The School District of Palm Beach County has partnered with Next Generations, MorseLife, and NCSY/Jewish Student Union to participate in the International Butterfly Project

As part of the initiative, students at more than 20 schools paint ceramic butterflies that will later be incorporated into a sculpture that will be permanently displayed at the MorseLife Health System Center in West Palm Beach. The Center is home to some Holocaust survivors.

The objective of the project is to have the butterflies serve as symbols of resilience and hope, with the goal of creating 1.5 million butterflies around the world – one for each child who perished in the Holocaust – as well as honoring the survivors.

Prior to painting their butterflies, students take part in a lesson centered on the Holocaust and learn about the poem, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.” The poem was written by Pavel Friedman who lived in Terezin, a concentration camp 30 miles north of Prague in the Czech Republic. Friedman was one of the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust.

The School District is grateful to all the partners who made this collaboration possible:

• Next Generations

• The International Butterfly Project

• JSU: Jewish Student Union/Southern NCSY

• NOW for Holocaust Survivors

• MorseLife Health System