CROWN POINT | The Crown Point High School Muslim Students Association celebrated Ramadan on Thursday with about 130 students and a dozen teachers sharing a feast at the end of the day.

The organization was established last year by senior Sarah Shaaban and 2007 graduate Maryam Khalid. Its goal is to educate the student body about Muslims and their beliefs. The sponsor is Spanish teacher Dana Zurbriggen.

For billions of Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a monthlong period of blessing marked by prayer, fasting and charity.

The association chose Thursday as the 2007 Fast-A-Thon, and invited students and faculty to participate in a one-day fast.

Shaaban, association president, said participants were encouraged to eat a hearty breakfast before the sun rose. They fasted more than 12 hours, not eating or drinking anything until the sun set and the fast was broken.

Shaaban said fasting gives Muslims an opportunity to think about charity, practice self-control and cleanse the body and mind.

"For me, when the distractions are removed, it's time to focus on the spiritual," she told the crowd in the school's cafeteria. "I feel more mentally alert."

In addition to educating students and faculty about Muslim culture, the association raised $750 for charity. It intends to donate that money to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana. Every dollar contributed will buy five meals, they said.

Last year, the organization raised $500 for charity.

Several non-Muslim students came out to support their Muslim friends.

Junior Nile Sobek said she is Buddhist, and she always has been interested in different religions.

"The school is not especially diverse but most people are pretty open," she said.