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player ready...What do a group of teens do when they think Naperville’s grand old flag isn’t so grand? They roll out a campaign to create a new one.
“I have had the privilege of experiencing so many of the things that Naperville has to offer and am proud to be a lifelong resident of our great community,” 16-year-old Connor Tenny said. “But something that our city lacks that many cities use to their advantage is a strong city flag.”
Naperville’s current flag consists of a blue city logo on a white background, and Tenny said, many are unaware of the flag’s existence.
“Only 30 miles away from us, Chicago has a city flag that is essentially omnipresent, whether on apparel, business logos, or flying above the city,” Tenny said. “Naperville is a great city, and we need a great flag that shows this, one that we can take pride in.”
Inspired by a Roman Mars’ TED Talk on flag design, Tenny reached out to a group of his friends and suggested they watch the video as well. Within days, he was joined by fellow Neuqua Valley High School sophomores Jack Penrose, Haider Sarwar, Ritvik Manda, Nathan Ashta and Andy Wang, and a Campaign for a Better Flag was born.
On Feb. 19, the group launched their website, NapervilleFlag.org, and invited members of the community to submit a design for a city flag that they hope will ultimately be adopted. They reached out to local business and community leaders, and began sharing their quest for a new flag.
“One thing we have been thinking about all along is the reason why we are doing this,” 15-year-old Andy Wang said. “We are doing this because of the sense of community that we have with Naperville; something like this flag project would unite our community and give us something we could all rally behind.”
Wang and Ritvik Manda presented the group’s campaign to the Rotary Club of Naperville Sunrise at a Rotary meeting Friday.
“They gave a spirited promotion of this project that they have to develop a flag for the city,” said Rich Cullen, a Rotary Club member. “They are very enthusiastic about it and they seem to know what they are doing. The reaction was very positive.”
The response to their website has been positive as well. Within a week of launching, they received more than 15 flag submissions, and were told that one local school plans to make the flag design a classroom assignment.
“I have found that the Naperville community is really supportive and people from all over have been helping us,” Tenny said.
City of Naperville communications manager Linda LaCloche said she likes the teens’ commitment.
“I admire the students’ passion and their desire to pursue the study of vexillology,” LaCloche said. “We will need to research our city code and how it applies to the city’s flag and use of the city’s logo.”
Arthur Zards, founder and curator of TEDxNaperville, said the students are doing exactly what his group hopes to inspire with its programs.
“My reaction is pure awe and admiration that someone is taking the next step in the concept of TED talks,” said Arthur Zards, founder and curator of TEDxNaperville. “TED talks are all about ‘ideas worth spreading,’ but what happens next? The evolution is to take new ideas, and create action. That’s just what these kids are doing. This initiative will be a shining example that people can make a difference in their community, and that ideas can inspire action.”
“I’m impressed with the students maturity, and professionalism in their initiative. Their communication to me, the website design, and marketing content is all top notch and on par with any seasoned business.”
The contest is currently open, and they plan to unveil the winning flag in November. As the campaign is in its infancy, they are learning and growing as it grows.
“Some of the ‘how’ (questions) that we are working on are not as important as the ‘why’ (are we doing this) questions,” Wang said. “Naperville is a great community and at the end of the day, it deserves a great flag to represent it.”
Nathan Ashta, 16, shared the sentiment.
“Being a part of this flag campaign is important to me because I feel very loyal (to) and full of pride for Naperville,” said Ashta, a lifelong resident. “This flag campaign gives me an opportunity to give Naperville the flag it certainly deserves as it is truly a great city.”
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Jane Donahue is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.