LEWISTON – Despite a few flakes of snow, some 30 people came together Saturday morning for a 2-mile “Diversity Peace Walk.”

“It went well, even though it was really cold,” said co-organizer Abby Blaisdell, 15, a Lewiston High School sophomore. The walk was held to discourage bias and prejudice and to promote diversity.

“It opened the eyes of people to appreciate and celebrate how so many people in the community are from different backgrounds,” Blaisdell said after the walk.

When someone wears different clothes or has a foreign way of talking, “it may seem weird,” she said. “Differences can push people apart without them realizing it. We’re now realizing those differences can bring us together.”

Compared to 10 years ago, the high school has students from many more ethnic backgrounds – including Somali, Mexican, Chinese and Greek – and English is not their first language.

The recent infusion of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds “is an opportunity to get to know all these people from these cultures,” Blaisdell said.

When it comes to diversity, the climate at the high school is good, she said. “There may still be some bias or hate, but at the middle school we weren’t used to all the different cultures.”

Other walk organizers were Kelsey Cope-Norris, Allison Lafreniere and Alexus Crockett, all sophomores, and Erin Bliss of Bates College.

The walk was sponsored by the high school’s student Community Action Team, which is part of the Unity Project. The project is a collaborative effort among the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, Bates College and Maine high schools.

– Bonnie Washuk