BUTTERFLY GARDEN
Last year, a team of Willow Avenue fourth-graders stayed late one day a month to work on a butterfly garden. The kids moved up to the middle school at the end of June, but on Sept. 22, they came back after hearing that their garden was teeming with caterpillars.
The discovery of caterpillars was good news. It meant that, on their way south, butterflies had stopped at the garden in front of the school. And that’s what was supposed to happen.
The garden provides butterflies with the nutrition and shelter they need when they migrate. Once the caterpillars were discovered, a faculty member spread the news by email. She invited the Willow alumni to come back the next day to see for themselves.
And many of them did. The passing of summer, and the changing of schools, hadn’t dimmed their enthusiasm. They arrived after school and used phones and iPads to photograph their discoveries.
The youngsters had started the garden a year ago after one of their classmates (MacRae Edelen) read a story about the shrinking butterfly population.
MYSTERY READER
Throughout the year, fourth-grade teachers Alison Harter and Nicole Noonan invite guests to read to their classes at Lee Road School. The kids don’t know who’s coming, but on the day of the visit they get five clues to figure it out.
Superintendent of Schools Neal Miller was the surprise guest on Sept. 25. The teachers have already selected the next mystery reader, but we’re not allowed to tell you who it is.
PINK DAY
All four Cornwall Youth Football teams were home on Sunday, Sept. 27. The players wore pink socks; the cheerleaders wore pink laces. Near the refreshment stand, volunteers sold pink mouth guards, pink bracelets, and baked goods to raise money for the Hudson Valley Cancer Resource Center.
COSTUME DRIVE
The Junior Catholic Daughters are holding their annual Halloween Costume Drive for the Newburgh Ministry. People can leave their donations in a bin outside of St. Thomas of Canterbury Church.
One of the organizers, Maggie Kelly, has been part of the drive for 10 years. She made her first contribution when she was in kindergarten.
CADETS AT COH
Five cadets from West Point joined the Cornwall-on-Hudson walkathon along with their company mascot. As in past years, participants tried to guess how many steps they would take while circling the playing fields behind the school. Then they got pedometers, so that when they were finished they could see if their estimates were accurate.
