East Kentwood's graduation ceremony showcased its diversity.

KENTWOOD, Mich. — East Kentwood High School—one of the biggest schools in West Michigan—graduated 608 students on Friday night.

While the ceremony had the usual pomp and circumstance, East Kentwood Principal Omar Bakri did something unique to highlight the school's diversity.

"Wherever you go from here, graduates, on your next journey," he told the students, "just know that you will always, always have friends from the following countries."

Bakri then listed over 60 countries as students from each of those nations stood up.

The list included: Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Burma, Canada, China, Columbia, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Somalia, Spain, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Netherlands, Turkey, Vietnam, Virgin Islands and the United States of America.

Omar Arredondo, an English Language Learner interventionist in the district who is also a video producer, posted a clip of the ceremony on his Facebook page. It has since been shared over 1,000 times and getting tens of thousands of views.

"If you ever question if other cultures, ethnicities and races can coexist, stop. Because we do it every single day at East Kentwood," he said in the post.

Arredondo graduated from East Kentwood in 2012.

Facebook users who commented on the video praised the district's diversity. "This was just one of the absolutely breathtaking moments of the night," Dominic Lowe commented.

"I am proud to be a part of such a great school system," said Larry King on the video.

"Exactly why we chose Kentwood for our children’s public education," commented Trisha Spaulding.

Kentwood Public Schools is the most diverse district in Michigan, and the seventh most diverse in the country.

Some of that diversity comes from Bethany Christian Services, which brings refugees to West Michigan. In 2017, the district said they had students from over 60 different countries, speaking over 70 different languages.

As Bakri finished reading the list at the graduation ceremony, every student was standing and cheering.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am so proud to present to you the East Kentwood High School world class graduates of 2019—forever Falcons" he said.

Kentwood Public Schools The "Niche" ratings and rankings have come out and, as in the past, they have ranked East Kentwood High School #1 in diversity in the State. This year they also ranked East Kentwood #2 for standout...

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