On October 6, the Red, Orange, and Yellow Clusters 
had their first-ever Lower Division Assembly, led by Lower Division Director Donna Logue. Since this was the first assembly ever solely for the Lower Division, the students began the assembly by unveiling a flag designed to be presented at all future assemblies. They then joined together to sing True Colors by Cyndi Lauper, which will become the opening song for all assemblies. Ms. Chiappisi led the students on vocals, and Mr. Piedmont played the instrumental for the song on keyboard. Listen to Season 2, Episode 7 of Gator Gab below to hear a clip of the students singing!
The theme of this assembly was Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Ms. Logue began her presentation by introducing the indigenous people that used to live in Manhattan, and what the land that the city is now on used to look like. The students also learned about the story of the Water Walker, Josephine Mandamin. A member of the Ojibwe people, Mandamin walked around the perimeter of the Great Lakes from 2003 to 2017 in an effort to bring attention to the importance of protecting clean water sources. 
She was joined by other women, men, and youth during her walks, and her final walk included a thousand participants. After learning about Mandamin’s story and her mission, the students volunteered their own ideas about the importance of water and why Mandamin was passionate about this mission. For more information about Mandamin, here is an article about her and her work, as well as a children’s book published in 2017.