American and Canadian students wanted to know what life is like in the monarch butterfly overwintering region. They asked:

• What do your homes look like?
• What do you eat for lunch?
• How many monarchs do you see each winter?

See how students at "Pedro Ascencio" School answered. Their one-room school house is located high in the mountains, near the Sierra Chincua Monarch Sanctuary.

Kids at "Pedro Ascencio" School answered your questions.

From Zarrow International School in Oklahoma:

QUESTION: Does your school have a library?

ANSWER: Mostly all of our schools have a small library; in this case our library are some shelves at the corner of our own classroom.

QUESTION: Why do you have a satellite on top of your school?

ANSWER: This is the antenna for a special equipment called ¨Encyclomedia¨, which was provided to schools all over the country, and which includes an electronic board, computer and printer containing additional material in order to enhance our learning on different subjects.

QUESTION: How many hours a day do you go to school and how many months of the year?

ANSWER: We have a 5-hour class day, starting at nine and ending at two. We get classes 10 months a year, excepting Christmas, Easter and Summer vacation (two-week period for the first two and one-month period for Summer vacation).

From St. Andrew's Catholic School in Texas

QUESTION: What are some activities the students enjoy when school is out for summer break?

ANSWER:¨We boys enjoy very much playing foot-ball soccer, base ball, cycling and taking care of our sheep outside¨. ¨We girls enjoy helping our mothers with light house-work, ordering our bedroom, and then playing the rest of the day either ¨seek and hide¨, ¨stop¨, etc.¨.

(Estela Notes: It seems that girls nowadays do not play that much with dolls or a little kitchen where cooking and being mothers may make fun for them that much.)

From The Ellis School in Pennsylvania

QUESTION: Approximately how many monarchs do you see each winter?

ANSWER: We see thousands and thousands of them. It would be impossible to count them.

QUESTION: What is it like to live near so many monarch butterflies?

ANSWER: We feel happy, we feel that we and our region are special, since only a few places in our country and in the world have got Monarch butterflies.

From Trinity Episcopal School in North Carolina

QUESTION: Have you been able to watch a monarch butterfly emerge from a chrysalis?

ANSWER: It will sound rare perhaps, but never have we seen it.

(Estela Notes: We discussed on the fact that Monarchs are never born in our Sanctuary areas.)

QUESTION: Can you describe what it looks like when the monarchs begin to arrive in your town? Is the sky filled with monarchs? I can't imagine how amazing that must be.

ANSWER: It is for us now part of our lives. We are generations which know that almost half of the year is more lively than it would be in all senses, that if they were not coming to stay with us over the winter.

QUESTION: Can you describe your classroom for us? Our classroom has tables and chairs. We do not have individual desks.

ANSWER: Our classroom is big, we have individual chairs, games and books at the back part of it, we have our computer and electronic board set, but what is wonderful about our school and classroom is that we are surrounded by a wonderful view that seldom other schools in other towns or --least of all cities-- might have. (See photo.)

From Annie Wright School in Washington

QUESTION: How many monarch butterflies do you usually see every year during their migration?

ANSWER: Thousands and thousands of them.

QUESTION: Is there anything special that you do to help the butterflies stay safe in their habitat?

ANSWER: We do not make any intent of fires in the forest, we are convinced that trees must not be cut where they live, we try to persuade people and our families to keep environment clean; we also try not to be so noisy.

From St. Pius X Catholic School in Indiana

QUESTION: Do you wear uniforms at school, and if so do you like them?

ANSWER: We are still among the few schools which only wear uniform on Monday when we honor our flag. The rest of the week we wear normal clothes and we like it that way very much.

QUESTION: Do you see a lot of monarchs near your school?

ANSWER: Of course, the sky gets crowded when they arrive or when they are leaving in the Spring.

QUESTION: Does your class raise any monarchs at school, and do you ever catch any of the monarchs?

ANSWER: No, we do not raise Monarchs and try not to catch them, it is senseless, since they almost die immediately.

From Ms. Dunster's class in Nebraska

QUESTION: Como esta en Mexico? Hace calor alli?

ANSWER: Here in our región, we have a mild weather. It gets very warm in the Spring but we never get over 25 Celcious and in the Winter, we never drop down from minus 3 to 5 Celcious. The North and Southern parts of our country are much more extreme.

QUESTION: Cuantos estudiantes tiene en su escuela?

ANSWER: We are fifteen in total. We are a multigrade school. But a normal elementary school, may have over 100 students.

From Minot Public School Central Campus in North Dakota

QUESTION: How are the science classes in Mexico?

ANSWER: We think our science classes base on very simple experiments and observations and a little bit more reading stated on our own science book.

QUESTION: What do you feel the number one threat is to the Monarchs in Mexico?

ANSWER: It is definitely the cutting of wood in our forests, since, from there, depend all what surrounds human and animal life. (Estela: ¨I was happy to see how instantaneous, firm and clear they showed convinced about it¨).

From U4EA Ranch Academy in Mississippi

QUESTION: How cold does it get there?

ANSWER: Never colder than minus 3-5 centigrade degrees, in case it snows. Snow seldom reaches more than 30 cm.

QUESTION: Do you have running water and electricity in your homes?

ANSWER: Since about fifteen years ago, our homes get electricity from outside electricity line-installations, like it has been in small towns and cities for decades. Before, our parents still used candle-light. As for water, we are still lucky to get water directly from natural springs in our forests through plastic hoses hidden in the earth by our own parents.

QUESTION: What is your favorite thing to do?

ANSWER: To play –always outside our homes preferably,-- which we can do all over the year, to eat, and to watch tv.

From Childs Elementary in Indiana

QUESTION: Do you have to wear uniforms to school every day and what do you eat for school lunch?

ANSWER: No, different from most schools, we do not have to wear uniforms every-day, because our parents and teacher have been free to decide so, and every public school is free to do that. About lunch, since there exists a serious worry about fatness and diabetes levels among population in our country, along all this school year, educational authorities have been banned to allow us to get anything which is not containing nutritious elements. Our schools are being seriously regulated on this, but it is not so in all states in the country, our state (México) is being leader on this right now. So, we usually get a torta, a taco, fruit, milk, and some nuts. (Photo 5).

(Estela Notes: Not so in the neighboring state, Michoacán, and its schools yet.)

QUESTION: What is the largest number of monarch butterflies you have seen at your school?

ANSWER: Thousands of them.

QUESTION: What holidays do you celebrate in your community?

ANSWER: New Year's, Holy Magicians', Flag's day, Saint Valentine's, Easter vacation, Child's day, May 1st., May 5th., Mother's day, Teacher's day, Father's day, Summer vacation, Independence's Day, Revolution's Day, Christmas vacation.

From Park and Needham Elementary

QUESTION: Was it very cold this winter in Mexico?

ANSWER: Not as cold as it got in the northern part of our country.

QUESTION: Did many Monarchs die?

ANSWER: No, on the contrary, it seems perhaps this year very few Monarchs remained dead on the floor, different to former years when we have had huge storms and freezing temperatures.

QUESTION: Are there still butterflies around in Mexico? (When was the last time you saw one?)

ANSWER: They left rather late and perhaps three weeks ago (21 April), we still could see one or two far away.

From Adams Elementary in Michigan

QUESTION: Cuales deportes juegan Uds. en Ocampo, Mexico? Aqui jugamos hockey, futbol, basquetbol, futbol americano, gimnasia,tenis, y beisbol.

ANSWER: We play foot ball soccer (American foot ball is not practiced in our región), bicycle, marbles, yoyo, trompo, dolls for girls, seek and hide and try not to watch t.v. so much, since most of them are soap opera programs in our community. In small towns they get different and interesting programs but only if they pay for private tv service.

QUESTION: Como celebran sus cumpleanos? Celebramos aqui con fiestas grandes, regalos, amigos, pastel con velas, helado, pizza, y algunas veces una pinata!

ANSWER: Our moms usually prepare some pozole, mole or tamales for dinner. It has become more and more common that we get some cake, and can invite a few friends for a while.

(Estela Notes: In towns like Angangueo, almost invariably, children will celebrate their birthdays more abundantly with cake without exception, pozole, tamales, tostadas, balloons, some music and friends, but we parents and rest of the family are always there accompanying and it becomes more a family time).

From Grange Hall Elementary in Virginia

QUESTION: What is it like to live in Mexico? Como es la vida en Mexico?

ANSWER: In small regions like ours, perhaps freedom to live and play outside is the best we can have. Our life is very rustic, traditional, and with lots of family and community time.

QUESTION: Do you ever get snow in your area of Mexico? Nieve en Mexico?

ANSWER: Yes, ever winter invariably, although it seldom overpasses 30 cm. height as it did around 20 years ago.

QUESTION: Do you get many hurricanes or tornadoes in your area of Mexico? Tienen muchos huracanes o tornados en Mexico?

ANSWER: No, never. Hurricanes are only common on the coast regions. Tornadoes are actually not known for us.

From Cinnaminson Middle School in New Jersey

QUESTION: Como es tu dia de escuela? Que clases tomas en la escuela? Tomas una clase de ingles en tu escuela? Te gusta estudiar ingles? En tu escuela qud es un dia tipico para ti?

ANSWER: We start school at around 9, and get breaktime at around 12 for half an hour during which we play and eat some fruit, tacos, tortas, or juice. Then, we go back to our classrooms and end classes at two to go back home and have dinner with our families. Public and Private schools keep a similar schedule. We public schools do not get English classes, only private schools. Our typical subjects are Science, Maths, Spanish, Mexican and Universal History, Geography, Artistics, Sports.

QUESTION: Que comes para el almuerzo en la escuela?

ANSWER: Nowadays we are being more and more encouraged to eat fruit, a torta, a taco, milk and/or juice or fruit water, since during the last years, snacks were the only available thing to eat at breaktime and it became a problem for our physical health.

QUESTION: Cuales son tus pasatiempos? Juegas al fotbol o balencesto despues de la escuela?

ANSWER: For us boys, mostly foot-ball soccer, and for girls, they are varied including their dolls sometimes.

Plymouth Meeting Friends School in Pennsylvania

Dear Mexican Students, Thank you for all you do to support the Monarch butterflies. We live in Pennsylvania in the United States and we have planted milkweed and we have many flowers on our school property. We work hard to provide the butterflies with a good habitat. Your Friends, Owen, Walker, Benicio, Grace, Genevieve, Noah, Trudy, Diego, Kate, Alex, Caitlin, Amanda, Manny, Haven, Lily, Jack, Elsa, Jaden, Annabel, Lucas, Braedon, Catherine, Alex, Clare and Amanda

QUESTION: What is your favorite part of helping the butterflies survive the winter and go north?

ANSWER: Thank you for your recognition. As you know we do not raise Monarchs so we are being more focused on taking care of our natural surrounding in order not to cause damage to their natural habitat.

QUESTION: How much science and technology do you use to study the butterflies? How long have you been studying butterflies and what have you found out so far?

ANSWER: Estela responds: Perhaps we should say that what our children know about Monarchs is that what we have got through our science books at school, through some videos, through what Journey North provides them every year about Monarchs' life-cycle and mystery, through observation and family-story-telling. We honestly do not make any special study on them at schools using science or technology, since we are rather devoid of technology, and perhaps our schools systems –at least in regions like ours ,are not so much focused on that kind of practice and analysis, not even in science classes. That kind of study through science and technology you suggest is rather seen in good private schools in the cities.

From Canton Central School in New York

QUESTION: How many real monarchs come to where you live?

ANSWER: Thousands, or perhaps, like this year may have been, millions of them.

QUESTION: Do you have any favorite kind of butterflies?

ANSWER: Not exactly favorite, but we also like those big dark butterflies which start to appear when the raining season approaches.

QUESTION: We still have snow. What is the weather like where you live?

ANSWER: Very, very mild, rather warm and sunny all over the year, compared to yours.

From Hayfield Secondary School in Virginia

QUESTION: In your school are there any students from other countries?

ANSWER: No, we do not think that we could ever get such experience.

QUESTION: How many students are in your school? (Guadalupe Victoria, Ocampo, Michoacan)

ANSWER: Over 200 children with only the morning shift. We do not have afternoon shift.

QUESTION: Do you have any books about butterflies in your school?

ANSWER: Yes, we do.

From Central School in Missouri

QUESTION: What does it look like when the Monarchs are migrating in for the winter?

ANSWER: Our skies get blue and sunny, but it is cold. People start to prepare welcome them and to welcome tourists over the season. We get more lively.

QUESTION: Would a Monarch ever mistake another type of butterfly (Viceroy, Painted Lady, Queen) for a Monarch? Or is there some special way that they "know" that it is a Monarch?

ANSWER: We had never been asked this question. We believe that they cannot get confused and that there should be some signals among Monarchs in order to identify their own species.

QUESTION: What is the most butterflies you have seen at one time?

ANSWER: Hundreds, most likely.

From Atholton Elementary School in Maryland

QUESTION: Now that the Monarchs have left Mexico, do you wish they were still with you?

ANSWER: Yes, because, many people visit us, and we do not have this lively atmosphere the rest of the year when they are not here.

QUESTION: Are you having a milder spring this year than you had last year?

ANSWER: During the last three years we have had hotter springs than in former years.

QUESTION: Do you enjoy living so close to where all the Monarchs migrate for the winter?

ANSWER: Of course, we just became a special region since they visit us here for years now.

From Hunters Woods Elementary School in Virginia

QUESTION: Please tell us more about your school. What do you study? What does your building look like? Do you live in the mountains? What kind of languages do you learn? We study math, science, language arts, social studies, music, art, and movement. What subjects do you study?

ANSWER: Some people say that community schools are much nicer because our schools themselves and we children are much more special in many ways. Our schools are located very near to the mountains, we are mostly located at very high altitudes (we almost reach the 3,000 mts. above sea level). Our classrooms are mostly very cold during the winter, but we get used to it. Many of us do not like maths but love sports and creative arts on the contrary. Our teachers come from other towns or even from far away cities.

Estela Notes: Our children do not learn any foreign language or autoctonous (the language of an indigenous people) language although government educational institutions are starting to include English and a pre-hispanic/autoctonous language at a time, in order to rescue our original dialects from our ancestors. Some states, like our neighboring state of México has already started leading on some pilot projects on this, including some autoctonous-bilingual-universities (type Universidades Interculturales en el Estado de México, --if any of you are interested on the topic--)

QUESTION: What animals do you have besides the Monarch Butterflies? Do you have mountain lions? Are there any dangerous animals in the wild around you?

ANSWER: We will really seldom run into a dangerous animal in our forests, perhaps we might run into a Tarántula if ever. We most commonly see squirrels, many kinds of birds, Coyotes, Tlacuaches, Zorrillos, Conejos, wild cats, and seldom very thin and small and not dangerous snakes.

QUESTION: How hot does it get where you live? Do you walk to school? Do you have buses or bikes? Is your town big?

ANSWER: You can get by car or bus anywhere you want nowadays in our region. Our communities are small (only some hundred inhabitants) and our towns too (only some thousands inhabitants). We use more buses for transportation than cars.

From Rita Edwards Miller School in New Hampshire

QUESTION: Can you tell us what it is like going to school in Mexico?

ANSWER: Estela Notes: Perhaps attending school for our children does not make a sense of much fun or even genuine interest as regards the direct relation to the teachers, since many of our teachers at public schools are still very traditional and more a figure of authority and respect and not that creative or sensible to in some aspects a child would like to get nearer to him in terms of their integral/thorough education and and bringing up. Nevertheless, children as such, show themselves playful and happy at getting together with their friends. There are other states, like the neighboring State of México, (which schools are also visited by Journey North because of the Monarchs occupying part of their territory, which system and teacher's training and regulations are leading on improving more and more on all this aspects.

QUESTION: What is the weather like in Mexico?

ANSWER: Mild, very mild compared to yours.

QUESTION: What do your homes look like?

ANSWER: We think that they look rustic, colorful, mostly with plant-pots everywhere, and family-inhabited. The radio or very Mexican music should be on during a good time during the day. You should also hear shouting to each other among the family addressing ourselves by our nicknames; this, because, we think we are a rather noisy, cheerful society even in spite of some of our problems.

From Onondaga Hill Middle School in New York

QUESTION: Que comes y que bebes en almuerzo?

ANSWER: We mostly get three meals a day. Breakfast should be either light (milk/atole/café, bred, juice) but for some a strong dish can be included already. In all México, dinner time comes around 3 p.m. and this is our main meal, where we include a soup, a main (meat, fish, etc) dish with some salad or frijoles or potatoes beside, and often some dessert. At night, after 8 p.m. it varies from region to region and from family to family, since some are used to get somewhat heavy snacks like tacos, quesadillas, etc. and a cold or hot drink even soda, others should get only some bread and milk, fewer will get some tea and fruit.

From Teacher in Michigan

I am a retired teacher and each fall my first graders watched monarch crysalises develop until the butterflies emerged. We set them free and waved goodby. We studied where they went, but always wondered who welcomed them in Mexico.

QUESTION: What time of year do they arrive in your vicinity? How do you welcome the monarchs?

ANSWER: Most Monarchs arrive to our region (the sanctuaries themselves) all along November. By December they've all gathered together and are already crowding the Sanctuaries. For most of us, the celebration of the Day of the Dead (¨Día de Muertos¨) is the official welcoming of Monarchs to our region and the Sanctuaries.

Discussing how to answer the questions...

Demonstrating the Encyclomedia equipment.

Rommel expressed his wish that Monarchs season comes soon again, since he hires his horse for tourists to ride to the Sanctuaries and is happy to start to be a self-made boy.

The students are proud to show the wonderful view from the school window.

Years ago, our lunch consisted of exactly this, and was prepared by mothers at home.

English lessons on the Encyclomedia equipment.

"Pedro Ascencio" is a one-room school house. It's located high in the mountains, near the Sierra Chincua Monarch Sanctuary.

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