Students meet saint while celebrating love

The Evangelist checked with several second-grade teachers around the Albany Diocese to find out how seven- or eight-year-olds mark the occasion and learn about the saint after whom it is named.

At St. Jude's School in Wynantskill, for example, teacher Kristine Reardon reads the story of the saint to her class a few days before the holiday. Then, as the day approaches, she has her students make holders in preparation for bringing in their valentines to exchange with classmates.

Holding steady

"I provide a number of different items for decoration, such as paper lace doilies, cutouts of Cupid, pink or red hearts, crayons and markers. It is always a nice project for them because at this age, they are very creative and enjoy making their own individual valentine holders."

When they have their Valentine's Day party, the children bring in their cards and distribute them. Afterwards, they visit St. Jude's Senior Apartments, across the street from the school. There, they give the residents valentines they have made in class and spend some time visiting.

Friendship

"Our curriculum includes preparation for first Eucharist and Reconciliation," she told The Evangelist. "The curriculum uses hearts and love a lot, so I just include the theme into our Valentine's Day celebration. Since we are all 'friends of Jesus' in this class, the rule is to give a valentine to everyone. No one is excluded."

As an added activity, students make hearts out of pink Play-Doh and attach a gold cord to them. They will wear these in a few weeks when they make their first Reconciliation.

"The heart is the perfect symbol for this sacrament," she said, "and it fits right into our celebration of St. Valentine's Day."

Bag of cards

"We are observing St. Valentine's Day, but it will be simple," she said. "I plan on having the students decorate brown lunch bags with valentines. They can use cut-outs or color them, and decorate the bags any way they wish. Then we will hang them on the side of the desks. Each student will have his or her name on the bag and then we will exchange valentines."

The parents' club at St. Patrick's provides heart-shaped cookies, cupcakes and juice for the class parties.

"At some point, I will show a video on the lives of some saints, including St. Valentine and where this holiday comes from," the teacher said.

(For more on St. Valentine, see The Evangelist's print edition.)

(02-14-02) [[In-content Ad]]