See New Flags and Maps Page
5/6/09

See Dream Flags and the schools who made them on this new click and view collection. Scroll down the line, and click to enlarge and read any flag. Click on the map to go there and zoom from a picture view of the school to where it is in the country or world.
Flag and Map Gallery

McCall Dream Flags Recognized in Philadelphia Tribune Article
4/29/09
This week, the Philadelphia Tribune  featured an article on The Dream Flag Project at the McCall School in Philadelphia where third graders in Lisa Hantman's class are doing the project.
Read Tribune Article

Dream Flags Go To Work in Philly
4/29/09
Dream Flags "went to work" this week in Philadelphia when volunteers packed and delivered Dream Flags to four area sites. Exhibitions will remain up through May 11. See more details and what's where on the Philadelphia Region News page.
More . . .

More Photos from Philadelphia Celebration
4/29/09

Check out the new additions to the photo gallery--lots of readers, drum group, and flag connections shots!
Philadelphia Celebration Gallery

2000+ Dreams Connect In Philadelphia!
4/20/09

More than 2000 Dream Flags were connected at the sixth annual Philadelphia Dream Flag Celebration at Philadelphia Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts this past Saturday from 12-1:30, hosted by The Agnes Irwin School. Eighteen area schools connected flags along with those sent from Nepal, Rwanda, Costa Rica, Dallas, Scranton, and others places. Poets from each school read their poems from the Kimmel stage with improvisational music performed by area musicians Andrea Clearfield, Manfred Fischbeck, and Ron Kravitz. Special guests Andrea Clearfield and Lily Yeh told the stories of how they brought Dream Flags to Nepal and Rwanda respectively. African percussionist Robert Kenyatta and students from the Montessori Genesis II School created a fabric of rhythm while hundreds of students spread throughout the Kimmel Center to hold up their flag lines in connecting ceremony.  In pre-program activities, students from the region did creative projects creating Dream Flag buttons, decorating Dream Flag tee shirts with their poems, and creating original verses to "The Dream Flag Song." A volunteer crew of 40+ helped lay out and collect the 2,000+ Dream Flags and to create a wonderful day of dreaming and sharing for all present.
Gallery of Photos
More photos and video coming . . .

Dream Flags From Rwanda Fly!
4/16/09

"I see brooks of love and hear melodies of stillness"

This week, Philadelphia artist Lily Yeh brought Dream Flags from Rwanda back to Philadelphia to be part of the Philadelphia Dream Flag Celebration this coming Saturday. The flags were created by teenage students at Scolaire Rubavu in Gisenyi, Rwanda. They are layered flags with words and poems in Timyarawande. The flags also include art work by the students and quilted work created collaboratively by the students and a group of young women who are genocide orphans being trained in seamstress and fabric art skills. Portions of the Timyarawande are translated into English. The Flags were created as part of Lily Yeh's Healing Rwanda Project, an ongoing part of the work of the organization Barefoot Artists which she leads. Thanks to Jane Laties (of Project Learn School) for bringing Dream Flags to Lily who brought the project to the children she knows in Gisenyi and their work to all of us.
On-Line Dream Flags From Rwanda (samples)
Barefoot Artists Healing Rwanda Project

Add YOUR poem
2009 Dream Flag Shirts Now Available
4/6/09

click on images to enlarge
The 2009 Dream Flag shirts are now available, and this year, they're made to add an individual Dream Flag poem right on your back above the Hughes words, "Bring me all of your dreams, you dreamers. Just use a Sharpie or other water-proof or fabric marker. Art work too. -- We'd love to give them away, but we have to charge $10/shirt for printing and shipping. We have them in Youth L and Adult L and XL.  dreamflags@agnesirwin.org of you're interested. Orders will take 4-6 weeks to fill, possibly less.
We can picture dreamers holding hands, poems on their backs--a human line of Dream Flags connected!
Order Form
 

"Tashi Delek" from Nepal !
Lo Kunphen Flags--Now On-Line
4/2/09

Click image to see full gallery.
"Tashi Delek" is a greeting in Tibetan which expresses good wishes. Dream Flags made by the students of the Lo Kunphen School in a remote region of Nepal were brought to Philadelphia by one of the school's founders, Dr. Tenzin Bista, a few weeks ago. Now you can see them on-line. Most of the flags are written in Tibetan; others are written in English, a second language the students learn in school. They were created with white cloth, and Sharpie markers which were sent in December. Take a look at these marvelous dreams which have crossed to world.
Dream Flags from Lo Kunphen, Nepal
Story of How Dream Flags Went to Nepal

Cynwyd Elementary--Dream Flag Podcast
3/26/09
Fifth graders from Cynwyd Elementary School in Bala Cynwyd, PA recently posted their weekly school podcast featuring The Dream Flag Project. It includes poems read by Cynwyd students and an interview with Jeff Harlan, co-founder of The Dream Flag Project. Check out the Cynwyd dream spirit! Follow the link (or click the pic) and hit the play button.
Go To Cynwyd Dream Flag Podcast

San Francisco Region Page Up
3/26/09
Schools in driving distance of San Francisco are celebrating Dream Flags this year on April 25th. Check out this page with all the details and other items related to the area. Welcome, San Francisco, to Regional Dream Flag Celebrations!!
San Francisco Region Page

Philadelphia Region Page Up
3/4/09
If you're in the Philadelphia region, check out the new Philadelphia Region page on our site. It has lots of details on the April 18th Dream Flag Celebration, local Dream Flag news, and a listing of regional schools you could contact for connections.
Philadelphia Region Page

Build a Bridge with Dream Flag Extensions
Dream Flag Extensions 2009

2/18/09
Dream Flag teachers have been creating bridges between schools since the project first started six years ago. This year we have three projects to help make this happen: a Multi-School Dream Flag Banner, an Write-A-Verse Project for "The Dream Flag Song," and a survey-driven "match.com" for pairing Dream Flag schools to collaborate with each other! Check out all of the details at Dream Flag Extensions 2009. Sign up by March 4 to join in with one or more of these ways to share the dreams.
Dream Flag Extensions 2009

Dreams Connect at Teacher Workshop
Check out "Virtual" Workshop . . .
2/12/09

Dream Flag Project educators from all around Philadelphia gathered at The Philadelphia School on Saturday, February 7, from 10-1 to share ideas, information, and inspiration about Dream Flags. Check out the "virtual" workshop with all of the handouts and pictures of some flags on display along with a general description.
Photos -- Flags -- Handouts -- Article

Dreams Are Flying From Nepal
2/2/09
In December, a box full of white cloth, black Sharpie markers, watercolors, rope, thread, and needles, was shipped off to the Peter Moran of the U.S. Educational Foundation in Katmandu, Nepal. A few days later, Pete emailed, "Very auspicious circumstances.... I had tried to reach Gyatso-la to no avail, and was walking down the street in Thamel yesterday and ran into him!" more . . .
Full Story

Ideas for the First Week:
Happy 107th Langston Hughes!
1/26/09

February 1st, the 107th birthday of Langston Hughes and the "official" start of the 2009 Dream Flag Project is just around the corner. You can make your Dream Flags any time before April, but many groups like to honor Hughes and start near this date (on a Sunday this year.) This web resource is full of ideas and information to begin a wonderful year of dreaming together. . . .Let's go!
Ideas for the First Week

MLK Dream Flags in Connecticut!
1/15/09

Brunswick school for boys is celebrating Martin Luther King day as their middle and  lower school students share the Dream Flags they've in a Martin Luther King assembly program--about 470 altogether! Check out the link (way at the bottom) to their mention in the local Greenwich newspaper.
Greenwich-Post.com Article
(Please send news of your school's Dream Flag activities to us at dreamflags@agnesirwin.org. )

Good Price on Hughes Anthology
01/09/09
Just wanted to let you know that you can get copies of The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes for $3.98 right now at www.salebooks.com .
Here's the direct link.

Philadelphia Area Dream Flag Workshop Set for Sat., Feb. 7, 2009
1/6/09
All Dream Flag teachers are invited to benefit from a regional Dream Flag Teacher workshop to be held on Saturday, February 7th, from 10 to 1, hosted at The Philadelphia School (25th and Lombard) in Center City, Philadelphia. This will be free and qualifies for Act 48 credit to those who attend. We'll post everything we can on the site so all teaches can get the sights, sounds, and useful details about what happens.
Check out last year's workshop.
More information and to sign up.

Dream Flag Installation at Philadelphia International Airport!
10/30/08

click image to enlarge
On Monday, November 17th, an exhibition of Dream Flags at the Philadelphia International Airport will open. It will run for sixth months and is free, open to the public, and does not require going through airport security. Sixty-four framed Dream Flags will be exhibited, created by students from Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon, Florida, California, New York, Texas, Maryland, Delaware and from sixteen Philadelphia area schools. The exhibit is organized by Leah Douglas, Director of Art in the Airport, in collaboration with Sandy Crow of The Dream Flag Project.
Opening Video (2.5 min. Quicktime)
 (11/17/08)

Dream Flag Message Spreads to Nepal . . .
10/30/08

Professor Sienna Craig presents a Dream Flag T-shirt to Gyaso Bista, noted Nepalese healer. (click for enlargement)

On a trek in Napal this past summer, Philadelphia composer (and longtime friend of The Dreamflag Project) Andrea Clearfield shared The Dream Flag Project with Dartmouth professor of anthropology Sienna Craig. Professor Craig's longstanding connections in Nepal and interest in The Dream Flag Project has led to discussions about possible collaboration with schools in Kathmandu. There will also be a Philadelphia fundraising event to support these schools in March. We'll keep you posted and hope our dreams cross the ocean!

2009 Dream Flag Invitation Download Here!
10/10/08
Help make the Dream Flag Project connect! Here's a download (pdf) invitation to join the 2008-09 Dream Flag Project. Prints well in b&w or color. Where to leave them? In the hands of dreamers! Also at libraries, museums, coffee shops, and anywhere you think interested teachers may discover.
2008-09 Dream Flags Flyer (pdf)
International Dream Flag Flyer (pdf)

Regional Dream Flag Organization in San Francisco Area Starts!
9/23/08
Kiki Davis, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist of Marin Country Day School, is heading up a newly organized San Francisco Bay Area Regional Dream Flags Project. The idea is to find and organize area Dream Flag schools to share poetry and flags at a regional event next April. Each year in Philadelphia, we connect about 35 schools and 2,000 flags. Why not elsewhere too?
San Francisco area schools can contact Kiki at kdavis@mcds.org or 415-945-5135. Also, area schools can download this flyer:
Bay Area Dream Flags Flyer (pdf)
 

Philadelphia Regional Dream Flag Celebration Date Set for 2009!
9/23/08
We've confirmed with the Kimmel Center that Saturday, April 18, will be our date for the Philadelphia regional Dream Flag Celebration. It's a week after Easter and after the end of Passover, so we're in the clear for holidays!

Dream Flag Come True in Honduras
9/10/08 The Jungle School

Last year, The Jungle School in La Ceiba, Honduras participated in The Dream Flag Project thanks to the sponsorship of the school Project Learn in Philadelphia and parent Eve Horowitz. 

Recently, Eve reported that Luzmila, a student at the Jungle School whose family lives in a one-room hut with a dirt floor, is on the way to having her Dream Flag dream of getting an education come true. Because of Eve's work and the work of Dan, a Candian volunteer at The Jungle School, Luzmila now can attend English classes in LaCeiba on Saturdays, and the local Rotary Club where Dan lives in Canada is working on funding to sponsor Luzmila at university in Canada when she graduates form "colegio" (high school).  Dan will return to LaCeiba in February to help Luzmila with her English and prepare for her exams.

Thank you, dreamers!

The Jungle School Web Site
YouTube Video of The Jungle School

International Reading Association Teachers Make Dream Flags in Atlanta.
5/12/08 Gallery of Flags from Atlanta Conference
Last week in Atlanta, more than 13,000 teachers gathered for the annual International Reading Association convention. Mary Pat McFarland, Sandy Crow, and Jeff Harlan were presenters there with a Dream Flags workshop. More than 160 attendees participated in the workshop on May 6th. They learned about the work of Dream Flag teachers everywhere and made their own flags. (With a full room of 160, the flags were a challenge to paint!) The dreams and ideas flew, and we hope that many more dreamers will join us in 2008-09.
Gallery of Flags from Atlanta Conference

Video Highlights of 2008 Philadelphia Dream Flag Celebration (5 Minutes)4/25/08
On April 19th, representative poets, friends and families  from more than 25 regional schools gathered to celebrate the dreams from all across The 2008 Dream Flag Project. As a result of this truly joint effort, we heard more than 50 dream poems and connected more than 2,500 flags around the balconies of the Kimmel Center. Our special guest, Marjol Hughes of the Langston Hughes family, and a citation from Philadelphia's City Council added even more sparkle to the day, along with school exhibitions, a poetry open mike before the celebration, and help from 40+ event staff members. It was a beautiful celebration of spirit, hope, and working together. (More photos and details coming.)

Hughes Family Member Special Guest at Philadelphia  Dream Flag Celebration and Featured Speaker at John Wister.
4/1/08
On April 19 this year, students will read Dream Flag poems to the hundreds of students, parents, and friends gathered at the Kimmel Center and to a member of Langston Hughes's family. Marjol Collet will be our special guest. She will be flying in from her home in Gary Indiana, thanks to a grant provided by Children Can Shape the Future. Ms. Collet is the founder of the Langston Hughes Family Museum in Gary, and her mother, Margrett Ann Duncan, was a cousin of Langston Hughes. She will also be the speaker at an assembly to be held at John Wister Elementary in Philadelphia on Friday, April 18th at 1:00. Any schools interested in bringing students to this even on Friday should contact Jeff or Sandy at dreamflags@agnesirwin.org. Help us welcome Ms. Collet!

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