RUMFORD — Mason Milligan learned that racism is still out there in the community and sometimes in school. Erika Thibodeau didn’t realize that French Canadians immigrated to Maine to get jobs. And Jon Petrie learned that only a very few Muslims are terrorists. Most are everyday people just like everyone else.

These Mountain Valley High School students, and every other student, had a chance all day Monday to participate in Diversity Day — a time to learn about varying cultures, religions and lifestyles.

“It’s great for the kids to know about different things outside of Rumford. Here, everyone is basically the same,” said Petrie, a Rumford sophomore who had just listened to a presentation on the history of African-Americans in Northern New England.

Milligan, a freshman, attended a presentation by a local black family who moved into the area.

“These families have hard struggles with a lot of racism. Some in school, but not as bad as outside,” he said.

Others chose to learn about the Franco-American experience.

Presenter Pearlie LaChance, a Waterville historian, spoke of the many French-Canadians who became popular boxers in the state. But although they were of French-Canadian descent, they often were given Irish or Spanish names, like Pancho Villa or Al McCoy.

He said many French-Canadians stayed in Skowhegan or Waterville when they came to this country because they walked from Canada and those towns were among the first they encountered.

The first Catholic Mass was held at a still-standing building in Waterville, he said.

Rumford Town Manager Carlo Puiia and substitute teacher, Josephine Umbro, spoke of the Italian immigration to the area, and some of the traditions, while Umbro showed students how ravioli is made.

Puiia said every holiday meal includes some kind of pasta dish. He’s already made dozens of ravioli dishes for the upcoming season.

Other students visited presentations by various religions or denominations such as Jehovah Witnesses, Evangelical churches, Catholicism and paganism, while others learned what it was like to move from Somalia, Thailand and other countries to rural Maine.

Aruna Kenyi fled Sudan because of violent civil wars, graduated from Portland High School, and is now attending the University of Maine at Farmington where he hopes to get a degree as a high school health teacher. He was one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan” as filmed in the public television Point of View series.

He read some of his writings to Mountain Valley students, then fielded questions.

“Here you elect your president. In many other countries, the president is chosen by force,” he said.

One student asked that if Kenyi killed the Sudanese president, would Kenyi become president.

“Pretty much,” Kenyi said.

Abby Day, a Rumford sophomore, thought Monday was a great opportunity to learn about many things.

“It’s great to learn what else is out there,” she said.

Principal Matt Gilbert said the day was organized, by staff members Jeff Bailey and Barbara Radmore, to give students a chance to see the world through someone else’s eyes.

Bailey said today’s students will be working in a world that is more globally connected than ever before.

Keynote addresses were presented by Charles Rotmil, one of a few remaining Holocaust survivors living in Maine, and Steve Coleman, a man who lost his sight at age 19 and has gone on to teach.

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