By Tori Putman, Staff Writer — This year, the district decided to host a new program called Diversity Day. It took place on Jan. 15 at the high school from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Everyone was invited to attend, free of charge. The purpose of Diversity Day was to celebrate the diversity and talents of students from grades K-12.

The event included multiple different performances and showcases from within the district including all grades. Dances and performances from the choir were all included in the evening’s activities as well as the battle of the brush, community collaboration concert, peace rooms and the Elec Simon concert. The director of the evening was Oakwood Middle School’s Principal Brian Matthews.

“My favorite part was seeing everyone come together to celebrate the diversity of our community and the display of the arts,” Matthews said.

Throughout the night, there were performances from the Drifters and the high school and middle school dancers. There were also art pieces created by the district art classes on display. Traditional dances of different cultures were showcased such as a Greek dance that was performed on the Abbey Foltz stage.

The main goal of the night was to demonstrate the importance of diversity within many cultures and the iconic leaders who helped showcase this importance into our society.

“Our community has so many different cultures blended together, which really makes this night special to help showcase all our community is made of,” senior Carolyn Matthews said, who helped work the evenings events.

Demonstrations from iconic leaders such as Gandhi and Rosa Parks were showcased throughout the night. Students were placed in classrooms with props and message boards to show the visitors about the esteemed works of some of the most renowned leaders that helped to demonstrate diversity in society.

“It is important that people learn about how diversity is important to our society and about the works of some of the greatest leaders such as Gandhi,” senior Matt Andrews said.

The turnout was better than expected.

“The committee was so excited about the large crowd who came out to celebrate the great things happening in our district,” Matthews said.

The district is already planning on hosting the event again next year with even more exciting additions.

“We will definitely be back next year with many new and exciting ideas to involve our students and community,” Matthews said.

Overall, the first ever Plain Local Diversity Day had a large turnout.

[Updated Aug. 8, 2017: This article has been reformatted for consistency.]