The project came about when students in Mr. Versluis' history class were studying War War II.
"As a part of that unit, we studied the Holocaust and the creation of the Atomic Bomb. During our portion on the Atomic Bomb, I wanted students to understand both sides of the conflict, so we studied the reasons the US ultimately decided to drop the bomb and the effects the bomb had on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan," said Mr. Versluis.
When Mr. Versluis was in fifth grade he read the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" and was hooked.
"It has been my favorite book ever since and probably one of the reasons I love history so much. It gave a personal account of the lasting effects wars can have on society after the fighting has stopped. The book teaches perseverance in trying times, and to never give up hope," said Versluis.
He wanted to give his students the same experience so he read the book aloud to his 8th grade students. The class did several activities too, such as learning some basic Japanese words, practicing writing names in Japanese characters, origami, and creating Kosheki dolls out of air-dry clay.
Since reading the book in 5th grade it has always been Mr. Versluis' goal to be able to send 1,000 paper cranes to Sadako’s memorial in Peace Park in Hiroshima.
A friend of Mr. Versluis reached out to a friend, Janet Hunt, who was going to be traveling to Japan. Part of her trip would include a stop at the Peace Park. Janet offered to take some cranes made by Edison Students with her and drop them off at the memorial.
Once Mr. Versluis got the word he sent a mass email to all the staff and Edison students and staff got to work.
Edison students folded nearly 350 paper cranes!
Janet was able to take some of the cranes and drop them off at Peace Park to be on display!
Mr. Verlsuis learned that the cranes would be recycled and turned into diplomas for local high school in Hiroshima!
Mr. Versluis is working on shipping the remaining cranes to Japan.
