Page 269 - Carrollton 2009

3747 Main Highway, Miami, FL
September 29, 2008
Fairchild Challenge 2009 Option 2B

Dear County Commissioner,
My school, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, is participating in the 2009 Fairchild Challenge.
The project is about promoting environmental awareness in the youth of today. The option I will be
I
talking about in this letter is a postcard of an animal/plant relationship native to the Florida pine
rocklands.
For my postcard I chose the plant/animal relationship between the Passiflora suberosa
(corkystem passionflower) and the Dryadula phaetusa (banded orange butterfly). Although many people
consider the corkystem passionflower to be a weed and an invasive part of their gardens, it is an
important part of the pine rockland ecosystem because it is a larval host plant for a number of
butterflies, including the banded orange. In fact, it is one of the best larval host plants out there, which
is why it is important to protect its habitat in the pine rocklands. If that plant goes, so do the butterflies.
The banded orange is a rare species that can only be found in northern Texas, Florida and some areas in
Mexico and Brazil. Why would we want to take a risk and lose such an important plant/animal
relationship in our very own pine rocklands?

I would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to do what you can to help out this
beautiful and vital ecosystem.
Sincerely,

Stefanie Fernandez
Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart
Class of 2013

Carrollton's Junior High placed 4th out of 64 schools in the Fairchild
Challenge for Middle Schools, a great feat considering our small size. The
128 students in 7th and 8th grade managed to compete in all 10 options
and received Honorable Mentions in 6 of them. Our students were
complimented for their versatility and for the high quality of their work
as well as their commitment to the preservation of the environment. This
competition demands team work at its best and the Junior High came
through with flying colors.