A Big Announcement!!!

Our goal to make 1,000 origami cranes is accomplished!!! 


Thank you Cragmont community, you did it! Together we made over 1,000 cranes. 
This coming week we will be ship these cranes along with the many letters and drawings that we've received from all the students. We're 100% sure that the children and people of Otsuchi will be so happy to receive these and they will know how much we care about them and wish for them a fast recovery.


Special thanks to the Cragmont teachers and school staff for giving us an opportunity to work with your students and providing us your complete support. Thank you parent volunteers who came and helped us make this project succeed.


Donations are still accepted by checks via mail.

A Thousand Cranes!

Cragmont Students

Nicole and her son, Sean

Messages on Trees!

The owner of Bio Friendly Gardens, Lou Dixon (also a father of two Cragmont students) have kindly donated a Japanese maple tree and a cherry blossom tree to the Cragmont community to commemorate the disastrous Earthquake and Tsunami that has affected so many people in Japan. He wishes that these trees will be symbols of hope, encouragement,  and reflection for
many years to come.
As we wait to hear about the approval of planting the trees on the campus, we placed the maple tree inside the art gallery area and the cherry blossom right outside of the cafeteria.


Today, during the morning recess, the students decorated the trees with messages indicating their wishes and prayers. Everyone started to work on it right away, and at the end of recess, we hung these messages to both trees and instantly they became a center of attention! 


It was our last day at the school to work with the students to make cranes. We've reached our goal of making 1000 cranes!!! 

Thank you all!!!!

A student writing a message

Beautiful design! 

Sumi (left), Alexia (center), Kaya (right) holding their messages

2nd grade girls folding cranes without our instruction!

Will, blowing the cranes

The Japanese maple tree donated by Bio Friendly Garden

We'd like to recognize our 4 year old friend, Luca (pictured with Japanese cherry blossom tree) as being the most dedicated kid in the community!

He has come to the school almost everyday with his mom, Akiko and has been so patient and well behaved during this time while his mom was busy instructing students with Origami cranes.

Thank you, Luca!

Here are the pictures of messages hung on the trees!

We truly wish for a fast recovery for the people of Otsuchi....

Crane Workshop - Day 7 -

Today, it was a little chilly and we stayed inside the cafeteria. As soon as the recess began, the students came to help make the cranes. They were all wondering how many we have made so far (we'll let you know as soon as we have a final count!). The older students definitely had their focus and kept on making with very little help. During today's workshop, I think we made 120 cranes! We've got one more day to go kids!

Parent volunteer, Jill, with the students

Visiting Mr. Cruciani's 2nd grade class

Mr. Crusiani, known as Mr. C, invited us to his classroom this afternoon to teach his 2nd grade students how to make paper cranes. Before we started, we've discussed the situation in Japan and the meaning behind the making of 1000 cranes. (Click on the page "why make one thousand cranes?" above to read about it). The students were very compassionate and they all wanted to make these cranes for the people of Otsuchi. It was truly amazing to see those happy faces when, at the end of the process of folding the origami paper, the students opened the wings of the cranes. 

Sumi (left) and Alexia (right)

Mr. C's class

Crane Workshop - Day 6

Wow, this is our 6th day to hold this workshop. So many students have come and learned how to fold cranes with us that some of them are now starting to teach other students. Everyday they are getting better and faster at making them.
One of our organizers, Akiko, who has been overseeing the crane workshops, expressed that this has been so much fun and how much she loves seeing the smiles of everyone involved!

Akiko surrounded by many students at the cafeteria

Look how focused they are!

Lots of fun in Ms. King's class!

This morning, we've started our crane instruction early at 9:15am. We visited Ms. King's 4th and 5th grade class. Ms. King kindly brought beautiful origami paper and the cranes we made with this paper were absolutely gorgeous! Many students in her class already knew how to make paper cranes and one student, Oliver, even taught Ms. King how to make one. After the 30 minute session, the students (especially the girls) have become a crane making machine and have made nearly 40 total! 

Oliver teaches Ms. King how to make cranes with Origami.

From all of us in Ms. King's class to the people in Otsuchi,

"We're thinking of you, Gambatte!"

Look at these beautiful cranes!

Ms. Giustino's Class meets the challenges of crane making!

We visited Ms Guistino's 2nd grade class yesterday to teach them how to fold paper cranes. The students had so much fun and enjoyed learning about Japanese culture. 
By the way, Ms. Giustino had lived in Japan to master Syorinji Kenpo, one of the famous martial arts. She has a black belt so watch out everyone! 

Ms. Giustino's class

Eliza (left) and Lauren (right)

Ella

Crane Workshop - Day 5 -

It was a bit rainy yesterday and we held our crane workshop in the cafeteria. Many 2nd and 3rd grade students came to make lots of cranes. Some of them really mastered the folding techniques and it was a very productive day.
A parent volunteer, Jill, brought a giant red crane! She used 30" square wrapping paper, and the finished crane was almost 24" wide and 15" tall! Thank you, Jill!

Shima with the Giant Red Crane (made by Jill)

One of our organizers, Persis, and her son, Nico

2nd grade girls - Kaya holds the giant red crane made by our volunteer parent, Jill.

From left: Kaya (a daughter of one of our organizers, Haruna), Naomi, Cameron, and Lucy

A drawing for the children of Otsuchi

One organizer's 4 year old son, Kizuki, made a very sweet drawing for Otsuchi elementary school students.

To: everyone at Otsuchi elementary school

"Tampopo (Dandelions)"

Kizuki (4)

Crane Making at Home 2

2nd grader Kaelen, from Cragmont school invited his family and his neighbor to help him make cranes at home. Look how many they made!!! Thank you!

 Kaelen teaching how to make a crane

 Each of us made one.  "Should we make more?"

 We kept on making, and making, and making... until...

... "ohhh, my hands hurt!"

"We made 40 cranes!"

Crane Making at Home!

Cragmont students, Daichi and his brother Sean, made cranes at home! They are determined to make more! - Thank you! Keep on making them for us!

Daichi, 10 (left) and Sean, 6 (right)

A letter from 5th grade student

We received this note from a 5th grade student, Oliver, about our "A Thousand Cranes"project. 

(Please send us any comments and questions about our on-going fundraiser. We'd like to post it to our blog. Make sure to leave your name and age! - Thank you!)

----------

Los gruas de papel son mas dificil para hacer que penso. Pero memorizara como hacerlo en poco tiempo. Mi mama sabe hacerlo, y mis vecinos. La persona que vino a nuestra clase hoy, no Nicole, pero el otro, ella es mi vecino.Su nombre es Saori.  Sus hijos son Kaelen y Kizuki, y su esposo, Jonathan. Ella organizo MUCHO de este projecto de Mil Gruas. Quiero hacer en menos cuatro Gruas manana. Al fin de la semana, quiero haber hecho en minimo 13 gruas de papel.

- Mister O

The paper cranes are more difficult to make than I thought.  But I will memorize how to make one shortly.  My mother knows how to make one, as do my neighbors.   

The person who came to our class today -- not Nicole, but the other one -- she is my neighbor.  Her name is Saori.  Her sons are Kaelen and Kizuki, and her husband is Jonathan.  She organized a LOT for this Thousand Cranes project. I want to make at least four cranes tomorrow.  By the end of the week, I want to have made a minimum of thirteen cranes.

- Mister O

----------

Oliver (11)

Last slide presentation at the school

Finally we have come to the last presentation! All the 2nd grade classes and one 3rd grade class came to the Multi Purpose Room / Cafeteria at the end of the day. This was the biggest crowd that we ever had and all the students shared their concerns for the people in Otsuchi, Japan. When we showed the picture of the Otsuchi children holding their messages of what they want right now, many students in the audience didn't believe it when they saw that what these children wanted most was to take a hot bath. Taking a bath seems like something we do all the time and you wouldn't expect that it would be something you would wish for. We explained that those children didn't think of it at all either before the earthquake and tsunami but now when you don't have it, it becomes something that you really want.
After the talk, the students all had a better understanding what these children are now facing. They raised their hands and gave us so many suggestions as to how they thought they could help. Thank you Mr. Anderson, Mr. Cruciani, Ms. Long, Ms. Giustino, and Mr. Martin for giving us the opportunity to meet with your amazing students.

Slide Presentation to Ms. Kellie's Kindergarten class

Right after we finished the 3rd grade presentation, we ran downstairs to Ms. Kellie's kindergarten class. We were a bit late but the children welcomed us with big smiles. It's just so surprising to me how much even kindergarteners know about what happened in Japan. Students shared their ideas of what we can do to help the children of Otsuchi. "I want to give my bed," "I want to give my teddy bear," and "I'll give my toys!" What a wonderful thing to see that these students really felt the need to do something and understood what the kids in Otsuchi may really want right now. 

Ms. Kellie's Kindergarten Class

Kids discussing about what we can do to help the children of Otsuchi

Slide Presentation to 3rd graders

After lunch, we went back to the library to give a presentation to two 3rd grade classes. Ms. Freeburg's class and Ms. Tiglao's class all sat on the carpet and listened to our presentation. When we asked the students to relate the word "resiliency" to what people in Japan are facing now, one student told us that in his class, there is a "resiliency doll." He explained that when anyone is having a hard time, you can hold this doll until your problem becomes manageable. The students told us that in times of hardship, people really do need extra support or a word of encouragement so that they can go on and face their problems. 

Ms. Freeburg's and Ms. Tiglao's 3rd graders

Ms. Dugan's 4th graders

Next, we visited Ms. Dugan's 4th grade class to give our presentation. This was in fact Nicole's son, Daichi's class. Many students wanted to know more about the facts and had very interesting questions like "what is an epicenter?" "what is an aftershock?" "how did the Tsunami affect Japan?" and "how far did the Tsunami come inland?" We did not expect to hear questions like these from the students and we sometimes had a hard time giving a correct answer. Everyone really appreciated our presentation and was eager to start making cranes and collecting donations. One student even asked us if her parents don't give her money to donate could she use her allowance!

Ms. Dugan's 4th grade class

Slide Presentation to Ms. Johnson's Kindergarten class

Today's first presentation was for Ms. Johnson's Kindergarten class at the library. The students all had many questions to ask and comments to share. They were all interested in learning about Japan and what happened in Japan. When the students saw the pictures of children from Otsuchi, they really felt the connection and showed their concern for those children. When we showed them the sample paper crane, the children's faces lit up and they all determined to do their part to help Otsuchi!

Jackie, the librarian, locating Japan on the globe

Nicole, showing a paper crane

Crane Workshop - Day 4 -

Today, with the weather being nice again, we set up two tables outside the cafeteria for our 4th crane workshop day. Many students showed up and helped us make cranes. Definitely some students were getting better at it and they started to teach other children how to fold them. Our parent volunteers, Jill, Lois, and Bethany were all trying to keep up with children surrounding them. Thank you parent volunteers! You've created a really fun environment for all of us to be there. It was truly another successful day!

Another beautiful day!

 Girls crowded around Akiko

Volunteer parents, Jill (left) and Lois (right)

"The bell is ringing, go back to your classroom!" 

Juan Pablo - Kindergarten