Sandy Hook School Students Learn About Paper Engineering

By Eliza Hallabeck

Sandy Hook School students journeyed to different “countries” over the past two weeks, by having passports stamped for visiting multiple classrooms. In the art room, as Sandy Hook School teacher Leslie Gunn said,  students learned about China with the help of visiting artist Martin Lin.

Ms Gunn said the program, which also had students learn about Switzerland, Wales, Italy, England, Japan, and Africa, involved across the school’s library/media center, music room, art room, and physical education department.

Paper engineering involved folding and cutting one sheet of paper into a single object.

Mr Lin visited the school both on Wednesday, January 4, and Wednesday, January 11, to demonstrate paper engineering and help students use a piece of paper to create cranes.

“This is actually a lot of fun,” said fourth grader Joshua Taylor, later admitting the difficulty of the process made it enjoyable.

Fellow fourth grader Hannah Jojo also said she was enjoying making the paper cranes.

“I like it a lot,” said Hannah. “It’s kind of complicated, a little, but it is fun.”

While the students worked a level one paper engineering creation, Mr Lin also brought some of his own creations, including a dragon and an eagle, to show the students.

Ms Gunn said the opportunity to have the students learn about paper engineering focused on science, technology, English, art, and math. 

“I think this is a perfect integration of all those factors,” said Ms Gunn.