for a west-
ern monarch.
Journey’s journey was
a remarkable one; Sisters
Middle School is now
included in scientific stud-
ies and included on several
blogs across the country and
the world, as far away as
New Zealand.
With all the attention
Journey was receiving, a
book was developed — and
it’s the first book published
on the western monarch.
“This truly was a commu-
nity effort,” Werts told mid-
dle school students in an all-
school assembly last Friday.
“It takes a village.”
Each book includes chap-
ters written by Sisters Middle
School students, art from
local students and scientific
information from community
partners.
“Forty-two classmates
told Journey’s story; they
were writers and illustra-
tors,” said Werts. “It’s a story
of Journey’s flight — where
he may have gone; near Mt.
Shasta, avoiding a car acci-
dent, predators and even a
friend in a hummingbird.”
“It was incredible work-
ing with the students,” said
Jean Russell Nave, a local
author who contributed to
the book and helped the stu-
dents draft their chapters.
“This thing (story) turns
into something that lives and
breathes. Without the kids
the story wouldn’t have the
magic.”
In addition to simply
learning about the monarchs,
this hands-on project helped
teach students about writing,
illustrating and publishing.
“It was fun learning
something interesting about
an animal,” said Teegan
Haas, an eighth-grader. “It’s
amazing that something so
small, like an insect, can go
a long way.”
Others enjoyed the oppor-
tunity to work with other stu-
dents on this project.
“I liked getting to hang
out in class with my friends
and getting to do something
that means something to
other people,” said sixth-
grader Chloe Frazee. “I
didn’t realize how big of a
deal this was. I mean, we’re
in a blog in New Zealand!”
Friends of the Sisters Library;
artist Dan Rickards; Ray’s
Food Place; Western Title and
Escrow; and The Roundhouse
Foundation. Many of these
supporters attended the cel-
ebration, some driving great
distances.
As a crowning event to
the party, Werts tagged one
last female monarch, sup-
plied by Southern Oregon
Monarch Advocates, and with
all watching, released it into
the warm sunshine outside
the Chamber building. Cheers
followed its flight, and Bend
TV station KTVZ recorded
the lift-off.
That’s not the end of the
PHOTO BY SUE ANDERSON
Students at Sisters Middle School have turned the study of monarch
butterflies into an interdisciplinary endeavor.
Journey’s Flight — One
Western Monarch’s Record-
Setting Migration is avail-
able locally at Paulina
Springs Books. Proceeds
will help maintain the
monarch program at the
school. For more informa-
tion about the monarch way-
station and the overall proj-
ect, visit www.sms.ssd6.org/
butterflyproject.
21
story. Werts and her students
will continue this exciting
and fulfilling conservation
education program. In Werts’
words, “We have expanded
our understanding and
spawned a realization born of
Journey’s flight that together,
collaboratively, we can make
a difference. In keeping with
Journey’s triumphant legacy,
we are elevated — and we are
soaring in our commitment
to preserve and protect other
species for the greater good of
our precious planet.”
The book is available at
Paulina Springs Books for
$16.95, which will keep
Journey alive for many, many
years to come. It is also avail-
able on Amazon. The project
website is: http://sms.ssd6.
org/butterflyproject/ All prof-
its from the sales go to Sisters
Middle School’s butterfly
project.
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