Flags from around the world installed on Main Street

Flags from countries around the world were installed along the wall of Main Street on Dec. 18, 2018. Colorful and vibrant, the flags decorated the previously plain, white walls of Main Street. The flags are visible from the stairwells of all three floors on both sides of the school.  

The flags were installed just in time for RM’s International Night, where students performed and showcased their heritage.

“We put up flags on Main Street because we’re an IB world school, and this school truly does look like the world…I wanted students to be able to see their country or where they’re from, their home, represented on the walls,” principal Damon Monteleone said.

Sophomore George Sellers echoed Monteleone’s sentiments. “It’s nice to have something material to really represent Richard Montgomery as a ‘world school.’ We always hear that Richard Montgomery is an international school, but we don’t have anything other than the students to show that,” Sellers said.

However, other students think that the message of diversity is lost through the flags.

“When I first saw the flags, I was a bit intimidated by the sheer size and number. I understand that it is meant to be a gesture of unity within diversity I guess but that message seems a bit lost to most of the student body,” junior Eujin Lee said.

“While speaking to my peers about what they thought about the flags, most of them thought it was a hollow action that made the school seem to be trying too hard to enforce the image of embracing diversity,” Lee added. “The flags come across as more for creating an ideal image for the school rather than to actually encourage embracing diversity or whatever the message of flags was meant to be.”

Some flags have yet to be installed, two of which are Sudan and Israel. The flags have been ordered and will be installed on arrival.