Paper Cranes
During my undergrad my dear friend, Julie and I took our social studies methods class together. Not only did we get to hear how much our teacher loved Eleanor Roosevelt, we also had to create a social studies unit around a novel. By luck of the draw we picked the novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. It's a true children's story about a young girl who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and later developed leukemia from the radiation. During her time in the hospital she began folding paper cranes hoping to make one thousand. Her goal of one thousand cranes came from the Japanese legend that the one who created one thousand cranes would be granted a wish. Today people will fold a thousand paper cranes and leave them at the statue of Sadako in Japan with a wish for peace.
One of the lessons Julie and I created was an art lesson where students would fold paper cranes. Granted my folding isn't always perfect and crisp, but I have enjoyed creating these delicate little creatures ever since. I have several of them hanging from a mobile in my living room. It's amazing how relaxing it is to sit back and watch the brightly colored little cranes flying around in circles. Whenever I see them I think about how it's pretty impressive that a little girl unknowingly used art to promote peace. Then I think of Julie and I joking about how our teacher would often exclaim, "Oh, that Eleanor!"
