The high school was temporarily transformed Friday for the 13th annual Exploration of World Cultures Day. On this day, students get the chance to learn about other cultures through different activities like visiting informational booths that focus on a country or certain part of the world, eating authentic worldly foods, Spanish dancing and Cajun music.

"I liked the flamenco performance,"Mt. Pleasant junior Samantha Bonter said as she ate lunch. Her friend, Courtney Keim, said she enjoyed watching the belly dancers.

"They were good,"Keim said.

This is the third culture day that Keim has attended and she said she always looks forward to them.

Junior Courtney Pittsley said her favorite part of the day was eating the Mexican food.

"It was good!"she said. "There was food from all over the world. Mt. Pleasant High School spokeswoman Robin Mower said the day is used to expose students to different cultural traditions and languages. "We hope students will develop an interest in enjoying music, food, dance, art and languages of other cultures,"Mower said.

Students from the Integrated Social Studies and World History classes created the displays and props for the event.

World language teacher Rebekah Eichorn said the students have worked really hard to put the event on.

"They worked all week,"she said as she points to the brightly colored maps they created.

Eichorn said this is a time for students to experience cultures that they are not used to.

"It's been fun,"she said.

Mt. Pleasant Principal Jeff Thoenes said the event is always a great time. Although he was busy the day of the event, Thoenes did manage to catch a student performance earlier in the day.

"I liked it,"he said of the performances. "I liked the poetry reading. As sophomore Danny Logan sat with the Southern Africa display, he offered "Kashata"which is a sweet food that is popular in Southern Africa.

"I like all the people and the food too,"he said. Logan said he hopes to be able to travel to China one day.

Sophomore Juliet Djietror, originally from Ghana, offered flour cookies to those passing by. She was in charge of the West Africa booth. "I made them last night,"Djietror said of the cookies.

Djietror moved to the United States when she was entering the seventh grade. She said she already knew the English language because in Ghana she was taught both English and French.

Besides not having to sit in a classroom all day, she said it is important to educate others about different cultures.

Just down the hall from Djietror, senior Heather Burch sat behind a currency exchange rate booth labeled "International Financial Institution.

"With the economy the way it is now, it is important to know the exchange rate if you are traveling,"Burch said.

If students can successfully answer a few questions about the exchange rates, they got a sucker.

Burch said she always looks forward to learning about the different cultures.

"I get to see what is going on in different countries  I don't see this every day,"she said.

In the gymnasium a couple of students were getting the crowd pumped up to listen to the Back Bayou Cajun band.

"If you can hear me clap one time,"said junior Matt Boles to the packed crowd.

"If you are excited to be here give a round of applause!"he shouted. The whole gymnasium started clapping and shouting in anticipation of the band.

Foreign exchange student Alan Garcia, who is from Mexico, said it's important to educate others about the different cultures.

"It's a great idea. It's important to know about other cultures,"said Garcia, who was also pumping up the crowd.

"C'mon, we have to get people to dance,"Boles said to Garcia. Both took off into the bleachers pulling people from their seats and onto the dance floor.

The annual event is funded by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.