A Gift for Prestin

Prestin Butcher, an extraordinary sixth grader at Boston Middle School (BMS) got a special gift from his classmates. BMS was bedecked with colorful pieces of origami artwork for him. Origami cranes, specifically. Over the past few weeks many of the students at BMS have been working on creating these cranes and hanging them up all over the school.

“Miss Jones assigned the cranes to the kids. She showed them how to make them and had papers on how to do it. And people just started doing them at the beginning of class and when they had spare time at home,” Butcher said happily. “Some people were handing in 50 cranes. They’ve made over 1200 so far.”

Channie C. Jones, the art teacher at BMS, came up with the idea to make the cranes. She started it just as a graded project for her art classes.

“I was inspired by Prestin and his story from talking with him and his mother, and I wanted to do something that not only I could participate in but my students and eventually the whole school would be able to participate in,” Jones said with a smile. “The overall response from the students was immense. More than one of my students told me that they would love to continue working on this. Our goal is to have the cranes up on the third floor by the end of the year.”

The reason behind the cranes is that there is an ancient Japanese legend that states if you make 1000 origami cranes then you will be granted one wish. In Japanese culture a crane signifies good luck and good fortune for the future. In September of 2011, Butcher was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a type of brain cancer. Since then he has gone through 30 rounds of radiation and 9 cycles of chemotherapy. The cranes were made to bring him luck as he recovered from his most recent bout of chemotherapy.

“I think that this project has really taken on the humanitarian spirit of the students bonding together, and I’ve been able to see the attitudes of the kids change. It’s really good to see that,” Jones said.

The students at BMS were very enthusiastic about the work that they were doing. Cranes of all sizes and colors could be spotted throughout the hallways and in the classrooms. Some had positive messages written in them that Butcher could read if he unfolded them. Butcher had two large cranes that he kept with him that had been signed by students in the art classes. Jones told me that she had students ask her if they could come back and make more cranes after the term was over.

I asked Butcher how he felt about what his friends were doing for him. He looked at me gave me a smile that could melt a million hearts.

“It makes me happy,” Butcher replied simply.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Wonderful people like Prestin Butcher and the students and faculty at Boston Middle School are a perfect reminder that there really is good in the world. When given the opportunity, people will love and give with everything they’ve got. Believe me, readers, when I say that love is a very powerful and very active verb.

To find out more about Prestin Butcher and anything else that is happening at Boston Middle School, click here!

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