Lewiston Middle School is now perennially colorful, thanks to the Lewiston Middle School Civil Rights Team. On Monday, September 29, fifty volunteers, consisting of Civil Rights Team members, Bates students, school staff and parents gathered for a party, a Garden Party that is! All of the Garden Party attendees bustled to the cafeteria, but that was only the beginning. After we were all split into groups, cleverly named after fall flowers and we headed outside. We played a few team building games on the field in back of Lewiston Middle School, we enjoyed a delicious snack donated by Bates College, and then the real gardening began.

As all of the party people made it to their designated tree, vibrant pots of chrysanthemums were being distributed. There were yellow, pink, white, red and purple mums. The groups switched and swapped. Then came the artistic part, when the groups arranged the flowers around their tree, which everyone did very nicely. Soon, shovels (and some hands) dug into the ground making holes for the mums, while others removed the mums from the pot. Not long after that, the planting was completed. The planters of the Garden Party were dirty, but we were proud. We left the school that day a brighter more welcoming place to be. That is surely something to be proud of!