Singing Valentines are a privilege, not a right


“I can’t believe we have a test today in Spanish! Now we’re not going to be able to see Singing Valentines during fourth period.” I noted the pained expression on my friend’s face, wondering what the big deal was, especially since it was only second period and there were many Valentines yet to be delivered.

While Valentine’s Day falls on the same date on the calendar each year, Feb. 14, and Singing Valentines have been a Variations tradition for many years, each teacher has the discretion to plan their agenda around this event or not and simply deny the Variations singers access to their classrooms. What some of us fail to keep in mind is perspective — our education is the priority of our teachers, not our entertainment.

Fortunately, most of the teachers have the foresight to realize that their students are abuzz with the excitement of receiving a few surprise visits from the Singing Valentines groups and plan a light day. For example, in Jireh Tanabe’s AP Literature class, students participated in an informal survey on our views of love. To celebrate the appreciatory nature of the holiday, Tanabe even wrote each one of her students a Valentine with a personalized message.

When a Singing Valentines group walked in and announced the name of a recipient, we simply paused our discussion, enjoyed the musical moment, and resumed our chatter when they left.

But the complaints from students are directed at the “other” kind of teachers, the so-called spoilsports that hang notes on their door, indicating that they do not want Singing Valentines delivered to their classes. As frustrated as we may be, we should respect their decisions and be solaced by the fact that we have four to six other classes where we get to experience the delightful Singing Valentines performances.

It may not be the popular decision to hold a test on Valentine’s Day, but it‘s one that we should accept with a bit more class and civility. Consider the other extreme where teachers decide to collectively stop Singing Valentines from occurring and then perhaps we will refrain from belittling the handful of teachers who have other activities planned for the day.

And for those of us who just can’t get enough of the Singing Valentines, there are always the dozens of videos that float around Facebook and YouTube, waiting for someone to click play and then replay, over and over again.

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