Vibrant reds, greens and blues jump out from the squares of a quilt that is complete.

Each square showcases a personality or a country of origin.

All 30 squares come together to represent the diversity at Austin High School.

Members of the Austin High School diversity club, Fusion, and English as a Second Language students have been working on the quilt since last May, said Fusion President Cody Wyant.

"I think it turned out really well," Wyant said.

Last year, a Fusion Club member came up with the idea as a way to display the variety of cultures at the school.

The members visited ESL classes and gave each student a square piece of cloth and markers and asked them to draw anything that represented their interests or culture.

"The students really enjoyed doing that last year," said Chris Wytaske, ESL teacher and new Fusion adviser.

Fusion plans to work more with the ESL classes and will have meetings during class time because that seemed to work best for ESL students, Wyant said.

AHS has 34 students who take the ESL classes, Wytaske said. Students come from a variety of countries, such as Cuba, Vietnam and Kazakhstan.

At Fusion's meeting, the quilt was still in two pieces. The sides were sewn together and a dark purple border was sewn around it, Wyant said.

When the quilt is complete, it will be displayed in the commons area at AHS.

"We thought it would be a way to represent the diversity at the high school," Wyant said.

Cari Quam can be reached at 434-2235 or by e-mail at cari.quam@austindailyherald.com