CARLSBAD — A new mural at Calavera Hills Middle School is teaching current and future students an important lesson in history while serving as a warning against bigotry and hate.
The mural depicts a tree filled with a colorful array of ceramic butterflies fluttering around its branches. These butterflies are painted in honor of the 1.5 million children killed in the Holocaust.
Work on the mural began two years ago with a group of eighth-grade students — now sophomores in high school — as part of The Butterfly Project, an educational call-to-action group that aims to teach students social justice through lessons learned from the Holocaust.
Rather than succumbing to hate and bigotry, the movement seeks to spread empathy and social responsibility among children.
Founded in San Diego in 2006 by Cheryl Rattner Price and Jan Landau, The Butterfly Project has led to the painting and display of more than 348,000 butterflies in educational installations.
Beyond art installations, the organization offers school and community programming that teaches age-appropriate lessons about the Holocaust, creates film projects that recall the stories of survivors and provides historical resources.
Levi Pascal was one of the eighth graders at the time who helped bring the mural to life at Calavera Hills Middle School.
“After a few years of planning and with final approval, it is finally happening,” he told The Coast News before the mural was unveiled earlier in May.
According to CHMS history teacher Stacy Salz, eighth graders began learning about the Holocaust in their English classes.
For many years, students had the opportunity to meet Rose Schindler, a Holocaust survivor, who visited the school to share her story. She continued visiting until she passed away last year. Her son, Ben Schindler, now visits schools in her place to tell her story.
A few years ago, students also had the chance to watch The Butterfly Project’s film, “Not the Last Butterfly.” This documentary tells the story of the Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia, where Ela Weissberger was imprisoned as a child. In the film, Weissberger, who is in her 80s, reflects on how children in the camp survived through art.
The documentary also tells the story of how the Butterfly Project was founded.
“As an eighth grade history teacher, as well as a descendant of family whose lives were lost in the Holocaust, I was moved by the video,” Salz said in her speech during the installation’s unveiling ceremony on May 2.
After watching the movie, Salz attended a workshop to learn how the school could get involved. Soon after, she received a set of ceramic butterflies and biography cards of children whose lives were lost in the Holocaust, and work on the mural began.
“I thought it would be a great complement to the work already being done in the English department, as well as our visits with Rose Schindler,” Salz said. “I thought the project would leave the students with a message of hope and healing.”
Salz held a mural design contest among the 2022 eighth-grade students, and student Samantha Johnstone’s tree concept won.
“Since each butterfly serves as a leaf, the beauty of her design is that the butterflies can continue to be added over time,” Salz said.
Salz has since asked the school’s Parent Teacher Student Association for financial assistance each year to purchase butterflies for the entire eighth-grade class to participate in.
Eighth graders in both Salz’s and fellow history teacher Bill Lord’s classes now watch the documentary each year before receiving a biography card, along with an inspirational quote and a ceramic butterfly to paint.
Last year, students donated funds to commission local artist Sean Dominguez to paint the tree over spring break this year.
“We are so pleased with the way he was able to make the butterflies the stars of the mural through his thoughtful design and artistry,” Salz said.
The Butterfly Project also donated an engraved plaque to accompany the mural.
While the mural is meant to honor those whose lives were lost in one of the most diabolical atrocities in human history, it also serves as a message of remembrance and hope for change.
