INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Hundreds of schoolchildren joined Indiana’s congressional delegation, Gov. Mike Pence and others at the Statehouse to mark the start of a year of celebrations leading up to the state’s bicentennial.

While Friday’s gathering in Indianapolis was under way, officials in cities and towns around the state raised official bicentennial flags simultaneously at noon Friday to help mark the countdown to next December’s bicentennial.

More than 500 4th-graders and some 200 guests joined Pence at the Statehouse for Friday’s event.

The governor told the gathering that “Indiana has a remarkably rich history” that will be celebrated during the next year with a variety of community-led projects focusing on history, natural conservation, community involvement and the education of Indiana’s children.

Indiana became the nation’s 19th state on Dec. 11, 1816.