Cranes For Hope - James Ruse Style!

As a follow up to our momentous, enormous, fantabulous (yes it is a word) quest to support Japan, last Friday the students of James Ruse flexed and stretched those fingers to fold for a cause. And the cranes - well, you could say they flew out!

I'm sorry. That was uncalled for.

Instead of the normal muttering and groaning as the bell for rollcall rang through the school, James Ruse was filled with a chorus of giggles and shouts and grins! And then lollipops danced with us, and little cute puppies ran out and shook our hands, and rainbows burst out raining sunshine above us...

Okay call me idealistic, but that's the way I envisioned it happening in my head the night before. Perhaps it wasn't quite like that, but you know what? It was incredibly close, I did feel some sunshine, and young people actually sailed to class gleefully so they could learn how to fold a crane. Here's how we did it. Are you ready?

Step One:
Shop at Officeworks for the rest of your high school life! They were kind enough to donate us reams and reams of coloured paper so our cranes could have some pep! Also so we could save some funds of course heh. But it was still incredibly kind of them :)

Step Two:
Take a piece of paper, and make some fancy creases and lines. Alternatively, take a piece of paper and write a heartfelt message to them - language doesn't matter. Love hearts usually get the meaning across perfectly!

We're not even looking at our hands!

And it wasn't just the ladies! Surprisingly enough, the boys showed a flair for creating crane-zy masterpieces. All I say is, suuuure you've been gaming in your spare time, sure.

"Hey Jing! Am I doing this right?"

Even the teachers couldn't resist lending a 'hand'!

Finally, students making a teacher work.

It's harder than it looks!

Step 3:

Find the best-looking people in the school, and give them your efforts. That would be the SRC body of course, who worked ridiculously hard to put this initiative into action. Special shout-outs go to Sharon, Delian, Brian, Anu and Leanne! Not only did they organise the entire day, they weren't afraid of doing the nitty-gritty - cutting paper with the gullotine into squares, approaching Officeworks, teaching people how to make cranes. You are all amazing!  :)

The amazing superheroes of SRC execs 2011... and me. Ignore me.

It wasn't just the cranes that came tumbling in, but almost every student donated a gold coin with their crane. Those who didn't saved their money for the fantastic food festival later that included hot waffles with chocolate sauce and the old favourite, migoreng :)
Really, what more could you ask for?

And now I'm not sure of the official figures, but together the combined effort of a high school who simply wanted to help was over $1500 and the number of cranes...I pity the people who have to count them.
Oh hey wait, thats us.

But so much more than that, what will stay with me is how nobody asked questions, or complained. They simply did their best to show Japan how much they cared. Some people folded easily fifty cranes throughout the course of the day. Others patiently taught their friends over and over again, creasing the familiar folds and correcting mistakes, until I would have gone insane. Then there are those who thought origami was a board game - but still gave it a go! I know it sounds incredibly cheesy, cheesier than a pizza garnished with grated parmesan, but together we did it. We really did.

There's nothing more to say than that, so I'll leave you with the wonders of visual technology! Cheers!

Six little cranes went out one day...

'If you hear a ripping sound...the bin's over there'



Japan. We're folding for you.

 

Always remember, Happiness Equals Bracket =)