Love is in the air at John Paul II Collegiate.
Every month, the John Paul II staff pick a virtue to be the month's theme. As one could guess, the staff fittingly picked this month's virtue to be love. The theme covers both loving one another, and loving oneself.
Feb. 7, all John Paul II students and staff were gathered into the gymnasium and told to sit on the bleachers. Andrea Sparrow, John Paul II's chaplain, gave the audience an inspiring speech, and ended it with the words Born This Way, cueing a flash mob.
A flash mob is a group of people who spend time rehearsing a dance that will be performed in a designated location and the dances are completely unexpected. Students and staff involved in the flash mob secretly planned and practiced for the unpredicted dance.
Seconds after the speech was finished, the song, Born This Way, by recording artist Lady Gaga began to play throughout the gym. Makenna Cameron, Kinsey Sherstobitoff and Heather Leitner suddenly walked onto the barren gym floor and began dancing to the song. After a small dance routine, randomly placed students from the audience climbed down the bleachers and joined in. Eventually, the entire gym floor was filled with dancers of all grades, races and capabilities.
Born This Way was chosen for the flash mob to dance to as the lyrics fit with the theme of loving oneself perfectly.
Lindell Gateley also gave the audience a heart warming presentation on love. She spoke of her troubles with self confidence in the past, as well as how she overcame her insecurities.
Tuesday, along with a large segment of the general population, John Paul II Collegiate participated in Valentine's Day festivities. Each girl received a cut out paper heart and a safety pin. After pinning the hearts to their shirts, the girls could not talk to any boys. If they were to say anything to any boy in the school, they had to unpin the heart and give it to the boy. At 12:30 p.m., girls who still had their hearts had their names entered in a draw to win a Valentine's Day themed prize, and the boy who collected the most hearts also received a prize.
Another Valentine's Day activity at John Paul II was the "Love Yourself" contest. Students were to write a paragraph about themselves or another student they believe deserves a makeover. Four winners were chosen, and they (or the person they wrote about) received a haircut and dye of their choosing, a new outfit and a pizza party for each winner with five friends. The contest also fits into the month's theme as it promotes loving oneself and one another.
The John Paul II Key Club was also selling Valentine's Day cards that came with a chocolate kiss to promote loving one another. Each card cost 25 cents and were sold during the lunch hour during the week before Valentine's Day. All proceeds go towards men and women who work their fingers to the bone in developing countries who barely have enough money to provide for their families.
The array of activities focused on the virtue of love are sure to spread the joy of Valentine's Day, self confidence, and general happiness throughout John Paul II.
