BROOKFIELD—Marde Dimon, a teacher at St. Joseph Catholic Academy, signed up for a community garden plot this summer in one of the Trumbull parks where she works as a part-time park ranger. She named her first ever garden the “Long Shot Plot,” and planned for it to be an educational experience for herself, her children and grandchildren. Marde and her family planted vegetables and wildflowers. When she went to her garden, she noticed right away that milkweed was growing among the wildflowers. She knew that milkweed was the only plant that the monarch butterfly lays its eggs on and the only plant that the caterpillars eat so she did not pull it along with the seemingly endless amount of weeds.
Marde’s friend Jen Riley, another Catholic school science teacher, called her and asked if she wanted a few monarch butterfly caterpillars. Marde said yes! Riley stopped by SJCA one day before school started, showed her what the eggs looked like on the underside of the leaves and donated a few caterpillars. Marde rushed to her garden soon after and checked the underside of the milkweed leaves and observed tiny white monarch butterfly eggs no larger than a period on a printed page. She harvested them and placed them in a butterfly habitat and brought it to Saint Joseph Catholic Academy.
Marde placed the habitat in the art room, where she knew the students would be able to see it. Marde taught the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly and students were able to observe the development of the caterpillars in art class weekly and anytime their teachers were able to bring their classes in. The students were able to watch the caterpillars grow from barely visible to about two inches in length at which time they crawl to the top of their habitat and attach to the mesh top by creating a silk button. They suspend themselves head down from the mesh top and curl up forming a letter “J” shape that the students were able to observe before each transformed into a beautiful kelly green chrysalis with gorgeous gold dots. The Monarch butterfly remains in its chrysalis for 10 to 14 days when it will emerge as a butterfly.
SJCA currently has five chrysalises and two caterpillars that the students are watching very closely and excitedly await the metamorphosis into the beautiful monarch butterfly. They will be emerging from their chrysalises one by one, day by day, and Marde and her students will be releasing them within several hours of their emergence.
Located in the heart of Brookfield, CT, St. Joseph Catholic Academy, formerly St. Joseph School is a Diocese of Bridgeport school. They opened their new doors in August 2018 to approximately 100 students and their families. The foundation of their innovative personalized multi-age education provides students an opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge as they develop the confidence to master the necessary skills to become caring leaders.
