Spanish Language Poetry Video Project
2/3/10
If your students speak or are studying Spanish, you may be interested in this video poem project. It could be a wonderful way to illustrate a Dream Flag Poem, taking the images beyond the flag and into video. The deadline is March 15, 2010. The web site is www.cosmopoetica.es
PDF Printout

HAPPY 108TH LANGSTON HUGHES!!
1/1/10
Today we wish Langston Hughes a very happy 108th Birthday!!
Here's some activities to do with Hughes poetry:
Hughes Poem Activities
Here's a list with a number of great books about Hughes. Book and Web List
Here's "The Dream Keeper" set to music:
Recording   --  Written
This day always marks our "official start" for The Dream Flag Project, so welcome to Dream Flags 2010!! (You can make them any time before April, but many schools start around now.)
Here's a link to register if you haven't already: Register

Happy Birthday Mr. Hughes!!

Jan 30 Workshop Resources Up!
Resource Link
2/1/10
Handouts, photos, and teacher-made flags from our 2010 Teacher Workshop are on-line for everyone to use. We had a great workshop on Saturday at the Philadelphia Kimmel Center. We had folks joining us remotely from Kenya, Alaska, Virginia, Texas and other places. They could hear us in the room. Technical problems kept us from talking, but we're solving that for next time! Check out the resources and fun. And keep looking here for the announcement of a Dream Flags teacher webinar we'll have in the next two weeks!
2010 Teacher Workshop Resources

New Dream Flag Teacher Connection
1/26/10

Now there's an easy place to connect with other Dream Flag teachers on the new "Dream Flag Project ning thing." It is open to teachers and adult leaders who are registered for the 2010 Dream Flag Project. It's easy and really facilitates discussion and collaboration. After your sign-up is approved by Dream Flags, you'll be ready to talk, plan, and play!
Sign Up for the Dream Flag ning thing.
 

The Dream Flag Project
Teacher Workshop

Sat., Jan. 30, 11am-1pm ET

Philadelphia  Kimmel Center
Webinar Anywhere

This is a free workshop for teachers who are new or returning to The Dream Flag Project and for teachers who just want to know more. It will include remote participants and presenters through on-line participation.

Workshop will include:

· Overview and history of The Dream Flag Project

· Hands-on making of Dream Flags

· Teacher presentations on making flags from Independence Charter School.

· Panel discussion of whole-school participation by teachers from Montessori Genesis II in West Philadelphia and White Mt. School in White Mt., Alaska.

· Presentation on value of international connections by leader of Juhdi Children’s Club in Nairobi, Kenya.

Register to attend in person.
Register to attend via Internet.

Participate in the Philly January Workshop On-Line!
12/14/09
We can now offer on-line participation in our January workshop, so you can join in  from anywhere!  Sign-up now so you can talk with the folks in the room on January 30 and see what they see on the screen. You can be anywhere there's Internet connection for this. It will be 11am -1pm EST (GMT + 5 hours).
Sign Up for On-Line Workshop

Philly January Teacher Workshop Invitation
12/09/09
All teachers in the Philadelphia region are invited to attend our free Teacher Workshop on Saturday, January 30 from 11 to 1:00 at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. We also are trying to set up a Webinar to include live participation of teachers anywhere. Please join us.
More Information --pdf invitation and links
On-line Sign Up for Workshop

NCTE Dream Flags Update 2--video
11/24/09
Here's a two-minute video featuring part of what happened with the Skype poetry sharing between Philadelphia and Nairobi on Friday, Nov. 20th at NCTE. We'll post more as we can.
NCTE Kenya Skype Video I-PC
NCTE Kenya Skype Video I-Mac

NCTE Dream Flags Update
11/23/09
Just a quick update to say the NCTE Dream Flags exhibition and Skype with Kenya went beautifully this past week thanks to a great crew of volunteers and the many schools who contributed Dream Flags. Here are some pictures of the set-up on flickr. Much more coming soon.
Dream Flags Set-Up Pictures

South Africa Visitor From Dream Flag Site Visits Pennsylvania
10/30/09   view video: for Mac  for PC
Pam Mfaxa, Principal of a pre-school and infant center in the Kliptown section of Soweto, South Africa, spoke and delivered Dream Flags from older students in Kliptown on Wednesday, November 28th at The Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, PA. Around 85% of Kliptown residents live in temporary housing or "squatter camps." Ms. Mfaxa has also worked extensively with those suffering from HIV as well as the elderly. One of the first students in her pre-school, Thulani Madondo, now 27, heads the Kliptown Youth Program. His students made Dream Flags last spring, and Ms. Mfaxa delivered them so they can be shared at the upcoming NCTE conference in November.
Click to view 2-minute video:
Quicktime  Windows Media

2009-10 Key Dates Posted
10/19/09
A list of key dates for the 2009-10 Dream Flag Project  is now posted on this site in the News section. You can find out what's happening (or even tentatively happening) from now until May--a long way ahead but here sooner than we expect! Let us know if you have dates to add for your area! dreamflags@agnesiriw.org 
Key Dates Printable List (no web links)
Key Dates List With Related Links

Dream Flag "graduates" Become Teachers in Nairobi, Kenya.
see photo gallery
10/15/09
Philadelphia area tenth graders, who made their first Dream Flags in sixth grade,  went to Kenya this summer and became Dream Flag teachers for students aged 6-13 in the Juhudi Children's Club. The organization provides after-school and summer activities for students in Nairobi. Kui and Chiru Murage, tenth graders at the Agnes Irwin School, were visiting their family in Kenya along with their mother, Mondo, and they helped out the younger students. Soon, we expect the dream poems to be coming to us, and we can't wait to share them with everyone. Congratulations to the Murage family and the Juhudi Children's Club, founded and led by David Kimani.
Check out the gallery.

Details for NCTE Exhibition
10/14/09
We've got the details for sending your Dream Flags for exhibition at the NCTE convention in Philadelphia. More than 7,000 educators will attend. Thank you to the 33 schools who have said yes so far! You can still let us know and join in by the end of this month. We'd like to represent as much of The Dream Flag community as we possibly can. Just email us at dreamflags@agnesirwin.org and get the details here:
Details for Sending Flags to NCTE

California Dreaming at UC Berkeley!
10/5/09


With the support of adults Jenn Morazes and Pepper Black, students from many countries created their own Dream Flags with their mothers in a Mother-Child International Camp run by the UC Berkeley University Village this past summer.  The University Village community represents 67 countries and 27 languages--all dreaming together. Check out these pictures of their awesome Dream Flags flying alongside ones from Nepal and Rwanda which travelled to them in August for California Dreaming.
California Dreaming Gallery!

Dream Flags Will Connect At 2009 NCTE Conference in Philadelphia Nov. 19-22
9/24/09
This year's annual National Council of Teachers of English conference will be hosting an exhibition of Dream Flags from across the country and around the world. In response to learning about our collaborative work in Dream Flags, NCTE conference director Jacqui Joseph-Biddle commented, "This sounds really exciting. What a project!" We agree because of the caring work of so many teachers. Please let us know if you or someone from your school might be coming. We'd love to see you at the convention!
NCTE Convention

Date Set for 2010 Philadelphia Dream Flag Celebration
7/31/09
We just confirmed with the Kimmel Center that our 2010 Philadelphia Dream Flag Celebration will be on Saturday, April 17, 2010! We plan to have about the same schedule with the program running from 12-1:30 and the set-up to start at 10:30. If you're in the Philadelphia region, mark your calendar, and if you're not, think about sending your poems and flags!

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

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For more news and resources go to:
NEWS ARCHIVE