AUSTIN -- Austin ISD students are observing Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy with the help of the Peace Through Pie program.
Culinary students at Travis High helped put on a pie social for students Thursday, letting students share their traditions and diversity through their favorite foods.
"I think it's about people getting together and learning things about each other and interacting," said student Christina Kriskey. "I think that's a good experience for everyone."
The movement was cooked up by Austin resident Luanne Stovall, who was moved to start baking and share with the community after watching a documentary on King.
"The Martin Luther King holiday does not have, did not have a culinary tradition that would celebrate the meaning, and the meaning is the most beautiful meaning of all, which is the meaning of inclusiveness and that diversity makes something great," she said.
The message was quickly scooped up by groups in Central Texas and across the country, but it started in 2009 with Travis High the first campus taking part. In 2016, more than 250 Peace Through Pie gatherings are taking part across the U.S.
After sampling each other's creations, the last course was a pie eating contest.
"The best thing you can do is to make peace together, if you bring the food in there it's like a communion through pies" Stovall said.
More Austin ISD campuses across the district will be holding their own Peace Through Pie socials Friday and next week.
