For the week of  Sept. 26 - Oct. 2, 2001

Students send hopes with prayer flags

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"World peace and good things to people 
who lost family and friends."

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Flags can blow prayers out to the universe.

This is the theory behind The Community School’s prayer flags.

Morgan and Reed Roudabush hold up the Community School’s prayer flags. Express photos by Willy Cook

The entire elementary student body of the school in Sun Valley made the flags to commemorate the losses suffered in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast.

There are 103 students in the elementary school. Each flag has a picture, a prayer or an expression of hope that each child created. The prayer flags have been strung together and will either be hung in front of the elementary school or in the playground. "Somewhere the kids can see it," said Leslie Maksik, director of the Elementary School.

Many of the flags bore pictures of the World Trade Center towers in New York, others had pictures of the planet Earth, or of families holding hands.

Fifth grader Harry Dreyfuss wrote on his, "I wish I could say a prayer but I don’t know what to say. I just know I’m sad."

Five-year-old Reed Roudabush’ flag had a picture of a monster. Another said "World peace and good things to people who lost family and friends." And one simply said "I hope we all get along."

Amen.

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.