At East Midvale Elementary, Read Across America Week took flight in a colorful way — on the wings of butterflies, in books and through students’ curiosity.

The literacy celebration blossomed into a science adventure, where stories and soil worked hand-in-hand, said Principal Amy Sandgren.

“Learning came to life here,” she said. “Read Across America Week has two components to it. It’s reading and relating reading so we’ve been connecting reading to science life cycles all week with how do we get information from text and connect it to hands-on learning.”

That connection was apparent as students didn’t just read about butterfly life cycles; they watched them in a butterfly pavilion in the school library, they planted bushes in the school garden to support them and tied it to what they were learning in class.

“They’re learning it from text which is why literacy is so important. It’s where we gain information,” Sandgren said.

The week was made possible by community support, said event organizer and community school facilitator Shelley McCall. Support came through United Way of Salt Lake and CHG Healthcare in Midvale, with providing funds for the week’s activities. Those funds helped purchase butterfly bushes, books and supplies that tied the activities together.

Students also added to a giant paper “read-a-caterpillar” in the cafeteria by sharing their favorite books and strolled through a story walk.

“We talked about mariposa, food for the butterflies in the garden and books that tell the life cycle. We’re weaving literacy and science together this week,” McCall said.

The grand finale was a community celebration where parents joined students to read together, enjoy butterfly-shaped treats and watch the journey of monarch butterflies. CHG volunteers also read a bilingual story, tying in both literacy and cultural connection.

“It was a whole community week, which is really fun. It was relevant learning that’s tangible and visual,” she said.

In fourth grade, those lessons took root — literally — when they planted Pugster Blue dwarf butterfly bushes in the school garden.

Fourth-grade teacher Madeline Williams said science standards about ecosystems and survival become something students could dig into as they explored soil, spotted worms and learned what plants need to thrive.

“We’ve learned a lot about roots and about plants and now, they’re getting to see it,” said the school’s teacher of the year. “It’s a tangible activity.”

For some students, this was a rare opportunity.

“This is cool they get to experience this because a lot of our students live in apartments or places where they don’t have their own yards and get to do this,” Williams said.

For fourth-grader Delilah Ranke, the experience left a lasting impression.

“I like planting bushes here at my school to attract butterflies, and I hope we’ll see a lot of butterflies when we go to the garden or out for recess,” she said. “Last year, we watched caterpillars create chrysalises and then turn into butterflies. When they opened up, they’d flip around and even walked onto our hands. It felt ticklish, and it was really neat to watch them fly away. It was a good learning experience, and I’m excited to see it again.”

McCall said the best part is the learning doesn’t end when the week does. The caterpillars in the library will continue to transform, the books will be available to reread and butterfly bushes will continue to grow in the garden, ready to welcome fluttering visitors in the months ahead.

It was a reminder that some learning extends beyond the page.

“It’s been a week of connecting, discovering and growing,” McCall said.