The kindergarten at Aichi International School (AIS) has a tradition of organizing a “Flat Stanley”-themed project each year before the summer vacation. In the 1964 book by Jeff Brown, a boy named Stanley Lambchop is able to be mailed to his friend in California because he is “four feet tall, about a foot wide, and half an inch thick.” Similarly, each member of the AIS Orca class sends a life-sized version of themselves to an AIS friend in another country.
When the second term comes round, the Flat Orcas have returned to AIS and the students are able to see where they were and what they got up to. As 2012 is an Olympic year, the project was extended … and made into an “Olympic Heroes” version!
Each of the 49 students in the elementary school sent their Flat Orca to a different country around the world. Destinations included Timor Leste, Panama, Brazil, Ethiopia, Qatar, Iceland, and even the Olympic Stadium in London. At the time of writing not all of the Flat Heroes have returned, but the school is hopeful they will all be back at AIS and mounted on the huge world map that covers a wall in the hall in time for the annual Sports Day event on Saturday, October 6th.
As well as being fun for all concerned, this project involved students having to do research (summer homework) on the country that their Flat Hero was sent to. It has also raised awareness amongst students of where different countries are, and has given them some ideas as to what different countries look like. — MARK REED
