News & Events

Aspen Academy students and staff explored the needs of the monarch butterflies and created a safe haven including space, sunlight, healthy soil conditions, native milkweed plants, nectar plants, and a plan for sustainability in order to be approved as an official Monarch Waystation. Aspen Academy will continue to support, study, and 'watch out for' their migrating friends for many years.

From the Monarch Waystation Program Guide:

Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to mountains in central Mexico where they wait out the winter until conditions favor a return flight in the spring. The monarch migration is truly one of the world's greatest natural wonders yet it is threatened by habitat loss at overwintering grounds in Mexico and throughout breeding areas in the United States and Canada.  

Monarch Waystations are places that provide resources necessary for monarchs to produce successive generations and sustain their migration. Without milkweeds throughout their spring and summer breeding areas in North America, monarchs would not be able to produce the successive generations that culminate in the migration each fall. Similarly, without nectar from flowers these fall migratory monarch butterflies would be unable to make their long journey to overwintering grounds in Mexico. The need for host plants for larvae and energy sources for adults applies to all monarch and butterfly populations around the world. Milkweeds and nectar sources are declining due to development and the widespread use of herbicides in croplands, pastures and roadsides. 

Congratulations to all of the Aspen Academy community for recognizing the need for safe habitat (food and shelter) for the long migration of the monarch butterfly!

For more information click this link:  https://www.monarchwatch.org/waystations/