In a chapel service celebrating hopes and dreams,
students from St. Anne’s Episcopal School called on
the Tibetan prayer flag tradition for inspiration.
And now, 285 12-inch square flags hang from the
ceiling in the dining room, representing a lot more
than a simple fabric painting project.
Every class at St. Anne’s studied Langston Hughes’
dream poems then wrote their own poem on a small
piece of white fabric to celebrate the future and to
decorate the school. Following the Bon tradition in
Tibet, students replicated the process of hanging
flags in five colors representing the five elements
to offer protection on earth. As Buddhism blended
with Bon, sacred mantras were painted on the flags,
thus creating what are known today as Tibetan prayer
flags, which these projects resembled.
Mary DeSalvo, a fourth grade teacher at St. Anne’s,
attended the Dream Flag Project workshop at the
annual People of Color conference in Dallas, Texas
this winter and decided to make it part of her
curriculum this year.
“Within minutes of listening to the presenters, I
knew that I had found a project that incorporated
the mission of St. Anne’s in every sense of the
word,” said Mrs. DeSalvo. “In its simplicity this
project celebrates Buddhism, the life of an African
American poet, Langston Hughes, and asks the
participant to reach within themselves to write what
their dreams are for themselves, their community and
the world. “
According to fourth grade project leader Jason
Stevens, “The prayer flags serve as gentle
reminders, creating the intention for more kindness
for ourselves and for all beings.”
He explained to the school that each student has the
potential for beginning a peaceful world and the
flags, by staying in the air and off the floor, will
fade as their images are released to the wind and
the heavens.
After Philip Sanclemente, another fourth grade
leader, read a biography of Langston Hughes, and
other fourth graders read a few of his dream poems
to the school, Malcolm Brown, the final fourth grade
speaker talked about Martin Luther King, Jr.
“If good loses a battle,” Malcolm explained, “it
will always win the war,” as King explains in his
prayer of peace, which concluded the chapel service.
The students and teachers then painted their flags
as the culminating activity in chapel, and the
fourth graders helped hang them in the dining room,
to serve as reminders of the students’ “potential
for good,” something noted in the school’s mission.
Because of the integrity of the project, said Mrs.
DeSalvo, and because of the commitment from
administrators, teachers, staff and the entire
student body, the Dream Flag Project day said
“Everything to me about why I work at St. Anne’s.
May the flags benefit many beings!”
xcontact
Carey Koppenhaver
Assistant Head of School for Admissions and
Development
St. Anne's Episcopal School
211 Silver Lake Road
Middletown, DE 19709
(302) 378-3179
fax: (302) 449-0957
