A school is a wonderful place to be on Valentine's Day.  The excitement begins the minute the children enter the building as Valentine's Day is a non-uniform day, which is always fun. This day especially because the children dress in clothes that represent the holiday and the sea of red, white and pink is a vibrant contrast to the usual uniform.  Ms. Rossbach, the Lower School art teacher, adds to the celebration with beautifully created face paints that make the children simply glow.  Of course, it is also the perfect time to sing songs, read books, and perform skits about kindness and friendship.

Our parents once again show up to decorate the cafeteria and to help with partys in various classrooms.  Some of the classes do the traditional valentine exchange (but you must bring valentines for everyone) and others have come up with other ways of showing people you care.  In Kindergarten, the children have had a secret admirer for several weeks.  They mailed letters to them and gave them hints as to who they might be.  On Valentine's Day, each child brings their secret admirer a piece of their favorite candy and then the fun begins.  One by one, the chidlren sit in the special rocking chair and try to guess who is their secret admirer. After two guesses, the drum roll begins and on the count of three their secret admirer pops up.  The squeals and hugs that errupt when the admirer is revealed makes for many special moments during the afternoon.  I know because I too got to participate and found myself excited to discover who had been sending me those special notes.    

The 4th graders celebrated Valentine's Day in a very non-traditional way, but certainly within the theme of kindness and thoughtfulness.  Both Ms. Kimmerle and Mr. Clear are going to celebrate the birth of a first child in the months to come.  Ms. Stacy helped the 4th graders surprise these two teachers by tie-dying "onesies " for the babies.  Then the children got in small groups and made up songs about the various ages the baby would go through.  Finally, they wrote the nicest messages to each parent explaining why they thought they would be good mother or father.  I was able to observe some of the celebration and it was a true outpouring of love from the students.