The Association for Butterflies mini-grant was awarded to Kelly Mill Elementary. The grant will create or improve habitat for pollinators and provide for nature and community to come together.

Kelly Mill Elementary
Cumming, GA

We have created a butterfly garden and pollinator garden last summer at our public elementary school. We started by studying what butterflies need to survive in our area. The students were so empathetic to the needs of all butterflies /pollinators and found all the information about their survival fascinating and sad. We had no idea that butterflies needed host and nector plants to survive, we didn’t know about pesticides and the harm they do. My students, and school are on a mission to help! We are now trying to educate the public by starting our new project along with upkeeping our current butterfly waystation.
I am attaching a photo of an area at our school. The students have come up with a brilliant idea! They have witnessed big
mowers/weed eaters coming to the school and cutting down a big hill all along our school. It is a huge area. They saw kill deer birds losing their nests/eggs, butterflies leaving, and other insects. They knew there must be a solution. We have researched about how we must plant the native milkweed so monarchs will have a place to lay their eggs. We want to plant that with the nectar flowers on the hill. Our school will be trying to go to local parks once our milkweed is established to plant it there.
They read a book called Miss Rumphius. This book is an inspiring story of how you must leave the world a more beautiful place. The main character would plant wildflower, lupine seeds all along the roadways when she went walking. IT was beautiful! I attached a video of the story.

We plan to hold a fundraiser at our school. We will be making small little glass bead insects all decorated. The students have named them Bugaboos. We will create ladybugs, butterflies, bees, monsters, caterpillars. We attached a photo. Students have economic standards to learn about consumers, producers, and profit etc. They are so excited to sell these Bugaboos to our school soon. Theproceeds will go towards bulk wildflower seeds, lupine seeds, native milkweed seeds (the students taught me that I must not get tropical because that is bad for the butterflies) and soil to plant all over the huge hill. We will sell these every morning for a couple of weeks. I have attached some photos of them. The students will sell them individually, in families, and also make oragami beds for them. THEY ARE SO EXCITED!!! Once we reach $250, we will buy the wildflowers, then we will keep going depending on how many Bugaboos we sell. We have 1300 students so hopefully a lot. Because we have such a successful Monarch Waystation and Pollinator Garden already, we have the supplies to water and look after our project. In the wildflower mix-flax. shasta daisy, coneflower, lupine, blackeyed susan, candied tuft to name a few. Lupine flower, and soil are the also the materials needed. We hope you love this idea as much as our students! SO so exciting! Children can change the world and make it a better place. Don’t you agree?