Pearl River County Upper Elementary will be using grants received from Mississippi Power and  Walmart to revamp its butterfly garden.

School employees Belinda Unbehagen and Leigh Lenior applied for and received the Walmart grant under the environment sustainability category. The Walmart grant provided an addition $500 in funding.

Unbehagen’s application was shortlisted based on her proposal.

“We are extremely excited to have received this award and are going to utilize these funds in sprucing up our school’s butterfly and hummingbird garden, which is used as a memorial for all those teachers who’ve passed away,” Unbehagen said.

In that effort, Lenior and Unbehagen have started working on installing new features in the garden, such as a solar powered water fountain. Through this additional grant, they plan to add several other features.

“We are planning on getting stone walkways through the garden, some more solar powered water fountains and solar powered lights,” Unbehagen said.

Pearl River County High School students will assist in building wooden benches for the garden to create an outdoor classroom. 

Teachers plan to raise the butterflies, which will then be released in the garden, Lenior said.

Early next week, the students will also plant milkweed in the garden to attract more butterflies.

Unbehagen and Lenior said they are excited to be able to educate students about the lifecycle of butterflies and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the grant check in order to start working on these additions.