Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

A Home for the Butterflies

I constructed a butterfly garden in the front courtyard of my school with my environmental awareness club, Earth Tomorrow.

I heard about the Apprentice Ecologist Initiative through the Fastweb Scholarships website.

I was inspired to do this project when I realized an endeavor like this will help to improve the environment. As students in an urban setting, there is much to be worked on in our community. The butterfly garden is a simple yet efficient way to stimulate change.

What we did when starting this project was set aside a plot of land and obtained the materials needed. We picked a day and all the members of Earth Tomorrow planted flowers, trees, and shrubs.

We started the project at the beginning of the school year, and it is an ongoing project.

The goals of our project are: to create a habitat for the butterflies to be attracted to; to show our peers that the little things we do for the environment do matter; to improve the exterior experience of our school and community; and to encourage our peers to take care of the environment.

We accomplished our goals by first choosing plants that we knew butterflies would be attracted to to insure that this would be, indeed, a butterfly garden to show that something as small as starting a garden has a far-reaching impact on our community. When in full blossom, the butterfly garden is visually appealing and the butterflies can be a source of awe for the students who bestow their eyes upon them.

Since building the butterfly garden during the week of September 17, 2007, attendance in the Earth Tomorrow Club has about tripled. This is because our peers saw us doing something that we weren't required to do and more people are now willing to go the extra mile to help the environment.

Contributors to our project were our club's sponsor, Ms. Polk, who helped us find a location and clear the paperwork with the administration to build this garden on school property. The Nation Wildlife Federation was also extremely helpful while we were working on this project by providing us with advice and supplies.

I learned from this project that one small act can inspire many. What we did may have seemed simple, but it required hard work and dedication. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead. I learned that setting a good example for your peers is beneficial, because now we have more people dedicated to our cause of environmental awareness and restoration.

This project also changed me by opening my eyes to the good that any one individual can do for the environment and their community. Seeing the effects that this project had on my peers has inspired me to be more willing to do more to help the environment in the future.

This is a continuous project, we do continue to maintain the upkeep of our garden. Every one or two weeks, we go out and make sure there is no trash or debris littering the area, and in the warmer months, we pull weeds that would otherwise threaten the growth of out garden.

We also work on other projects as well. Every Friday a group of us goes out to the elementary school next door and teach the kids the importance of taking care of the earth. We participate in a program called Recy-Clean, which is where we collected magazines, newspapers, and bottles to be set over to our nearest recycling center.

We announced the completion of the butterfly garden over our school's PA system and had a ribbon cutting ceremony to promote it. We reach out to others by posting eco-friendly tips around our school, and reading them over the PA system.

Our future plans include building a fish pond for other habitats to prosper in. We are also planning an 'Earth Day Extravaganza' where we plan to have guest speakers talk about the environment followed by eco-awareness raising activities for our classmates to participate in.