ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- As Black History Month comes to an end, Mountain View Elementary School hosted “Soul Fest” for families and students to celebrate their heritage.

On Friday evening, families joined Mountain View for several demonstrations by students and community leaders on why Black history is so important.

“We love to just honor and celebrate all of our Black and African-American students, families, and community partners. We put a lot of time and energy into planning art, and theater, we have food samples and a wonderful Black-owned food truck. It’s just really important to us as a school to come together and celebrate all of our children,” said Jess Chandler, third-grade teacher. 

Chandler said it was important to her as a teacher for students to understand each other's cultures.

Students had the opportunity to be a part of a fashion show for clothes that were borrowed or passed down from their families to represent their heritage. Two students shared how awesome they felt to be a part of it. 

“That made me feel happy and excited that I was going to be in my first fashion show,” said fifth-grader Alyssa.

“I just loved how we’re celebrating Black people in their honor,” said Kimberly, another fifth-grade student.

There were walls filled with artwork Mountain View students created while learning about the history of African-Americans. 

Food was brought in and shared for others to understand the cultures from which some of these children come.