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Steamboat Springs — Normally, Theo Hansen and Alta Kaster sit on the far side of the Soda Creek Elementary lunchroom closest to the windows and the playground.

But Tuesday, they mixed it up and sat with classmates Anders Brockway, Mattie McQueen and Quinn Higgins at the table closest to the door and the milk containers.

"You should meet other people you don't quite know," Theo, 6, said.

Getting to know new people is just one of the messages Steamboat Springs School District organizers of "Mix It Up at Lunch Day" hoped to pass along Tuesday.

The nationally run program's concept is simple: on Tuesday, students of all ages were encouraged to sit with someone new during lunch, a place where positive interaction outside of established groups is uncommon.

"Mix It Up Lunch Day helps teach young people the value of integrated living," said Mix It Up director Tafeni English. "Many of our prejudices and biases tend to fall away when we mix with and meet new people."

At Soda Creek, students received a playing card when they entered the lunchroom. The students had to sit at the table that corresponded with their numbers and symbols.

"They want us to basically know each other more," second-grader Lyta Foulk, 8, said.

Lyta normally doesn't sit with Mackenzie Ward during lunch, but the two girls knew each other through the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

"We do dry-land training together," Mackenzie, said.

Talk about the Winter Sports Club prompted Jaci Racine, Isabella Pacheck and Ethan Walker to start talking about winter. Soon, the five second-graders were engaged in conversation.

Soda Creek began the program last year, and counselor Valerie McCarthy conducts the event once a month.

"We started it for the purpose of helping with diversity and kids being accepting of others," McCarthy said.

Mix It Up also allows children to practice interpersonal communication skills with people they don't know. They will use those skills throughout their lives.

The value of interpersonal communication was emphasized at Steamboat Springs Middle School, which also held "Mix It Up at Lunch Day."

"Beforehand, they were definitely not looking forward to it," said school-based mentor Laura Vermeulen, who was placed at the middle school through Partners in Routt County. "But it went well. They talked to people they didn't normally talk to. A few kids asked if we could do it more often."

Elementary children often do not have difficulty interacting with each other because distinct social groups are not firm. As the children get older, having students sit with people they don't know well is more difficult, Vermeulen said.

"That's why it was important for us to do," Vermeulen said. "The overall feeling in the cafeteria was different."

The middle school students were grouped together randomly, but Vermeulen tried to make the tables an even mix of boys and girls.

Steamboat Springs High School began Mix It Up years ago, and the students there also participated Tuesday. Lucianne Myhre is credited with introducing the program to the district.

This year, an estimated 4 million students in 9,000 schools were expected to participate in Mix It Up Day.