Butterflies are fluttering and bees are buzzing around tall sunflowers in Brookside Elementary School's garden this summer, but as hot summer days begin to wind down to the fall harvest, Principal Fritz Monroe is hoping to attract more than the garden's usual share of ... bugs.

Monroe is hosting a "Bugs, Beans and Butterflies" event from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 11 at Brookside Elementary, 6700 McVey Blvd.

"I'm going to set up three bug stations, by stretching a rope between trees or stakes and make a pup tent with a white bed sheet, then will put a black fluorescent light under it," he said. "We hope to attract lunar moths and other interesting nocturnal insects kids aren't familiar with, so we'll have a chance to take some pictures and examine them."

The night will also be a good chance for families to view the Three Sisters and Settler's Gardens and the butterfly house.

"We're growing big pumpkins, squash and peppers in the garden, along with other vegetables, so that is the 'beans' part of the event," he said.

The gardens grew from the building's Schoolyard Enhanced Learning program, which encourages teachers to incorporate working with nature and the land into lessons.

Monroe said he researched Schoolyard Enhanced Learning after he noticed his special needs students excelling while working in the school's flower gardens.

Brookside partnered with the nonprofit group Local Matters in 2008 to develop the Three Sisters-Settlers garden concept, with the Three Sisters garden patterned after gardens grown by Native American tribes that lived in Worthington, growing corn, squash and beans, among other vegetables.

Students work in the Three Sister's Garden, while the Settler's Garden, west of the student garden, was designed to encourage community involvement.

Monroe said produce from both gardens will be used to provide fresh vegetables for the school and for local food pantries.

The "butterfly" part of the event features the school's Monarch butterfly study project. A new butterfly house was constructed over the past year.

"It's a 16 by 22 foot house that includes a frame with netting, so that we can capture some adult monarchs and release them in the butterfly house, along with releasing some of the captive butterflies we've been raising in the classrooms," Monroe said. "Hopefully they will mate and raise their eggs on the milkweed plants.

"In a dream world, we might have as many as 200 caterpillars to raise, enough for eight to 10 per classroom, and we'll follow our procedure of tagging them after they become butterflies and releasing them to migrate to Mexico."

Monroe encouraged families to "bring flashlights" to the event and said it is open to the public, as well Brookside families.

"We hope to attract lunar moths and other interesting nocturnal insects kids aren't familiar with."

--Fritz Monroe