What is it?

Inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes and the tradition of Nepalese Buddhist prayer flags, The Dream Flag Project is an annual poetry/art/community-connection project for students in Kindergarten to twelfth grade.  Since we started it in the spring of 2003, the project has spread to more than thirty-four schools in Pennsylvania and beyond--from Portland to Palm Beach. And it’s still spreading. To date, more that 6,000 students in eight states have made Dream Flags--more than a mile of flags.

To participate in the project, teachers register on this web site. There is no fee. Students first read poetry of Langston Hughes, particularly his dream poems. Then they create their own dream poems and transfer them onto pieces of
8 ½ by 11 in. cloth. They decorate the cloth in all sorts of ways, and finally attach the Dream Flags to a line—just like the prayer flags. The result is a visual line of color and hope that gets displayed in the school or in other public places.

Our kick-off on is on February 1, the birthday of Langston Hughes. Culmination activities are in April, National Poetry Month. Dream Flag Lines are completed by the first week in April. The project can take anywhere from 90 minutes to 9 weeks to complete, depending on what a teacher wants to do with it.

Students connect their Dream Flag Lines and their hopes in schools, at regional events, and on this web site. At a culminating regional poetry festival, the Dream Flag Project Celebration, students and schools share their poems and connect thousands of  Dream Flags. This has been held at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Area schools send representative poets, and all schools are invited to send poems to be read and flags to be displayed. Connecting the dreams is what it's all about.

After the Dream Flag Project Celebration, Dream Flags are exhibited where they will spread their messages of hope. This has included area hospitals, libraries, and a baseball stadium. Flags are returned to the schools in May after the exhibitions.

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How did it start?

The Dream Flag Project began in 2003 in sixth grade English classes at The Agnes Irwin School, a K-12 school for girls in suburban Philadelphia. Students studied the dream poetry of Langston Hughes and then wrote their own dream poems. They printed them on cloth, decorated them with art, and connected them all to clotheslines—Dream Flag Lines. Modeled after Nepalese Prayer flags, the Dream Flags were meant to share positive hopes with the world.

The next year, other schools were invited to join in.  Teachers in twenty-six schools joined the project. The next year even more schools joined in. After teachers register for the project, they get regular email support that shares ideas and information that each school discovers along the way. The web site is also an ongoing collection of resources and idea that teachers share as well as a publication space for student poems and Dream Flags. Create and Connect sections have classroom resources for teachers. Share section has pictures, video, and text of student work as well as students participating in the project. News section has specific dates for the current year and a project news archive.

Who runs The Dream Flag Project?

The project is run entirely by volunteers. At the Agnes Irwin School, Sixth grade English teachers Jeff Harlan and Sandy Crow coordinate the project, provide email contact between teachers, and maintain this web site. Many teachers from The Agnes Irwin School and some other schools have also volunteered time to help run the Dream Flag Project Celebration in Philadelphia. Countless other individuals have contributed in one way or another--helping exhibit flags, providing music for The Dream Flag Project celebration, providing space for our readings, creating stage sets, videotaping, etc. Each participant teacher makes the most important contribution by working with students to produce and connect each  Dream Flag.

The Agnes Irwin School has provided print materials for inviting schools to join and for our Dream Flag Celebration program.

Volunteers are always needed and welcome. Just contact Jeff or Sandy.

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