With origami now one of the most popular crafts globally, junior club president Raleigh Ebersole decided to bring it to Oak Park High School to help students learn the seemingly simple yet difficult art.
“Our club is about promoting the knowledge of origami and having a somewhat peaceful environment to escape the chaos of school,” Ebersole wrote to the Talon. “Our meetings typically start with attendance and learning to fold something while enjoying food.”
During their meeting on Feb. 13, club members celebrated by learning how to make a heart while enjoying some tasty sweets.
“We served chocolate chip cookies and around ten people came since it was the first meeting of the semester,” Ebersole wrote. “After attendance, we gave a little demonstration on how to fold the Valentine’s hearts and in case anyone missed it we left instructions on the board.”
Ever since being introduced to origami at a young age, Ebersole has improved at the art over the years and hopes to teach those skills to his club members.
“I learned origami first from my mother who taught it to me when I was around three,” Ebersole wrote. “She would try and teach me how to make certain things by folding them for me [but] I got frustrated. I would not say I have mastered the craft because I still struggle to make certain pieces. I think that origami can not truly be mastered because there will always be something new to make and fold.”
The process of creating the club was not easy and took work from both Ebersole and the other president, junior Julia Marcos.
“In math, my friend Julia Marcos and I realized we both liked to fold paper and we wanted to spread our knowledge and the love of origami to other people who would be interested,” Ebersole wrote. “First, we asked others in our math class if they were interested in learning origami and how we should promote our club. Then we took the necessary steps to try and figure out how the origami club would work and that’s how we became co-presidents of origami club.”
Origami Club meets biweekly on Thursday at lunch in Caitlin McCranie’s classroom, G-06. Through this club, Ebersole hopes to accomplish a dream of his.
“When I was a kid I loved to fold paper into anything I could think of like a boat or paper airplanes,” Ebersole wrote. “I want to spread that love of origami to other people.”
