By Sara Ballenger

When Montclaire School sixth-grader Sami Michishita heard about the events of Sept. 11, she wanted to do something.

While cleaning her room, Michishita found some origami paper and the book “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” by Eleanor Coerr, and got an idea.

Origami is a Japanese paper- folding technique that ties into the story of Sadako. Sadako is a young Japanese girl from Hiroshima who is hospitalized with leukemia, caused by the radiation from the atomic bomb. She attempts to fold 1,000 origami paper cranes, following a Japanese legend that if a person does so, one wish will be granted.

“I just thought maybe we could make paper cranes,” said Michishita, who learned how to make them from her grandmother in Japan. “I wrote a letter to Mrs. (Nancy) Wood (the principal) and she thought it was a really good idea.”

Wood encouraged the whole school to participate.

“I thought that this was just wonderful. We started making cranes the Tuesday after the attack, on the 18th,” Wood said. “The project came from the kids and they have been teaching each other how to make them.”

The students volunteer during their 45-minute lunch hour, three days a week, to make the cranes, Wood said.

“We are going very fast,” Michishita said. “It’s only the second week and we are already close to 1,000. We probably only need like 300 more.”

The students have been using donated origami paper as well as paper from home.

“A number of students have been bringing their own paper and making them at home too,” Wood said. “We’ve had a number of donations of precut origami paper. Some teachers have used wrapping paper, and I’ve used construction paper.”

The cranes will be strung and made into chains by Michishita’s family. When completed, they will hang at Montclaire School before being sent to Mayor Guiliani, Wood said.

“I thought if we just sent them to New York, we wouldn’t know what happened to them,” she said. “If we address them to the mayor, they will get to someone who can put them where people can see (the cranes). The kids thought that was a good idea too.”

The students want their message to be one of hope.

“My grandma and grandpa live near the trade center,” said fifth-grader Anita Crumlin, who volunteered to make cranes. “I wanted to make this for the firefighters who risked their lives to save people.”

Michishita echoed her sentiments. “I think cranes mean good luck to people who are sick or injured,” she said. “I think the paper cranes mean hope and love to the people who you care about.”

The students hope to reach their goal of 1,000 paper cranes by the end of this week, Wood said.