MONARCH PARK REDEEMS PARKING SPACES IN DOWNTOWN SPRINGDALE FOR PUBLIC ENCOUNTER WITH ENDANGERED BUTTERFLY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 13, 2021
Contact: Hannah Philpot, Public Relations and Community Outreach Coordinator
LISA Academy Public Charter Schools
(479) 616-9413
MONARCH PARK REDEEMS PARKING SPACES IN DOWNTOWN SPRINGDALE FOR PUBLIC ENCOUNTER WITH ENDANGERED BUTTERFLY
Springdale, AR – The Downtown Springdale Alliance will host “Monarch Park, “a pop-up park located in the parking spots in front of the Famous Hardware building in Downtown Springdale, inviting students, families, and the community to learn more about the endangered Monarch Butterfly, its habitat, and its yearly pitstop in Springdale during its migration from Canada to Mexico.
Monarch Park Details
· What: A pop-up park encouraging visitors to engage with Monarch butterflies
· When: Friday, September 17th from 9:00am - 12:00pm
· Where: Parking spots in front of Famous Hardware (113 Emma Avenue, Springdale, AR)
· Who: General public, school-aged children, families
“The monarch butterfly is one of the natural wonders of Springdale,” says Jill Dabbs, Executive Director of the Downtown Springdale Alliance. “We are incredibly excited to invite our community to ‘encounter the endangered’ in a pop-up park right in the middle of Downtown Springdale and to learn more about how they can be a part of making our area hospitable to these endangered butterflies.”
The event is funded through a $1,000 grant from the Better Block Foundation in honor of “Park(ing) Day” in which cities around the world redeem downtown spaces normally used for parking to create pop-up parks and spaces of community engagement. Downtown Springdale will partner with the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History to provide a “Butterfly Experience Tent” in which visitors can see the Monarch in its various stages of life amidst locally-sourced milkweed plants. Shiloh Museum will host a free milkweed and zinnia giveaway at the event, in hopes that Springdale will continue to be a pollinator-rich, butterfly-friendly environment. The event culminates in a butterfly release at noon. In addition, students from LISA Academy will attend a preview day for the event on Thursday as a part of their unit on habitats and invite their families to participate in the public event on Friday.
ABOUT DOWNTOWN SPRINGDALE ALLIANCE:
Downtown Springdale Alliance is a nonprofit that was formed in 2011 with a mission to create vibrancy in its dynamic downtown. For more information, visit www.downtownspringdale.org.
ABOUT LISA ACADEMY:
LISA Academy is a tuition-free, public, open-enrollment, STEM-focused, college preparatory charter school serving Arkansas students grades Kindergarten through 12th grade. Beginning as a pair of Middle Schools in Little Rock in 2004, LISA has since expanded to 7 schools, including one K-8 campus in Springdale, and has recently been approved to open a K-12 Hybrid School for students across Arkansas in the Fall of 2021. Students are randomly selected through a yearly enrollment lottery. Prospective students and families can discover more about the application process for all of its campuses at apply.lisaacademy.org. Together we can Learn, Innovate, Support, and Achieve to help Arkansas students reach their fullest potential.