Students in Ms. Gerow’s class at Journey Middle School practice the Japanese art of “origami” the artistically creative folding of paper on March 16. Students are, from left, Brandon Willson, Kaarina Swinburnson, Austin Willson and Hailey Elliott.
Eight hundred of 1,000 paper cranes had been made for shipment to a quake and tsunami-damaged town in northern Japan.
The town of Natori, which has hosted groups of Sooke youth in the past, and from which a number of students were planning to visit Sooke, had been hit hard by damage from the recent natural disaster. The visit has been postponed. Ms. Gerow was able to report that the students destined for Canada were safe, although many of their homes had been destroyed.
Ms. Gerow said she’d heard from a colleague in Japan that the paper cranes are an appreciated gift. It’s the traditional belief that a wish can be granted by folding 1,000 cranes.