Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Normally at Bradley Elementary School the bee is the mascot, but for a little while on Friday it was replaced.
Several weeks ago the 2nd grade students started growing butterflies and finally they got the chance to watch their project flyaway into the wild.
Veronica Draft teaches 3rd through 5th graders with autism, she hopes students that participate in this project will learn a life lesson from it.
"We are all individually different, some of our butterflies came out at the beginning of the week, some came out in the middle, some just hatched this morning," said Draft.
According to Draft, "We are all at different stages of life, but at the end of it we all get together to make a beautiful picture."
It is that beautiful picture that Draft hopes to see in all of the students just like the butterflies that were released on Friday.
Draft said, "This is how we want all of our children, not just the ones with autism, but all of the children here at Bradley, Richland One and all over to soar to success."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nearly 1 in 88 children are impacted by autism.