Students in Beth Dalin’s third grade class at Emerson World Cultures Magnet School recently finished folding and stringing, with a little help from their friends, 1,000 paper cranes. They did this in conjunction with reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a fictional retelling of the true story of Sadako Sasaki, a two-year-old girl who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by United States, and was later diagnosed with leukemia. This powerful book has been translated into many languages and used for peace education programs in primary schools throughout the world. The children plan to share information about this story in Booth CS-10 at the Asian Festival tomorrow, where their cranes will be hung. Their display will be located in the Community Square at the Franklin Park Conservatory.
After the festival, the cranes will be boxed up and sent to Hiroshima’s Peace Park where, on every August 6, the city holds a Peace Memorial Ceremony to console the victims of the atomic bombs and to pray for world peace.