Northfield Students Fold Paper Cranes for Japan

When the March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan, teacher Chris O’Neill talked about the devastation with his sixth-grade social studies classes.

Together, they read news stories about Japan, looked at before and after pictures and, like most people, felt helpless as they learned about the terrible destruction.

Then O’Neill read an article about the Paper Cranes for Japan project.

The project, a joint effort of DoSomething.org and Students Rebuild, encouraged students from around the world to fold 100,000 origami cranes to help their peers in Japan. For each crane folded, the Bezos Family Foundation would donate $2 to Architecture for Humanity, an organization that helps rebuilding efforts in disaster areas.

When O’Neill told his three classes about the project, “I could sense that the kids were up for doing something about it.”

He challenged them to make 100 cranes per class in one week’s time.

Students familiar with origami cranes—some had younger siblings at who had learned to fold cranes during —taught their classmates how to fold. Students made cranes with enthusiasm when they finished their class work, during study hall and even at home.

As the number of cranes added up, excitement grew and a casual competition between classes took off. Though classroom competition fueled the project, doing something to help Japan was the driving force that kept the students going. 

Being part of something so big, “was really fun,” said student Ruth Nelson.

“Because when you made one crane they [the Bezos Family Foundation] would donate $2 for this huge effort. So one little thing,” she added, smiling, “could make such a difference.”

When the week was finished, the three social studies classes had folded a total of 1,600 paper cranes. O’Neill and his students packed them up and mailed them off, essentially sending $3,200 dollars to help people in Japan. 

Students in all 50 states and 37 countries got behind the project so much that the 100,000 crane goal was met before the April 15 cut-off date and still the cranes kept flying in.

As of May 2, one million cranes have been donated to Paper Cranes for Japan. And, according to the Students Rebuild website, the Bezos Family Foundation doubled its initial donation to $400,000. An anonymous donor also stepped up and donated $100,000, bringing the total amount to $500,000 for relief in Japan.

And, because of a lot of paper folding, a little bit of friendly competition and a great desire to help, a bunch of sixth-graders from Northfield Middle School played a part in the project’s success.