During a press conference at El Valor Carlos H. Cantu Children and Family Center, El Valor, in partnership with US Forest Service International Programs, highlighted its innovative Monarch Butterfly initiative to demonstrate the importance of environmental education.

On Wednesday, Sept. 10th, El Valor highlighted the innovative program by using monarch butterflies to strengthen its environmental conservation education and parental engagement efforts for this year-long program. El Valor and US Forest Service International Programs have partnered since 2009 utilizing monarch butterflies as key learning tools for El Valor’s birth-to-5 Early Head Start and Head Start programs to promote community engagement and parental involvement in Mexican-American communities across Chicago. Program outcomes have directly demonstrated an increase in school preparation, encouraged vocabulary acquisition, and stimulated an increase for environmental science.

These distinctive monarch butterflies are a significant cultural symbol for immigrants. El Valor has provided an engaging learning environment for families through the utilization of these butterflies, including an opportunity to raise them at home, along with combining active exploration activities among educators and 800 students in both the classroom and schoolyard throughout the year.

El Valor’s families and students have maintained a positive learning environment, while successfully completing this active exploration program. More than 100 monarch butterflies at El Valor were released to begin their annual southern migration to their sanctuaries of central Mexico.