Students: Amelia Fricano, John Hoctor, Benjamin Simeone, Mariela Weiss & Kana Yee

 

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Our project was inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl from Hiroshima who became ill with leukemia after the atomic bombing during World War II. According to a Japanese legend, anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes is granted a wish. Hoping to recover and return to her school’s running team, Sadako began folding cranes as a symbol of faith and perseverance. She completed 644 before becoming too
weak to continue, and after her death, her friends and family finished the rest in her honor and the cranes were
buried with her. Sadako’s cranes have since become a worldwide symbol of peace, hope, and trust in humanity.

Following her example, the Newton South 2026 UNESCO team took over our school’s House Cup Challenge for the months of October and November. We challenged our classmates to fold 1,000 paper cranes using paper printed with twelve famous quotes about peace and trust. After collecting the finished cranes, we strung
them together to create art installations displayed throughout the school building. After a couple of weeks, we
took them down and returned the cranes to students, asking them to give their crane to someone they trust and to share why they chose that person. We then documented the experience by interviewing our classmates
to record messages of peace and trust.

Just as Sadako’s courage and dedication inspired her friends, family, and people around the world to believe that peace can be built through compassion, understanding, and trust, we hope our cranes remind the students and faculty at Newton South that lasting peace begins with trust, empathy, and the belief that even small acts of hope can make a difference.

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