On Dec. 12, the Community Arts Club, Word Language Cafe and Japanese Club guided students in folding 1,000 origami paper cranes during lunch in the Commons. Students will hang the cranes in the Commons as an art installation promoting peace.

Folding 1,000 origami cranes, known as senbazuru in Japanese, is a traditional Japanese practice that promotes hope and healing during challenging times. According to the ancient legend, a person who folds 1,000 cranes gets a wish granted. The act of folding cranes has since become an international peace symbol for children. In order to reach their goal of 1,000 cranes, students will continue folding tomorrow during lunch.

Junior Maya Cohen, the president of the World Language Cafe and Community Arts Club, hopes the event reflected a message of peace to its attendees.

“There’s obviously a lot of different war and conflict in the world,” Cohen said. “I think this is a good way to highlight that we want peace.”

World Language department teachers established the World Language Cafe during the 2021-2022 school year to provide a space to share various cultures and strengthen the Whitman community.

“Students can come here and believe it’s a safe space where they’re sharing and learning from each other,” said World Language Resource Teacher Rebecca Zatz. “The amount of kids that participate shows me that there’s a lot of interest.”