- STUDENTS AND STAFF at Middlebury’s Mary Hogan Elementary School admire the Black Lives Matter flag that was hoisted up the flagpole along with the Stars and Stripes and the Vermont state flag on Thursday, Jan. 4. Independent photo/Steve James
- MARY HOGAN PRINCIPAL Jen Kravitz holds fourth grader Elias Urang’s speech, which he delivered prior to the flag raising ceremony. Independent photo/Steve James
- FOURTH-GRADERS ELIAS Urang — who engineered the BLM flag effort — and Sara Miranda-Ngaiza pull on a rope to send the flag skyward at their school in January 2024. Independent photo/Steve James
- STUDENTS SARA MIRANDA-Ngaiza, Elias Urang, Elise Mical and Ainsley Watson stand under the just-raised flag, which will fly through the rest of this academic year. Independent photo/Steve James
- AINSLEY WATSON AND Elise Mical carry out their usual job of raising the U.S. and Vermont flags. Independent photo/Steve James












