Valentine’s Day

By
Marie Yolaine Florestal, Child Advocate

We
believe school is not only where you learn academic skills, but also a place to
learn social skills. Kids should be able to grow in character through what they
learn in school. This is why we have decided to take every opportunity to
educate the kids on life skills and how to live better lives. On Friday,
February 12, two days before Valentine’s Day, we spent some great time with the
kids at one of our school’s accelerated learning programs. The idea was to talk
about the meaning of Valentine’s Day and also make a special craft with the
kids as a form of art therapy.

Before
starting the craft activity, I spent about 15 minutes in each classroom giving
a short presentation on the history of Valentine’s Day. I shared with them the
origin of this day, and how different countries and cultures each celebrate the
holiday.  Afterwards, Nadine went into
each of the classes, teaching the kids how to make Valentine’s cards and little
craft bags they could fill with candy, pens, pencils, etc.

Each class had an opportunity to make a
special craft.  Nadine helped the
children in Level 1 (1st/2nd grades) make little bags to put chocolate in.  The kids in Level 2 (3rd/4th grades) made
cards on which they wrote special messages, such as “Happy Valentine’s Day!”,
and those in Level 3 (5th/6th grades) made pencil boxes using pink construction
paper.

Samuel
went around taking photos while Nadine was giving chocolates to the kids. This
activity was a success; the kids were very happy and enjoyed it very much!  Most importantly, it helped build their
self-esteem.