I joined The Dream Flag Project because . . .

 2011 ,13 December
Here's what some teachers just sent in when asked why they joined The Dream Flag Project. . . .

It’s different and connects us to others

“ I was looking for a unique writing activity for my students.”

--Susan Klaube, Lounsberry Hollow Middle School,
Vernon, New Jersey

“The dream of expressing freely, the professional way of working as a real team, the way of getting involved in such a challenging activity that can bring us out of the daily routine.”

– Panescu Lilina, Scoala Tudor Vladimirescu,
Targoviste, Romania

"Love the opportunity to involve our tots in a project beyond our island home."
--Brenda Freitas-Obregon, Kalihi-Palama Public Library,
Honolulu, Hawaii

It’s fun!

“My students love this project.”

--Amiyrah Waddell, George Washington Carver School,
Newark, New Jersey

“Meeting new friends and sharing ideas. This program rocks!”

--Dawn Flowers, Burrell Bloom Methodist School,
Belize District, Belize

“Love to dream; love the project; my students love writing the poems and making the flags.”

--Sheri Skelton, White Mountain School,
White Mountain, Alaska

“It was an amazing experience with the kids last year  ...seeing all their dream flags strung around the school. We hope to get others in town involved this year.”

--Avis Turner, Noah Wallace School,
Farmington, Connecticut

 It helps us teach what’s important:

“Invaluable experiences for my students for the last 5 years. I can't imagine the school year without participation in the project.”

--Katie Ball, Oneness-Family School,
Chevy Chase, Maryland

“It is a great unit to teach tolerance and acceptance and learn about our country's history.”

--Michelle Simmons, Green Mountain Elementary,
Bremerton , Washington

“Lovely idea and pedagogy.”

--Lisa Hantman, McCall School,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

It’s flexible:

“I have always received the emails, but never participated.   I teach ESOL, and I didn't always have a teaching situation that would allow participation.  I hope I might this year.   I might add a class of 8-10, if the going is good.  But I'm starting with one class.”

--Betsy Beyler, Robinson Middle School,
Fairfax, Virginia

“We had a break from the project and now we are excited to return. Decided to focus on one grade level instead of our previous all school participation.”

--Helene Duckett, Loomis School,
Broomall, Pennsylvania

Have a comment? Please let us know. Comment here or email dreamflags@agnesirwin.org. 

October Article--Dream Flags in Kenya

SEE: Dream Flag Article in October Issue of Lake Naivasha Community Newsletter

In the region of beautiful Naivasha Lake in Kenya, home to some world's most incredible wildlife, students learned about Dream Flags and made some! Their teachers were two student Dream Flag leaders. Read this page from the October issue of the Lake Naivasha Community Newsletter to learn all about it.
Here are some other links:
--> Map of Lake Naivasha
--> Full October Newsletter

TakingITGlobal Connections

TakingITGlobal Web Site

TakingITGlobal is not-for-profit group dedicated to the promotion of cross-cultural understanding and education that helps create a better world--just like The Dream Flag Project! This year, they're offering Dream Flag Project teachers a free account if you want to sign up for it. It will allow our students to talk to each other in a safe and interactive forum run by TakingITGlobal. If you're interested, just email us and we'll send the details. Email: dreamflags@agnesirwin.org. Subject: TakingITGlobal.

You may also be interested in their upcoming workshop on global teaching that's on Tuesday, October 26th. Check out their web site for details. Here's what they say about it:

"Designed to support teachers of various subjects and grades who are interested in bringing global issues, perspectives and voices into their classrooms, these e-courses focus on integrating media and technology, incorporating global dimensions, and applying reasoning to real world challenges."

For more information on the course or on TakingITGlobal, see their web site. The introductory video is very clear and to-the-point. http://www.tigweb.org/tiged/

Let's dream around the world!

Date Set for 2012 Kimmel Center Dream Flag Celebration in Philadelphia

Save the date! Saturday, April 28, 2012 will be the date for the ninth annual Dream Flag Project Celebration at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. We'll invite all who can to come and everyone to send Dream Flags from all over. More details to come . . .
Also, we're working on a February date for a Dream Flags teacher workshop at the Kimmel Center. Stay tuned.

Here's a video of connecting the flags from 2010:

Find more videos like this on Look Who's Dreaming

Dream Flags Article from Wandering Educators

The Wandering Educator meets Dream Flags!

Dream Flags Cause Flutter in Khumjung 
This is an article from the web site Wandering Educators that focuses on how they saw Dream Flags in Nepal.  Author Seth Sicroff writes about how he encountered Dream Flags while attending the the Khumjung School's fiftieth anniversary and what he made of it. Seth has some great insight on what prayer flags mean, how Dream Flags connect, and what the American Dream means in today's world. He includes some Langston Hughes poetry and much more. Check it out, and thanks, Seth!

Dreams Flags at Philadelphia Free Library to Mid-July

We just wanted to let you know—better late than never!—about the wonderful Free Library of Philadelphia installation of Dream Flags!! For those of you who can enjoy it on-line, we’ve got pictures of it at:

http://www.dreamflags.org/news/10-11news/2011FLPInstallation.htm

 For those in the Philadelphia area, it’s up now in the main entrance of The Free Library Main branch at 20^th and Vine, right next to Logan Circle in Center City Philadelphia, and we hope you’ll have a chance to see it. So many people have already been admiring it every day since it went up at the end of May.

The exhibit went up when we were in Nepal with the Dream Flags. It was organized by Patti Stewart, one of our sixth grade parents, and Sandra Horrocks, the Vice President of External Affairs at the Free Library, so a BIG thanks to both of them!!

The Free Library installed the exhibit in a wonderful space in their main entrance with its 18-foot-high ceilings. Flags are exhibited from 17 feet off the ground all the way to knee level and are exhibited between all of the massive wall columns in this beautiful 1920’s building.  It features about 350 sample Dream Flags from 29 groups, and it’s a wonderful cross-section of ages, places, and schools. We’ve got several Philly branch libraries featured for the first time, along with Philadelphia School District Schools, many other regional schools and groups, and a sampling of flags from across the country and around the world—Washington, Louisiana, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Georgia, Delaware, Haiti, Nicaragua, Madagascar, and Belize!

Back Home With Dreams From Nepal

We returned to the USA with our load of Dream Flags and many new connections to Nepal on June 6th. It was, by all measures, a wonderfully successful trip. We owe a huge debt of thanks to Mary Seppala, Head of The Ages Irwin School and to Phurba Sherpa and Anne Keiser of The Greater Himalayas Foundation.

 Our project was received so warmly by all involved at the Khumjung School. Perhaps one of the most telling indicators was the Headmaster’s reading of his own Dream Flag poem from the stage when we had our celebration on May 27th. He also had all of our Dream Flags flying from when they went up to the culmination of their four-day celebration. They were seen by people from all over Nepal and all over the world—New Zealand, England, USA, Australia, and other countries as well.

We probably didn’t realize what a large event it was before we got there, and were very much honored at the way the project was embraced. On the final day, peers of the late Sir Edmund Hillary were there (some flown in because they are in their nineties.) The widow of one of Hillary’s closes friends said about The Dream Flag Project, “Ed would have loved this.” We hope that The Dream Flag Project that we all have created together reflects the spirit of compassion and dedication that Hillary’s work did. It’s certainly a “steep hill” to follow. Here’s a short video from Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund, commenting on what he thinks we can learn from the Sherpa today.

In terms of contacts, we made strong connections with the art, technology, and math teachers at the Khumjung School, and look forward to continuing relationship with them.

Also, here are other resource links from the trek.
General Information About The Trek From Agnes Irwin Web Site

Flickr Site with Photo Sets By Day

Vimeo Site with Videos
General Trek Videos
Sherpa Times Interview Videos

Yesshe’s Blog Narrating Trip With Photos and Videos

Sherpa Times Agnes Irwin 6th Grade Project (looks at Sherpa culture then and now)

Dreams Fly High in Philadelphia

5/9/11 We had a wonderful Dream Flag Celebration here in Philadelphia on Saturday thanks to the efforts of dozens of volunteer staff (about 40), teachers and students from all over our region, and flags and poems sent in from around the U.S. and as far away as Romania, Belize, Madagascar, Nicaragua, and Haiti. It was a gorgeous sprig day in May.  Some highlights were that:

1. Dozens of students from around our region read beautifully, with grace and passion--from 1st grade to 12th grade. They represented the 12,000 Dreamers from across the project, and we were all very proud of them. We had a surprise delivery of Dream Flags from the Khumjung School in Nepal!
2. They were trekked down from the school, flown from Kathmandu to a friend at Yale University, and delivered to Phurba Sherpa in Washington, DC who presented them to us on Saturday!! Phurba was accompanied by another special guest, Anne Keiser of the Greater Himalayas Foundation.
3. We got to hang French Dream Flag from Madagascar from the 80-foot hight model fo the Eifel Tower right in the middle of the Kimmel Center!
4. The musicians were up on stage with the readers and we had wonderful improv behind the poetry reading with the brand new sound and stage at the Kimmel Center.

Thanks to so many people who made all of this possible, and especially the dreamers!
Here are a few pictures from the event.

Dreams on the Steps of Langston Hughes!

4/28/11 These students from Storefront for Children in Harlem, New York, are standing on the steps of the Langston Hughes House! Guided by their teacher, Steve Bergen, they have created wonderful Dream Flag poems. . . AND . . .they stood on the steps of Hughes to read them for us.

Check out their Dream Flag web page HERE and don't miss the "click" links because you'll see video of the students reading their work right on those famous steps. Thank you, Storefront for Children and Steve for taking these dreams to a place where Mr. Hughes started it all . . .

School in Austin, TX Takes Dream Flags to Haiti and Nicaragua!

Students at St. Etienne in Salmadere, Haiti.

4/19/11 St. Stephens' School in Austin, Texas brought The Dream Flag Project to students at a Haitian orphanage and to their sister schools in Haiti and Nicaragua this year. Thanks to teachers Vicki Woodruff, Cindy Morriss, and the work of the school's service program, they made this leap and connected the dreams. Do check out the great article on their web site that tells the whole story and has many more great pictures. Fly On Dreams!!
St. Stephen's Dream Flag Article and Pictures
Video of Service Project in Haiti Including Dream Flags

Dreaming Big in Belize

Dawn Flowers at Burrell Bloom Methodist School in Belize is helping all of us spread the dreams! This Wednesday, April 14th, she will be a guest speaker at the Belize National Library Service Book  Fair.  She's been invited to teach other educators about The Dream Flag Project and how to connect. This year 300 students from Burrel Bloom Methodist have made Dream Flags, and they're going to be exhibited at the Book Fair, as well as a local hospital and bank! Talk about dreaming big! Thanks to you, Dawn, from all of us. Please keep dreaming!

Philly Library's After School Learning Starts Dreaming!

3/22/11 Last Saturday, some of the teen and adult leaders of the after school learning programs in Philadelphia's 54 branch libraries learned about Dream Flags and made their own. We look forward to seeing the dreams come together, especially since there will be a terrific exhibition of Dream Flags flanking both sides of the main entrance to the Main Branch of the library come mid-May. We'll post updates and a flag or two from Saturday soon. . . .

One-Stop Dream Flag Shopping!

3/10/11 Here's a link for your must-have-it all-in-one Dream Flags document for 2011. It's a total list of what to do when with links that get you there! CLICK HERE

Looking Ahead to Dreams!

2011 DREAM FLAG PROJECT DATES

2/7/11 Looking ahead to dreaming together takes vision (and planning)! Since The Dream Flag Project is not only about dreaming, but about dreaming together, we try to coordinate our activities so that we have the best chance of connecting each year in April and May. Each year,we ask participant groups to complete the Dream Flags by April, National Poetry Month. Then the connections begin. Many schools do their own local exhibitions and displays of Dream Flags. We have a large gathering here in Philadelphia and invite everyone who can to come, and for others to send Dream Flags. This year we've also got a wonderful connection to Nepal, and on May 19, our Dream Flags will start a trek up to 12,500 feet where they'll be connected at the Khumjung School. (Much more detail on that later.) For now, here's a list of dates and events that may help as you look ahead to a dream-filled spring. And if we can post your Dream Dates, let us know. We'd love to. 2010-11 DREAM FLAG PROJECT DATES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANGSTON HUGHES!!

1/31/11 Tomorrow is the 109th birthday of Langston Hughes! His poem, "Bring me all your dreams, you dreamers . . " and his many poems that show the world the simple beauty of ordinary life and a vision of the way things could be are as inspiring today as they were when he lived and wrote. We hope The Dream Flag Project does, in some small way, make good the rich legacy he left us.

So let's celebrate! Here are a few resources for celebrating the birthday of Hughes. They could be used any time in February, really.
Fun Activity: Hughes Birthday Party Lesson Plan (from 107th birthday)
Great Site: The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You
(from National Endowment for the Humanities)
Sing Along: "Dream Keeper" Set to Music (with easy guitar chords)
Sheet Music  -- Recording
Please let us know if you have sites or activities related to this great poet. We'd love to share them.

Dream Flag Teacher Workshop Spans the Miles!

1/18/11 We had a great Dream Flags on-line teacher workshop on Saturday, the 15th, with teachers from as far away as Belize and New Hampshire connecting and sharing ideas. Using Go To Meeting, we got to see the wonderfully creative reading areas for first graders at Burrel Boom Methodist School (My favorite was the sea-themed reading area that was an inflatable pool to sit in and read!), the cabin that Jennifer Carbonneau and her husband are building along with lots on their high school's reading and writing programs, and to share many ideas from near and far on Dream Flags, teaching poetry, engaging students and community, and more! It was a quick two hours spent sharing and learning how much we have in common. We can't wait to do it again in the future.

Dreamer Money In the Door!



http://www.pccy.org/

 Congratulations to Pennypacker Elementary in Philadelphia and especially to their art teacher, Melissa Thomas! The school was awarded a $4,500 grant from the Picasso Project Grants program of PCCY. PCCY is Public Citizens for Children and Youth. They awarded this sum to Pennypacker in support of their participation in The Dream Flag Project to pay for materials, supplies, and related costs. The slogan of PCCY is righ in line with Dream Flags:  "Imagine a safe world for children, then do something about it."

Ms. Thomas has years of Dream Flags experience and of finding funds to do it. If you want to be in touch with her on how she does it, just email us, and we'll connect you--or join the ning and contact her directly.

Yeay, Melissa, and dream on Pennypacker!