PARIS — The Strategic Planning Committee and members of the Oxford Hills School District community took its first step Wednesday night to “build a bridge to the future.”

More than 150 people from the district showed up to help begin the process that will end in the development of a new five- to 10-year strategic plan for the district.

“I think it’s really important,” Celia Pieterich, a parent who also serves on the Strategic Planning Committee.

Calling the district “a bold and creative community,” Strategic Planning Committee Chairman Jared Cash welcomed people to the two-hour public forum that was designed to bring new ideas about the district’s future.

“We want your help,” Cash said.

He outlined where the school was 17 years ago, when the last strategic plan was created, and asked people to reflect on their world in the late 1990s.

“Where were you in life and what was the world you were living in?” Cash asked. He said he was a fifth-grader at Rowe Elementary School in Norway learning how to maneuver the mouse on the school’s only Macintosh computer.

Superintendent Rick Colpitts talked about the district’s demographics and other data that showed many things, including how many miles the school buses travel each day to how many snacks are served to students each year.

Assistant Superintendent Patrick Hartnett demonstrated the “fishbowl conversations” he wanted participants to have later in the evening by asking a half-dozen “facilitators” to gather in a group to talk about their reaction to a video about changes in the world.

“As our communities change, the opportunities for kids will change,” Hartnett said.

Another group member said, “We have no clue what’s going to happen but I truly believe it’s about character.”

Participants formed groups to share their responses to seven questions drawn up by the committee. The questions ranged from which aspect of the academic program stands as a model of excellence to which two or three actions would best promise to improve the school’s experience for students.

The Strategic Planning Committee will put all the ideas, suggestions and feedback from the public into the working draft of the plan, which will ultimately go to the school board for approval and adoption.

The Strategic Planning Committee represents longtime community members, alumni, parents of students, former teachers, SAD 17 board members, current teachers and administrators. It has been meeting with committee facilitator Duke Albanese, senior policy adviser at Great Plains Partnership and state education commissioner during Gov. Angus King’s two terms, since July to work on the plan.

The idea for the group began back in July 2012, when Colpitts told school directors it would be part of a districtwide effort to develop a vision for students. The result could provide the district with what could be a vastly different educational environment than the one they have now to address changes in the educational needs of students and changes in society.

Several schools in Maine, including Auburn, Portland and Winthrop, completed their visions, which were tailored toward their district’s needs, and have been implementing their plans over the past year.

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