AUBURN – Stepping up to the microphone Friday wearing karate-styled top and pants, Leilani Ricardo shouted, “Are you ready to see a dragon dance?”

“Yeeaaahhhh!” her audience – Park Avenue Elementary School students – yelled back.

With a clanging of bells, members of the Maine Thunder Spirits of Limerick got under a Chinese dragon and brought it to life.

The dragon danced around the gymnasium, flashing vibrant colors, bobbing its head and body, giving students some lessons in Asian folklore and culture.

This week was Diversity Week at the school, and Friday was Diversity Day, brought to the school by the civil rights team.

All week long students were exposed to new cultures and people who are different. “It’s a celebration of diversity,” Principal Vickie Gaylord said. “We do foster acceptance of diverse cultures, and acceptance of differences in people.”

Teachings from different cultures were infused into lessons throughout the week. Flags from different nations were hung. Even the lunch menu reflected the week. Monday’s lunch celebrated England with shepherd’s pie. Tuesday was Chinese stir fry, Wednesday saw peanut butter and jelly celebrating the United States, Thursday was Italian spaghetti day, and Friday, Mexican fajitas.

On Friday, the normal lessons were replaced with workshops. Students heard Fatuma Hussein explain Somali culture and customs. They watched Irish dance, learned about Indian culture and South American art.

Students also met people with disabilities, learning what life is like for deaf people. They met William Picard of Lewiston, who has cerebral palsy and uses an electric wheelchair to get around and computer to communicate. Picard did several presentations to students. His overall message was that “everyone can do everything if they keep trying,” Picard said Friday.

Sitting in the gym waiting for the dragon dance, Neve Billham, 10, said she found the week interesting. She learned that Asia is more than forests and trees; that it has different religions, ancient buildings, different clothing.

It’s smart for students to learn about different cultures and religions, Billham said. That allows them “to get into other people’s shoes.”

After the performance started, the Maine Thunder Spirits youths wowed the crowd with high-energy movement that combined drumming, dance, martial arts and gymnastics. Much of their dance resembled that of ancient warriors.

The performers had a message. The real weapons to fight today’s battle of hatred and bigotry “are patience, love and kindness, understanding and peace,” said lead performer Leilani Ricardo. “We have to be patient in our fight against people who are impatient. We have to be kind in our fight against cruelty. We have to have understanding to fight ignorance.”

The tools to gain those weapons are knowledge and understanding, which can be achieved from working hard in school, she said. The assembly ended with Ricardo urging students to “go out and do a good deed today. Be patient, kind and understanding.”

Just before school was dismissed and February vacation began, third-graders in Karla Downs’ room sat down for circle time. Students talked about what they learned.

“I learned not to tease people who have disabilities,” one boy said.

“I learned what matters is on the inside, not the outside,” one girl said.

“The reason why some people from Somalia moved here is because Somalia has been in war for 17 years (and to escape) waking up with gunshots,” one boy said.

One girl summed up the week with a simple sentence: “Just because some people look different doesn’t mean they are different.”