They grow into something pretty special.

Kindergarten students at C.C. Ring Elementary School recently had the chance to witness and experience this metamorphosis up close with teachers Sydney Deppas and Logan Negron.

“We thought it would be the perfect way to welcome spring to the Kindergarteners!” said Deppas and Negron. “We were also really excited to bring this incredible display of nature straight to Ring School for students to observe up close.”

Kindergarteners have been working on a unit in their reading curriculum focusing on plants and their growth — witnessing the natural process of caterpillars becoming butterflies, the kindergarten teachers thought, would only serve as another real-life example of that process. To do so, they’ve kept butterfly journals where they have “taken on the role of scientists by observing and sketching picture of what they have been seeing over the last 20 days.”

Kindergarten students and teachers in Logan Negron’s and Sydney Deppas’ classes smile for a group picture after setting their butterflies free.

“It’s been an absolute blast in our classrooms,” they said. “This new unit has also allowed us to cover new vocabulary terms as well as a lot of informative texts as a class, which has generated questions and discussions amongst the kids. They have been so eager to learn more as we have watched our caterpillars cycle through each stage of their lives.”

Deppas and Negron hope that the experience will help their students gain some “real-world knowledge about life-cycles and how incredible the process of metamorphosis really is.”

“Nature is so incredible, and this opportunity we have had to bring that straight to the students is so special for us and them!” they added.

Experiences like these at a young age are also pivotal in activating a student’s mind.

“When students have the opportunity to explore, learn, and investigate the world around them, it will only further their overall engagement and excitement to learn,” Deppas and Negron said. “We are seeing this happen first-hand with the butterfly project. It has added another level of enthusiasm to our classrooms and we will surely miss our little friends when we let them go!”

Students surround Ring School kindergarten teacher Logan Negron to get a glimpse of a butterfly they helped grow from a caterpillar in their classroom. Negron and fellow kindergarten teacher Sydney Deppas have spent the last several weeks teaching their students about this metamorphosis in class.