Join the 29th annual Symbolic Monarch Migration!

Every year, thousands of paper monarchs fly south to Mexico alongside the real monarchs, though with a slightly different pathway. Monarch butterflies only weigh about 0.5 grams, and these paper ones are just as light. The paper butterflies are part of the Symbolic Monarch Migration, which connects students in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico to teach them about monarch butterflies and their annual migration. Students from Canada and the U.S. send paper butterflies to students in Mexico in the fall and learn all about the migration. The monarchs are brought to students in Mexico, along with letters from other students and lessons on monarch conservation. The monarchs are sent back north in the spring, ending up in different locations like the real monarch migration. Students learn not just about monarchs, but cooperation across countries, and it is a great opportunity to make new connections. Since the program took flight in 1996, more than 13,000 groups have participated, and more than half a million paper butterflies have followed the monarchs on their amazing long-distance migration. Just last year there were over 25,000 participating youth from the U.S. and Canada.

The Symbolic Monarch Migration has been coordinated by Ms. Susan Meyers since 2018. Ms. Meyers is one of our long-time Monarch Conservation Specialists. She is supported by a team of volunteers with Monarchs Across Georgia (MAG) which is a committee of the Environmental Education Alliance of Georgia. Ms. Meyers has been an advocate for monarchs ever since she visited the Mexican overwintering sites in 2003. Now, she uses her experience to facilitate educator workshops using the Monarchs & More curriculum, as well as incorporating community science projects like the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project, Journey North Tracking, Project Monarch Health, and the Monarch Watch tagging and Waystation programs. She has organized visits to the overwintering colonies since 2004 and initiated the Mexico Book Project to bring books written in Spanish to schools near the sanctuaries. She is currently a Georgia Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, and a certified Pollinator Steward with the Pollinator Partnership. Ms. Meyers was awarded the Conservation Partner Award for her work with monarchs at the 2015-16 Southeast Regional Director’s Honor Awards Ceremony, and she continues to play a big part today.

Ms. Estela Romero is another critical member of the Symbolic Monarch Migration team. As a certified English teacher living in Mexico, she acts as a key link for many collaborative programs. The Symbolic Monarch Migration was at first just an exchange of paper butterflies between students, but when Ms. Romero began delivering the butterflies to students in Mexico, she started teaching environmental lessons at the same time. Many of these students live in remote areas without good internet access. Ms. Romero brings together students in Mexico with those in the United States and Canada through her blog posts and school visits and expands her lessons beyond just monarchs. In total she visits over a thousand students in Mexico every year. She also has submitted countless reports to Journey North on the activity of monarchs at the overwintering colonies, documenting significant colony activity, weather events, and more through her writing and photos. Her contributions to monarch conservation have been invaluable.

Here’s how to get involved with the Symbolic Monarch Migration:

Purchase a Passenger Ticket

Passenger Tickets help cover the cost of the program, including school visits to Mexico to deliver the butterflies and provide conservation education. There should be one Passenger Ticket per Ambassador Folder, which is intended for roughly 30 participants. If you sign up as an Early Migrant, the fee is reduced from $20 to $15. Early Migrants must purchase their passenger ticket and mail their Ambassador Folder and life-sized butterflies by September 30th to receive the discount. You can purchase passenger tickets online at the EE Alliance’s Website. Be sure to visit the Symbolic Migration webpage for the full details and read through the Team Leader Packet for the 2024-25 season.

Supporting Activities

Check out the educational activities listed on the Journey North webpage! You can use the activities as a tool to help teach students about not just monarch butterflies, but also about ambassadorship and cooperation across countries. The list is not meant to be exhaustive, but to provide ideas on how best to approach the topic with students. Journey North also has tracking maps for monarchs and links to many other great resources.

Create an Ambassador Folder

Use one of the templates provided in the leader packet to create an Ambassador Folder or create a completely original design! Ambassador folders will hold the paper butterflies and letter sheet. Each Ambassador Folder should be personalized with decorations or a message to the students in Mexico. These folders will stay with the students in Mexico.

Make Life-Size Butterflies

You have access to a template in the leader packet to create paper butterflies for all the participants in your group. You may want to fill in information digitally and leave just the name blank for students to fill in. Please do not laminate them. These butterflies will travel to Mexico, but when they are sent north in the spring, they may not return to the same students, just as monarch butterflies may not fly the same path in the fall and spring. Leaders of each participating group should use the information on each butterfly to inform team leaders from other groups about where their butterflies ended up.

Fill out the Letter Sheet

Fill out the blanks in the letter sheet provided in the leader packet. Mark where you live and draw an arrow to show your monarchs’ migration path. You can also choose to add an extra group photo, postcard, or letter (letters should be written in Spanish).

Mail the Monarchs!

Put everything into the Ambassador Folder and mail your monarchs to the address below. Don’t forget to include a copy of your Passenger Ticket. Do not mail payments to this address. Payments can be made via credit card online or mailed to the address included on the online form.

Send a Monarch to Mexico!
c/o Symbolic Migration
1497 Candleberry Court SW
Lilburn, GA 30047 USA

Learn more about monarchs using the provided resources once you’ve sent your paper monarchs! They will be delivered to students in Mexico from November to March. You can check if your butterflies have arrived, as well as see the blog posts by Ms. Romero at the Symbolic Migration’s school visit webpage. Butterflies will return to the U.S. and Canada from April to May. These butterflies will not be the same ones you sent. Please contact the team leaders listed on each paper butterfly, as their students will be waiting to hear where their monarchs ended up.

Summarized Timeline

September 30th: Deadline for Early Migrants, including reduced fee.

October 18th: Final postmark deadline for mailing folders.

November-March: Butterflies are delivered to Mexico. See the website for updates and more monarch news.

April-May: Butterflies are sent back north to students. Please contact other team leaders directly to share news on where their butterflies landed.