In Johnson v. Poway Unified School Dist. (9th Cir. 2011) 658 F.3d 954, the Ninth Circuit rejected a First Amendment establishment clause challenge based on a teacher's display of Tibetan prayer flags. The teacher testified that the flags were used as part of a discussion of fossils found on and near Mount Everest. The Johnson court summarized the teacher's use of the flags as follows: "She explained that she uses the flags as part of her discussion of fossils found on and near Mount Everest because the flags are authentic--bought in Nepal near Mount Everest--and are typically purchased by climbers to put 'at the top of Mount Everest when they reach the peak.' She described how she typically shows a video of scientists taking cores samples on Everest and uses the flags to further stimulate the interest of her students. She said that the flags 'represent climbing a mountain' and accomplishing 'an amazing goal.'" (Johnson, supra, 658 F.3d at pp. 973-974.) The Johnson court concluded that the teacher's display of the flags did not violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment because they were not used to advance a religious purpose, notwithstanding that the flags might have religious significance in some contexts. In reaching this conclusion, the court reasoned: "Though the flags may very well represent the Buddhist faith, their use by Poway has nothing to do with their religious connotation. Instead, the evidence in this case demonstrates that the district uses the flags to stimulate interest in science and scientific discovery without any mention of religion. Thus, while the flags might themselves contain 'religious content ...' citation, the primary effect of the school's use was entirely secular ... ." (Johnson, supra, 658 F.3d at p. 974.)