The monthly Great Gator assembly at Southgate celebrated December’s theme of empathy and compassion. The featured speaker was Jeff Wernick, who was representing Hatsgiving, an organization that collects winter hats for children who are undergoing cancer treatments. Jeff’s son Jeremy, a North Colonie alum, created the organization a decade ago when he was in school at Shaker. Jeff spoke about how our Gators can show empathy and compassion in both big and small ways every day. He challenged our Gators to ask themselves, “How did you help someone today?”