Valentine’s Day at Carterville High School has been celebrated for a long time, and over the years many traditions have formed. “People enjoy giving/receiving gifts. And they also enjoy spending time with either their special someone or with just the people they care about in general,” an anonymous CHS student said.
The biggest Valentine’s tradition is the Valentine’s Day Banquet that is hosted by the Student Council. The Valentine’s Banquet is when Carterville High School students invite their elders, or even grandparents to celebrate Valentine’s Day with their loved ones. When our guests arrive, they are escorted from their vehicle to the building. After they enter the building, one of the Student Council members walks them down to sign in, and then they walk through the main hallway to get their photo taken if they want. Afterwards they head into the auditorium, get escorted to their seats and wait for the performance to start.
This year the performance started with CHS senior Karlie Jeralds singing her solo song, followed by the CHS Band playing a few songs. Once the band was finished, The Choir sang some specials from the Broadway Musical “Little Shop of Horrors” which is the Spring Musical for this year. The cast for the show has already been picked with junior Evan Miranti as Seymour, and junior Sadie Kidd as Audrey. They sang some songs from the musical as a little “sneak peak” at the cast members and the show all together.
Everyone then was escorted to the cafeteria where they have a special luncheon in honor of Valentine’s Day, and also play more games including bingo.
There is more to Valentine’s Day at Carterville Highschool other than just the Valentine’s Day Banquet, as there are traditions that the high school students have created that have been going on for years. They do not get much spotlight, however, no matter if the traditions are in or outside of school, “In school- we don’t really do anything besides the banquet, and some teachers do things. Outside of school- you and friends can get together or you can hang out and do stuff with your partner,” senior Colbie Bennett said.
The favorite amongst the students at Carterville High School is definitely the tradition of giving out sweets, or candies to their friends, partners, or even teachers. Another favorite of the students is giving out crush sodas which can either be anonymous and given to a student, or signed from the gifter. “Well, usually sodas aren’t something people would give out for Valentine’s day,” junior Ali Russell said.
