Kindergartner monarchs take wing in downtown Haddonfield
Parade of butterflies
Kindergarten teacher Jacob Kerner reminds his students to flap their wings as they make their way from the classroom to the Friends Meeting House for a butterfly presentation for their families.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Dressed as monarchs, kindergartners from Haddonfield Friends School paraded through downtown on Monday to celebrate the butterfly’s metamorphosis and annual epic migration to Mexico.
The youngsters raise monarch butterflies from eggs, learning to relate to the world around them as they watch them grow into caterpillars, get bigger, and spin their chrysalises in the classroom.
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When the adult butterflies emerge, they are released in the school’s garden and in a 30-year tradition, the kindergartners celebrate by putting on butterfly costumes and “migrate” by parading through downtown Haddonfield.
Kindergartener Tessa Park arrives in the Friends Meeting House to sing a butterfly song with classmates during a presentation for their families.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Kindergarten teacher Barbara Good does a last-minute backstage antennae adjustment before the students go out to perform for their families. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Brooklyn Rice (from left), Eloise Supnick, and Charlie Cole make their entrances in the Meeting House.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
After an educational presentation by their teachers, the kindergarteners sing a butterfly song.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Bodhi Lowther joins his classmates for a performance in front of their families before parading through downtown Haddonfield.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Eighth graders - who paraded when they were younger - watch the kindergarten butterfly presentation.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Newly-emerged monarchs await their release. The kindergarteners have been studying the life cycle of the butterflies, growing them from eggs they ordered online - and some they collected on milkweed leaves in the school's garden.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Families watch as kindergarten teachers Jacob Kerner (left) and Annie Martucci (right) release the monarchs in the school’s garden. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Kindergarten teacher Annie Martucci leads her monarch butterfly students in their wings as they prepare for the parade.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The parading butterflies pass the borough firehouse.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Teacher Jacob Kerner walks with his students. Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A butterfly hairclip.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
After the long walk, a tired butterfly Ophelia is with parents Ashley and Sean Pattwell.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Parent-made cookies await Haddonfield Friends School kindergarteners after their parading through downtown.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
