The Middle School Commons at Aurora Science & Tech (AST) is alive with a vibrant display of thousands of paper cranes, each carrying a story of empathy, resilience and hope. For the past four years, 7th-grade students in Allie Crites' Social Studies class have folded paper cranes as a kinesthetic project intertwined with their history lessons, creating a powerful tradition that resonates throughout the school.
The project began during the challenging 2020-21 school year when hybrid learning left both students and teachers weary of screens.
“I was SO tired of being online and in front of a computer screen. So were the students,” Crites recalls. Inspired by the story of Sadako Sasaki and the legend of the thousand paper cranes, Crites introduced this hands-on activity to her class. “History is just a bunch of stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things that the time calls for,” she said.
Crites’ personal connection to the story of Sadako, which she read in middle school and later revisited during a poignant trip to Hiroshima, helped her see the potential impact on her students.
“I cried and fell to the ground seeing all the paper cranes from all over the world sent in memory of all the innocent children who have perished in wars,” she shared. This emotional experience fueled her desire to make history relatable and meaningful to her students.
Each year, the project has taken on new significance, reflecting contemporary global issues. The first year’s cranes were dedicated to the victims of COVID-19. The following years honored children in Ukraine, oppressed black and brown children in the community, and most recently, children who have died in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
