Students in Mrs. Kara Salierno's class at the Locust School concluded their study of the life cycle of a butterfly with the release of the butterflies the students had raised in their classroom. "Bye, butterflies," one student called as the American Painted Lady butterflies flew away from the party held in their honor in Locust's courtyard. The children spent the month of May learning about the various stages of a butterfly's life cycle through a hands-on study. The students placed live caterpillars into containers and watched as, one-by-one, they formed their chrysalises. They transferred the chrysalises into two large mesh cages where the butterflies, all 40 of them, emerged a few weeks later.

On the big day, the children listened to Eric Carle's The Hungry Caterpillar and I'm a Caterpillar by Jean Margollo before carefully opening the mesh cages and letting the butterflies fly free. They were very motivated to participate in such a wonderful classroom project!