ACE Club Collects Over 1,000 Paper Cranes for Peace Project at DHS

This past November, the Dexter High School Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Cultures Exchange (or ACE Club) completed an ambitious three-month 1,000 Peace Cranes Project. The club collected over 1,283 paper cranes from members of the DHS community.

ACE Club members collaborated with the DHS National Honor Society (NHS) to transform sheets of colorful origami paper into vibrant strands of cranes. These strands are currently on display in the second-floor main hallway windows (across from the Chinese Zodiac Murals) at DHS.

ACE’s Peace Cranes Project is part of The International Peace Cranes Project, which is inspired by the Japanese legend of 1,000 paper cranes and the true story of a girl named Sadako Sasaki. According to Japanese folklore, a crane can live for a thousand years, and anyone who folds an origami crane for each year of a crane’s life will have their wish granted. Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of twelve, ten years after she was exposed to radioactive fallout from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Believing in this legend, Sadako began to fold hundreds of paper cranes, hoping they would help her recover.

After Sadako’s death, her friends and classmates were inspired by her resilient spirit and love for origami. Together, they continued the tradition of folding paper cranes and raised funds to build the Children’s Peace Monument in Hiroshima, Japan, in honor of all the children who lost their lives due to the atomic bombings and to highlight the importance of peace in our world.

Today, paper cranes symbolize peace, good luck, prosperity, and longevity in many Asian cultures. The ACE Club paper crane exhibit showcases these values and fosters themes of diversity, understanding, and empathy within the Dexter community.

This initiative is ACE Club founder and president Crystal Duan’s CAS (Creativity, Activity, or Service) project, which fulfills one of the requirements of the International Baccalaureate diploma.

“This exhibit symbolizes our commitment to peace and unity,” says Duan, a DHS senior, “especially during the polarized times of the 2024 election. It showed us how small acts, such as folding a crane, can bring a community together.”

“This crane exhibit accentuates the significance of unity within communities,” Duan continues. “While each paper crane may be fragile, together they form a beautifully chaotic piece, reminding us of the importance of unity and beauty found in our differences.”

ACE Club Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhsaceclub