KU's Monarch Watch seeking donations of school supplies for Mexican children

LAWRENCE -- Dr. Orley R. "Chip" Taylor, entomologist, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas and director of Monarch Watch, founded Adopt-a-Classroom, a program to support the schools in the Monarch Reserves in Michoacàn, Mexico. Monarch Watch, a cooperative network of students, teachers, volunteers and researchers dedicated to studying the biology of the monarch butterfly, is now accepting contributions and donations of school supplies for another trip next January. Taylor directs the program.

Given the millions of monarch butterflies that migrate to Mexico each fall, it is hard to imagine any threat to this population. In reality, such human activities as deforestation in the Monarch Reserves and agricultural practices in the United States and Canada seriously threaten monarchs, Taylor said. At the monarch overwintering sites in Mexico, lumber has long been a primary source of income, and the people must choose between harvesting the forest or preserving the butterfly and the ecotourism it supports.

Because the children are the future landowners of the Monarch Reserves and leaders in the community, it is important that they receive an education that will help them make informed decisions about using their land, Taylor said.

According to Taylor, their schools are simple cinder block buildings with small classrooms and poor lighting. Some have no electricity, and many do not have running water. Although the Mexican government provides some textbooks, workbooks, writing materials and even paper and pencils are scarce. Library resources and supplemental teaching aids, which have proven to be effective in teaching math and science concepts, are almost entirely lacking in these schools, Taylor said. It is Taylor's goal to provide supplies and teaching resources to these schools.

In January, Monarch Watch delivered more than four and a half tons of textbooks and other school supplies to 27 schools near the monarch overwintering colonies. Children and schools from across the United States donated new and used materials and supplies, and four school districts in southern Texas donated the textbooks.

For information on how to help and for further details and pictures of the schools, visit the Monarch Watch Web site; write to Monarch Watch, University of Kansas, Entomology Program, 1200 Sunnyside Ave., Lawrence, KS 66045; call (888) 824-4464; or e-mail monarch@ku.edu.