Coyotes share love of learning with families at butterfly celebration

November 12, 2025

Calvert Elementary School families shared a sense of wonder and awe this fall when they watched painted lady butterflies make colorful trips across campus.
 
Calvert first graders joined their loved ones for an activity that connected science, teamwork and family engagement. Students spent several weeks observing caterpillars transform into chrysalises and emerge as adult butterflies. Teachers Morgan Hough and Amy Renteria then released the insects outside for their classes to chase, hold and admire.

 
Declan said he liked being able to gently hold a butterfly by the basketball court. He burst into a big smile as he cupped his hands around its delicate frame and lifted it to get a closer look.
 
“Its wings were kind of only orange and black, and under a painted lady’s wings, there can be some gray,” Declan said.
 
Will and Kim said their son has been inspired by watching caterpillars transform into butterflies during the first quarter at Calvert. He has spotted many butterfly species outside their home over the past few weeks. Kim said that whenever he sees one, he is quick to share facts about them.
 
“He was referring to what scientists say about butterflies, because he was learning about that in class,” Kim said. “It’s fun to see them learning.”
 
Hough and Renteria said all of the Coyotes shared the same butterfly-based enthusiasm as Declan. Students watched with intense interest as their caterpillars went through the stages of metamorphosis in front of them.
 
“I think my favorite part is just watching students be super excited about it,” Renteria said. “Every day, they want to check up on the butterflies, see how they’re doing. So, just getting to see their excitement is probably my favorite.”
 
“They just get really excited,” Hough said. “They care so much about animals. They care about the growth and development of these butterflies. They care about everyone being quiet whenever, you know, the butterflies are emerging. So, it just shows how caring and sweet they are.”

 
The project showcased the Lincoln Public Schools science curriculum about traits and the life cycle of butterflies. Calvert first graders have released butterflies in previous years, but this fall marked the first time that the school invited families to attend with their children. Calvert Principal Lynnelle Giddings felt it would be a good opportunity to connect the event with the family engagement goal found in the 2024-29 LPS Strategic Plan.
 
After Hough and Renteria received packages of tiny caterpillars in their classrooms, they placed them in separate cups for students to look at. Hough said the Coyotes immediately became attached to them and gave them names like Fuzzy and Pikachu.
 
“You know, they were picking them up, looking at them,” Hough said. “They got to draw a picture of every day that they saw change. So, as they got bigger, darker, some of them got fuzzy and striped. The kids really loved that.”
 
Renteria said many students carried that newfound love of caterpillars home with them, which energized their entire households.
 
“I’ve had a lot of students tell me, ‘Oh, I had a caterpillar on my front porch this morning,’ or ‘I went to the park and got a caterpillar myself,’” Renteria said. “And so, they tried to do it at home too.”
 
Students then learned that caterpillars would enter a chrysalis when they were ready to start the next stage of their life. Declan said he was happy when he learned what the caterpillars were doing.
 
“A chrysalis is the thing that a caterpillar hangs in to turn into a butterfly,” Declan said.

 
Renteria and Hough transferred all of the soon-to-be-butterflies into cylinder-shaped nets for the next part of the project. The Coyotes then waited with anticipation for their insects to exit each chrysalis as painted lady butterflies.
 
What was their reaction when that finally happened?
 
“They were so excited,” Renteria said. “We actually had some of them come out overnight. So, when we came into the classroom one morning, there were four of them that had hatched. And so, they were like, jumping up and down. They were so excited that we finally had some butterflies.”

 
The butterflies remained in their nets until the big release took place on a sunny afternoon. Hough and Renteria led students and families to a large grassy area by a cement court. They then unzipped the top of the nets and let the insects fly free. The first graders raced after them and held them with delight as parents and guardians took photos with their smartphones.
 
Renteria said the project became a unifying force for her students.
 
“I feel like that’s been something all of my kids have enjoyed, which is kind of hard to find in a classroom, something that everyone likes,” Renteria said. “But I feel like butterflies have kind of been that for our class.”
 
Will said it was a highlight of the year to spend time watching Declan express joy with his classmates. He felt all of the Coyotes had benefited from studying, caring for and eventually chasing after their butterflies.
 
“I think it’s great to have an experience like this to just spark that sense of wonder and for them to explore and experience the world around them, even if it’s just a little butterfly,” Will said. “To just slow down and look closely at just the beauty that’s all around them.”
 
Butterflies are one of the many scientific subjects that LPS students learn about during the school year. Visit home.lps.org/science to discover more about the science curriculum and how it can fill students with a sense of wonder and awe.
 
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