#mr hatch

Jesse Faden

Dylan Faden

Zachariah Trench

Alan Wake

Jack Joyce/Tim Breaker

Mr. Hatch/Mr. Door

Saga Anderson

(For those of you on my feed who are just starting a Quantum Break playthrough)

February 1st rolls around and suddenly the world turns pink and red and roses.  They’re already sharing their “Top Valentine’s Day Gift” lists on the radio, TV commercials have all gone dove-eyed and sappy, and you can’t walk into a Walgreens or CVS without walking out smelling like chocolate.

We all have our wonderful childhood memories of Valentine’s Day:  Envelopes with sweet and funny notes, parties at school, and bags and bags of heart-shaped candies.  And we also have our traumatic memories of Valentine’s Day (mostly from adolescence):  The time we didn’t get any Valentines, the time our crush asked another kid out, the time the gift we so reverently bestowed upon our love was cast aside…

As someone who works with children or youth, you have, no doubt, your own opinions about the holiday.  The thing is, whether you embrace it or loathe it, there is no way to ignore it.  It will arrive, and it will need to be dealt with – hopefully in a way that will leave hearts intact and generate warm memories for everyone.

My suggestion?  Harness the power of love that Valentine’s Day evokes to spread love to your community.  Yes, that’s right.  Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to get everyone in your program involved in community service.

How?

The best thing to do is to ask your students who they think needs some love in their community.  They may come up with cats in a shelter, people in the hospital, or the homeless at a soup kitchen.  Now ask them to generate a list of ideas for what they can do to help those people feel more loved on Valentine’s Day.  Then help them put those ideas into action.

If you need a little inspiration, or if your group is having trouble coming up with ideas, here’s a project I have done with groups both during the school day and afterschool: 

Step 1:  If you haven’t already got it, pick up a copy of “Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch,” by Eileen Spinelli.  If you are not familiar with the story, you can here it read here.  (I know it looks very elementary-grades focused, but I promise you, my middle school students were weeping right along with me!)

Step 2:  A few days before Valentine’s Day, read the book to your group (be prepared with a box of tissues, it’s a real tear-jerker).  After reading the book, ask them to come up with a list of lonely people they know about in their community. 

Step 3:  I happened to introduce them to the nonprofit “Meals on Wheels” at this point, but if Meals on Wheels doesn’t operate in your area, there are plenty of other agencies you can contact who would be delighted to work with you.   Tell your group about the agency and how they serve isolated, lonely, or needy people in your community.

Step 4:  After identifying who might need some cheering up and an agency to partner with, provide your group with materials to create hand-made Valentine’s Day cards.  I also (particularly with younger students) like to have them brainstorm a list of phrases they might want to include in their cards.  I keep these posted on the board for those who struggle with writing.  Make sure students work hard to make the cards beautiful!

Step 5:  Once the Valentine’s Day cards are finished, ship them off to Meals on Wheels, or whichever organization you are partnering with (make arrangements in advance) a few days before Valentine’s Day and they will include them in their meal delivery on Valentine’s Day! 

Step 6:  One Valentine’s Day, have your group envision the people receiving their cards.  Have them talk about how it makes them feel to know that they are helping someone feel better on Valentine’s Day.  Maybe they want to start doing a community service project every month!

If you have other ideas for Valentine’s Day service projects, let us know!