Monarch Butterfly Garden

What began as a student-led idea at the Morton Freshman Center has grown into a lasting symbol of innovation, environmental stewardship, and Morton Pride.

In 2025, Morton District 201 received the Public Education Award at the 13th Annual Sustainability Summit, recognizing the district’s commitment to sustainability and transformative education. At the heart of that commitment is the Monarch Butterfly Garden at the Morton Freshman Center, a 5,000-square-foot Citizen Science Monarch Butterfly Ecological Engineering Project initially conceived by biology teacher Kevin O’Toole and brought to life through the creativity and dedication of students, staff, families, and community volunteers. Today, the garden features native milkweed, more than 100 species of native plants, and several trees, providing an important habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

The story of the garden began years earlier, when students learned about the challenges facing monarch butterflies. Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarchs migrate from the United States and Canada to overwintering areas in Mexico and California. Beginning in the mid-1990s, monarch populations began to decline, due in part to the increased use of herbicides and the resulting loss of milkweed, a plant essential to the monarch’s life cycle.

Under O’Toole’s guidance, Freshman Center students designed 29 potential garden plans that would provide food and habitat for monarchs along their migratory journey. On April 19, 2018, the design created by Lizbeth Sanchez, Lisbeth Pardinaz, and Janet Hermoso was selected as the winning design at the Monarch Butterfly Great Room Exhibition.

For Lizbeth Sanchez, the project became more than a classroom experience. It opened the door to new interests and possibilities for the future.

“Working on this project allowed me to experience something I have never done before. It exposed me to a career field I never imagined would be for me. Now I’m considering being an engineer in the future,” Sanchez said. “The message that I hope this project gets across is that everybody can create something like this or better. I didn’t know anything about native plants, and now I can name you many. This garden is the perfect opportunity for everyone to come out and learn what this garden has.”

On April 28, 2018, the students’ vision became a reality. Nearly 200 students, faculty, families, and community volunteers gathered to break ground on the garden at the north side of the Morton Freshman Center, located at the corner of 16th Street and 54th Avenue.

The project continued to grow in both size and significance. On June 8, 2019, the Morton Freshman Center Monarch Butterfly Garden was permanently featured in an interactive touchscreen exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

The Monarch Butterfly Garden stands as a powerful example of what can happen when students are given the opportunity to take their learning beyond the classroom. From a biology project at the Freshman Center to a community-wide environmental initiative, a Smithsonian exhibit, and an award-winning example of sustainability, the Monarch Butterfly Garden has become an important part of Morton’s history.

More than a garden, it is a legacy of student innovation, community collaboration, and the belief that a single idea can take root, grow, and make a lasting difference.