I started out by doing some research. I wanted to really know how this “Valentine’s Day” thing started. The Internet is wonderful. I can see why we all just jump on our computers and start looking up things that we don’t know about. After even just a few minutes, I learned more about Valentine’s Day than I really wanted to know. I was going to write about the history of Valentine’s Day…but stopped.

All of the stories have some “issues.” A couple of superintendent friends of mine got into some newspaper “hot water” when they made innocent comments about the last, most recent holiday, and I’m not going to open myself up to that. If you are interested in the history of Valentine’s Day, take a look on-line. It’s pretty good.

Anyway, my earliest memory of Valentine’s Day is when one of my elementary teachers, had to be first grade or so, had all of us make a card in class for our moms or grandmas. We got to measure, cut, and paste! We got to draw! I remember being fascinated by being able to cut a piece of paper into a square…she taught us how to measure, explained what a square was, and slipped in some other things about rectangles and triangles. Always teaching. So, we folded our square piece of paper in half, drew something that looked like a stretched out letter “C” and started cutting. Wow! Out came a perfect heart…and if we gave a little space on the bottom of our folded, square piece of paper, right where the lower part of that stretched out “C” was, we could open up the paper and find that we had a square with a heart in the middle. We got two things! A heart…and a square with a heart! The whole experience was magical! I remember that while we were cutting, pasting, and drawing, she would slip in some stories about caring for others, about telling our parents, family, and friends that we cared about them. Always teaching. Looking back, it was a total set-up. Teachers are good about those types of things…set-ups.

She knew that one of the kids…you know the one…the kid who always knew all of the answers, always was first to “jump in there” with a raised hand, always wanted to stay after and wipe down those boards rather than go outside and “run till you dropped”…that kid, after subtle…well-placed teacher leads…would suggest that we make cards for each other! If it was anything else, the vast majority of those of us who were “others” would have wanted to pounce on that “chosen one”…but in this case, we were all over it…if it meant that we could keep making those hearts and making big and little cards! Our teacher thought it was a great idea…naturally…it was her idea anyway! I remember being excited about it; we all were.

We made cards for boys and girls…it didn’t matter. We made cards for that quiet kid that none of us really got to know, and for that kid who was always angry, or for the one who was always sad. We made cards for the custodian and even for the principal. All along, our teacher was telling us about how important it was to be kind to others, to give an occasional hug and that “way to go”…to send a Valentine’s Day card.

Well, that was a long time ago…but I still think it was a good lesson. I don’t know if it fits in the Frameworks, NCLB, Race to the Top, or the Common Core. I know for sure that we won’t assess that in any State or Federal tests. It does seem that our world could use a few of us sending some Valentine’s Day cards to one another. Not the computer ones…not the store-bought ones…the ones that are made from the heart.

Heck. Make a card…send it to someone special.

Happy Valentine’s Day.