Valentine's in Junior High? Absolutely NOT!

Yes, I am the meanest teacher in the west! The first year that I taught in the junior high, we had a Valentine's Day party. It was nuts! Beginning a week or two before the party, all the girls were whispering about the boys and the boys were scheming and dreaming about the girls. It initiated previously uninterested students into the Life of Boys and Girls, something they simply do not need until much later in life. After that first year, I just said no. The rest of the school could have a party if they wanted but my homeroom class was not going to do it. The other junior high teachers were delighted that I said no and jumped on the bandwagon. So today, while K-6 teachers were frantically losing their minds, we conducted a normal school day. No flowers, no candy, no cards, no silliness. A few parents brought their children flowers or balloons and I do think some of the girls brought valentines for their friends, which they gave out quietly before school or between classes, but there was none of the craziness of that first year. Fortunately the high school is in a completely separate building; I have been praying for my principal husband today. I can't imagine the level of insanity over there! But junior high? No problem!