WE ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE AN EXPANSION OF THE MEXICO BOOK PROJECT THIS YEAR! 

The Mexico Book Project was established in 2004 by Monarchs Across Georgia (MAG) as a literacy effort for the schools that surround the Mexican overwintering sanctuaries. Initially, educators and nature enthusiasts from Georgia (and other U.S. states and Canada) traveled to the monarch region and donated books to the classrooms they visited. In recent years, the books donated through MAG have been delivered by Journey North's Estela Romero to the same classrooms participating in the Symbolic Migration. This year, the project expands as Journey North and publisher Bas Relief LLC join MAG's Mexico's Book Project.

Children who live near the monarch reserves in Mexico welcome the butterflies every winter, but they rarely experience what so many children in the United States and Canada do—caterpillars growing, eating milkweed, turning into chrysalides and emerging as adult monarch butterflies. The book Monarch! Come Play with Me tells the story of the monarch life cycle from a child's point of view. This is an opportunity to send the Spanish version of the book to a classroom in Mexico and share your monarch experience with them. In appreciation, a bookplate with your name will be attached to the inside cover.  To place an order for these books, visit Bas Relief LLC.

You can also donate funds to the Mexico Book Project via the on-line form, allowing us to send other book titles to the schools in the areas that surround the monarch sanctuaries. The deadline for donations to the 2013 Mexico Book Project is December 31, 2012.

MEXICO BOOK PROJECT DONATION FORM

We will recognize donors (if you choose) by publishing their names on our website donor list.  Certificates (like the one shown to the right) are available and a letter denoting your tax-deductible donation will be provided.

THE STORY BEHIND THE MEXICO BOOK PROJECT

Monarchs Across Georgia (MAG) has traveled to Michoacán every year since 2004 in an effort to generate awareness and understanding between two cultures through the study of monarch butterflies.  We have always felt it was important to include a look at the Mexican educational system, which differs greatly from the American system.  The Mexican education system is divided into four levels: preschool (K1-K3), compulsory basic education, called grades 1 through 9, upper secondary education, consisting of grades 10 through 12 and a university level education.  Education in Mexico is mandatory only for nine years.

Two of the biggest problems that the educational system in Mexico faces are its low enrollment and high dropout rates.  Encouragingly, enrollment in grades 1 through 9 grew from “9.7 million students in 1970, to 21.6 million students in 2000”.   This rapid growth presented many problems as there are not enough teachers and/or supplies to teach this many students at one time.  All of these challenges mean that only approximately 68% of Mexican children graduate from grade nine.  To put this in context, note that is very close to the high school graduation rate of 70.8% that was announced for Georgia in 2006.  However, that rate was for a full K-12 education, with all of the advantages that our American tax dollars provide.

Over the years MAG had developed a special relationship with Scholastic Mexico to bring elementary-level books written in Spanish to students who are taking care of monarchs in Mexico.  We had collected donations from our many trip participants, and Scholastic Mexico had generously given us a discount, along with free shipping so we do not have to carry all of the books on the planes with us.  In years when we did not travel to Mexico, our dear friend in Angangueo, Estela Romero, chose and delivered books to schools for us.  These are the same schools that she visited for Journey North's Symbolic Migration.

Literature Cited

Santibanez, Lucrecia, Vernez, Georges, Razquin, Paula. “Education in Mexico – Challenges and Opportunities.” Rand Corporation, 2005, Retrieved Aug 10, 2008, <www.rand.org/pubs/documented_briefings/2005/RAND_DB480.sum.pdf

"High School Graduation Rates 2006-2007.”Bureau of Business Research and Economic Development.Feb 14, 2007. Accessed Aug. 10, 2008. <www.livingoak.org

To place an order for these books, visit Bas Relief LLC.
Deadline for orders is November 1, 2012.

Donor List 2013
Donor List 2012
Donor List 2011
Donor List 2010
Donor List 2009
Donor List 2008