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Kindergartner monarchs take wing in downtown Haddonfield

Parade of butterflies

Kindergarten teacher Jacob Kerner reminds his students to flap their wings as they make their way from the classroom to the Friends Meeting House for a butterfly presentation for their families.
Kindergarten teacher Jacob Kerner reminds his students to flap their wings as they make their way from the classroom to the Friends Meeting House for a butterfly presentation for their families.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Dressed as monarchs, kindergartners from Haddonfield Friends School paraded through downtown on Monday to celebrate the butterfly’s metamorphosis and annual epic migration to Mexico.

The youngsters raise monarch butterflies from eggs, learning to relate to the world around them as they watch them grow into caterpillars, get bigger, and spin their chrysalises in the classroom.

When the adult butterflies emerge, they are released in the school’s garden and in a 30-year tradition, the kindergartners celebrate by putting on butterfly costumes and “migrate” by parading through downtown Haddonfield.