Remote learning for students begins with understanding how to work together as a team while overcoming social and distance barriers
WASHINGTON, FL, UNITED STATES, January 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) is proudly supporting the MY AMERICA project in cooperation with the The Rendon Group, a Boston-based strategic communications agency, and Empower Peace, a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing youth leadership around the world.
USDLA understands the importance of building an early social and civic foundation for our early learners who will more than likely become remote students at some point in their careers and lives.
MY AMERICA is a nationwide, youth-driven art and civic engagement campaign that honors our past, reflects on our present, and inspires our future.
Through artistic expression, civic action, and public commemoration, MY AMERICA has embarked on a project that will empower young people across all 50 states to reflect on what unity, democracy, and being American means today by creating a large mosaic of an American flag made up of thousands of individual tiles with messages, drawings, poems. Upon its completion, it is expected that the flag mosaic will be 150 feet long x 80 feet wide, half the size of a football field.
MY AMERICA is a movement of purpose and participation, much like the world of distance learning. It reminds us that the American story is ongoing, and that the next chapter will be written by our youth who believe in the ideals that bind us together. As distance learning becomes more prevalent in every aspect of our lives, it is important that we reinforce the value of remote collaboration as early as possible through projects such as MY AMERICA.
Building a large flag mosaic representing youth voices across the nation may seem daunting, but The Rendon Group has done it before. In the days following September 11, 2001, our country searched for ways to heal and unite. While adults could volunteer or give blood, there were few ways for young people to express their grief and hope. The United We Stand for America Campaign changed that. This statewide civic engagement effort in Massachusetts gave young people, from elementary through high school, a voice in a time of national grief. It offered them not just a project, but a platform to channel their emotions, hopes, and patriotism into something lasting.
With art as the medium, students were invited to create messages of peace, unity, and patriotism on 6-inch square fabric tiles. The response was incredible — more than 50,000 tiles from 750 schools and classrooms came together to form a 120ft x 65ft giant mosaic of the American flag, a powerful symbol of resilience and solidarity and support for first-responders. The massive American flag mosaic – 120ft x 65ft — was unveiled to a crowd of more than 3,500 students and teachers and has since been displayed at the Esplanade and Boston Common for the 10th and 20th Anniversary.
Now, as America marks its 250th anniversary, a new generation will once again lead the way, using art and imagination to create a flag that reflects their vision for our nation’s future. Together, the two mosaics, one born from healing, the other from hope, will stand side by side as enduring symbols of youth leadership and America’s shared story. At time of this release, there are already 14,000 students registered from 300 classrooms across 17 states. The new flag will be unveiled in Boston this December, 2026.
To learn more about this incredible project, visit https://www.myamerica2026.org/.
About USDLA
The United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) connects the people, practices, and policies that focus on achieving the highest potential of distance and digital learning, education, and training. If you serve learners at a distance, we serve you.
We are the premier professional membership organization designed to advocate and support the needs of distance education (DE) leaders. Our resources support the DE professional community who serve education, business, health, and government.
Founded in 1987, we were the first nonprofit distance learning association in the United States. Today we continue to research and share best practices in the utilization of distance learning modalities both nationally and internationally.
We host an annual distance learning conference where leaders, educators, instructional designers and others mingle, discuss e-learning technology and learn from an audience broader than our own. Join us at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Tower June 22 – 25th, 2026 to experience in-person interactions, hands-on networking and personal relationship development.
About The Rendon Group
The Rendon Group (TRG) is a Boston- and Washington, D.C.–based strategic communications and event-production firm with more than 40 years of experience inspiring action and shaping impact. TRG specializes in public engagement campaigns, coalition building, and large-scale events that bring people together around causes that matter. From concept to completion, TRG has a proven record of transforming ideas into movements that inform, inspire, and unite.
Pat Cassella
United States Distance Learning Association
+1 203-980-6928
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