Student's crane project brings book to life

Walk into the Lower School library at Saint Stephen’s, and you will see a plant adorned with paper cranes. A thousand paper cranes, to be exact, all folded by fourth-grader Charlie Price.

Charlie Price, 9, was inspired to make 1,000 cranes because of the book "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes."

Charlie, 9, arrived at campus on the first day of school this year holding two boxes with a chain of 500 paper cranes in each.

It all started with a book. Sarah Potwin, the Lower School media specialist, read ”Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes“ by Eleanor Ceorr to Charlie’s third-grade class the year before. He took the challenge seriously and spent his summer days folding his cranes.

”The book ties in with the Asia unit that our third-grade friends (study) in social studies,“ Potwin said. ”The book takes place in the Ô40s after the atomic bomb, and many people are dying of radiation. Sadako gets sick, and her wish is to get better. According to Japanese legend, if you fold 1,000 cranes, you can get better.“

In school, Charlie is a great listener, Potwin said. ”He’s very precise, creative and thoughtful to others,“ she said. During class, the students had the opportunity to try to fold a couple of cranes, and Charlie seemed to really enjoy this activity. ”I said as a joke that I bet you can’t fold 1,000 cranes,“ Potwin said. Apparently, Charlie took her charge seriously.

He beamed when he recounted his story. ”Over the summer, I would make about 10 to 12 a day,“ he said.

It’s rewarding for a teacher when a student takes the initiative this way, Potwin said. ”I admire him for having the motivation,“ she said.

Charlie’s work did not go unnoticed, as he was invited to meet with Head of School Jan Pullen, third-grade teacher Lori Wolcott and Intermediate School director Gina Anderson during a lunch period for a media picture.

”I was like, ÔOh my gosh, I’m going to get a picture with all of them.' I was sitting in a chair, and they were hanging around me,“ Charlie said..

In accordance with Japanese legend, Charlie will receive one free wish for making 1,000 paper cranes.

His wish? ”I want to be a great cartoon artist, the greatest one ever,“ he said.