This year, Cupid’s arrow will hit its mark on Wednesday, February 14. AHS students will be celebrating Valentine’s Day in many ways.
One way AHS will celebrate is by decorating cards for nursing home residents. Students can make cards during TAS sessions or during Advisory, and Student Senate members will deliver them.
Along with the cards, some advisories, like Mr. H.U. and Mr. Young, will celebrate with a potluck when they are together for flex period. Sarah Mawdsley says, “I’m super psyched for free food and an excuse to eat a lot of chocolate.”
Outside of school, some students will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with other people. Students at AHS were surveyed on Valentine’s Day. Of the ones celebrating, 37% will be celebrating with their friends, 31.5% with their significant other, and 27.8% with their family. When asked their favorite thing about the holiday, the responses were split between candy/chocolate and sharing/celebrating love with others. AHS students are saying Valentine’s Day is more of a pink holiday than a red holiday.
Need a gift? Everyone loves chocolate, flowers, and maybe even a stuffed animal. Another option could be a gift card and a favorite drink. You could also give a blanket, some popcorn, and then put on your favorite rom-com.
Traveling back in time, Valentine’s Day originated in A.D. Rome. It was celebrated by the Romans as Lupercalia. According to History.com, it was believed actions in this holiday would result in increased fertility and purification. Women were then paired with the city’s young bachelors, and these matches typically ended in marriage.
The holiday is also based on the two St. Valentine Christian martyrs from Rome. One of them was a priest who would marry couples. He defied the emperor’s decree that young men couldn’t get married and was in turn beheaded. The other one was a prisoner who helped Christians escape. He was rumored to have fallen in love with the jailor’s daughter. He wrote her a letter and signed it “From your Valentine.”
Today, Valentine’s Day is a holiday of love for significant others, friends, family, and maybe even candy and chocolate.