Anybody who has been in high school knows all too well that few people celebrate Valentine’s Day in the glamorous way the media depicts. While Valentine’s Day celebrations can be fun and festive, portrayals of the holiday in the media differ dramatically from reality. Hardly anyone wears the festive outfits Disney Channel characters do and few buy ostentatious, expensive gifts for their friends or significant others.

Campolindo’s scaled-down Valentine’s Day festivities have remained persistent.

1 tradition that has persisted through the years is choir-grams. “The only [celebration] I have noticed Campo does is telegrams, but I think that is a very creative idea. And it’s very entertaining to witness,” said sophomore Maya Gentry. 

Substitute teacher Jamie Gill, a Campolindo graduate, said, “My favorite part of celebrating Valentine’s Day when I was at Campo is we used to do Valentine’s grams that were a song. So for 1 dollar, you can pay to have a singing telegram and a group of kids would come into each classroom and they would sing a really cute little Valentine’s Day song for their best friend or someone they cared a lot about during class.”

Another graduate, English teacher Jamie Donohoe, recalls these singing telegrams being a part of the festivities during his time in school, as well. “I think there were still those singing grams that go around. I think those happened back then,” said Donohoe. 

But that seems to be the extent of Valentine’s tradition.

Gill recalls that some of her more festive classmates enjoyed “wearing red, and a lot of the girls wore headbands that had the cute little red hearts, kind of bunny ears. And that was really cute. It was just a little bit of extra fun that day.”

As far as Valentine’s gifts go, Donohoe added that “there were definitely gifts, I can remember, if you were boyfriend and girlfriend gifts were a big deal.” However, he noted that there wasn’t huge importance placed on having a significant other as your Valentine. 

“I think it definitely depends on if you’re dating someone, because, I mean, you can hang out with your friends but most people would rather be dating someone,” said Gentry, noting that she has, on occasion, observed some of her peers placing some importance on having a significant other.  

Gill added, “From what I remember it was more about emphasizing your friendships and those kinds of relationships more than a romantic relationship.” 

Yet this level of casual recognition of friendship is in great contrast to what is depicted in the media. Gill noted that the way Valentine’s Day is portrayed in movies and television is “very inaccurate, but lots of fun to watch.”

“It seems, actually, way less of a deal. I don’t see a lot of [the students’] generation falling into this commercialized trap at all,” said Donohoe.