Butterfly Project Fosters Empathy and Social Responsibility

By Shannon Drosky, Director of Marketing and Communications

At Country Day, we value a deep sense of belonging for all. Belonging means that students, faculty, and staff feel secure and supported because there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity. By actively engaging with different perspectives and intentionally learning different cultures, we not only enrich the educational experience for all our students but also nurture empathy and compassion.

One example of how we strive to go beyond textbooks and lectures to create a learning experience that cultivates empathy, compassion, and critical thinking is The Butterfly Project.

In 2012, under Head of Middle School Warren Sepkowitz’s leadership, our entire Middle School faculty visited the Levine Jewish Community Center (LJCC), where the personal story of a Holocaust survivor left a lasting impression. This visit sparked an annual tradition for our seventh-grade students, who participate in this meaningful experience, The Butterfly Project, with the LJCC each year. The Butterfly Project was developed as a call to action through education, the arts, and butterfly making, which uses the lessons of the Holocaust to educate about the dangers of hatred and bigotry and cultivates empathy and social responsibility. As stated on their website, the goal of the LJCC’s Butterfly Project is to teach each participant to remember the past, to act responsibly in the present, and to create a more peaceful future.

The program includes interaction with a local Holocaust survivor, a lesson on the importance of names and identities, and the painting of ceramic butterflies. Each butterfly is created in memory of a specific child who was killed in the Holocaust, with the goal of creating 1.5 million butterflies around the world--one for each child who perished during the Holocaust. These butterflies have come together in a beautiful mosaic at Shalom Park.

Adding to the richness of this connection, Country Day was honored to have alumna Nancy Levin Kipnis ’77 and her husband, Bob, contribute a stunning butterfly mosaic to the Bissell Campus. Amid “kindness rocks” crafted by our seventh graders over the years, this mosaic serves as a beautiful and enduring reminder of the profound impact of The Butterfly Project on our school community.

Nancy Levin ’77 and Bob Kipnis: Dedicated Alumni Family

Meet the dynamic duo, Nancy and Bob Kipnis, whose roots in the community run deep and have left a beautiful mark on our school. Nancy, an alumna herself, and Bob, the proud parents of four Country Day graduates, recently installed a stunning mosaic on Bissell Campus as part of The Butterfly Project in collaboration with the Levine Jewish Community Center (LJCC). For them, this project goes beyond art; it’s a powerful statement against rising antisemitism globally. “At a time when antisemitism is increasing throughout the world, we hope that this mosaic reminds people of the tragedy of the Holocaust and the need to stand up against prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination,” they said.

The couple’s commitment to community engagement stems from their diverse Jewish backgrounds. Bob’s upbringing in Clayton, Missouri, surrounded by a vibrant Jewish community, shaped his perspective on Judaism. Despite not belonging to a synagogue, his family maintained strong ties to Jewish traditions and organizations. On the other hand, Nancy’s childhood in Charlotte involved close-knit connections within a small Jewish community, with her family playing a pivotal role in local Jewish leadership.

Their journey continued at Brown University, where fate brought them together in the same freshmen dorm. Fast forward to Charlotte, where they became pillars of the local Jewish community, with their family deeply involved in the LJCC, Charlotte Jewish Day School, Temple Israel, and BBYO. Bob, who helped found Arthritis and Osteoporosis Consultants of the Carolinas, practiced medicine for 36 years before retiring. Nancy’s family legacy, spanning generations of Jewish leaders, instilled in her a sense of responsibility. She spearheaded initiatives like the Create Your Jewish Legacy program, emphasizing the importance of sustaining Jewish institutions for future generations.

The couple’s passion for preserving the rich history of Jewish traditions, combined with their renewed interests in ceramics and mosaics, led them to take The Butterfly Project at the LJCC to area schools. Country Day is honored to be the first school to display one of their installations, which will be one of many throughout the city. “Bob and I offered to create and install mosaics at all the schools participating in The Butterfly Project. We were thrilled that our first one was at Country Day. It is very meaningful to give back to the school where I graduated, as did our four boys!”