With one month to go, Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) students at El Centro Jr./Sr. High School are nearly halfway to their goal of folding 1,000 paper cranes by January 1, 2023. Jessie Storrs, a SCOE Librarian Media Teacher at El Centro, spearheaded the project to acknowledge the school’s role in restorative work and to help students rise above difficult circumstances.
According to Japanese legend, folding a thousand paper cranes brings people happiness and good luck. The custom (called Shenbazuru) ties into educational topics including critical thinking, math, and civics, as well as empathy and self-reflection practices covered by social-emotional learning.
“These lessons are part of our California Model School Library and the American Library Association Standards” Storrs explained. “We are also working to respectfully admire, learn, and share the work of siblings Sadako and Masahiro Sasaki in the context of creating art for peace.”
Fun fact: the largest crane at El Centro so far measures one by two feet, and the smallest one is only four millimeters!
El Centro Jr./Sr. High School is a Juvenile Court School program located inside the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility. SCOE operates the school with support and supervision from the Sacramento County Probation Department.