CRLS Tradition of Singing Valentines Continues
February 26, 2018
February 14th marked the continuance of a beloved CRLS tradition: Singing Valentines! Over the preceding week, students bought hundreds of Singing Valentines—individual serenades that students can send to one another during class—selling out three of the five a cappella groups.
The a cappella groups were Girls Next Door, Sassafras, and Pitches and Dos along with two new groups: Tonal Eclipse and Transpositions. Some of the songs sang by the five groups included “Replay” by Iyaz, “Oh What a Night” by The Four Seasons, and “Make You Feel My Love” by Adele. The a cappella groups spent all day serenading students around the school. “Never wear heels on Singing Valentines day because you’re running around the school,” said junior Alyssa Filerman of Girls Next Door. “It takes a lot more stamina than you’d expect.”
People occasionally get the Valentines as romantic gestures or as caring messages from friends, but singing valentines are also popular because they are a fun way to embarrass friends and enliven classes. For maximum embarrassment, it is common to find students getting multiple Singing Valentines from their friends. Freshman Leo Kupferberg of Pitches and Dos found this to be his favorite part of the Valentines. “If it’s obviously a joke, you get to go full out campy.” Filerman agreed, remarking that “it’s such a joyful and fun environment.” Although students generally find watching others receive Singing Valentines to be good fun, there is less enthusiasm about being the recipient. “Freshman year my friend got one for me, and it was horrible,” junior Josie Weissburg remembered.
Although six teachers opted out of allowing Singing Valentines in their classrooms, the majority of teachers enjoyed them. “The teachers were excited,” remarked Beminet Desalegn ’18. Math teacher Alysa Breyer agreed: “They’re just so nice.” English teacher Jennifer Sarmiento added, “It’s fun to see the talent of students. … Sometimes I’m not even aware that they do a cappella.” Ms. Sarmiento did not find the singing to be overly disruptive as “everyone knows when that day is coming and there isn’t a whole lot to discuss after they leave.”
However, this enjoyment wears off slightly when classes get multiple Singing Valentines. “One is OK, two is fine, but three, four, five…?” asked physics teacher Ramazan Nigdelioglu.
If you liked the Singing Valentines, don’t miss the spring A Cappella Jam on April 27th!
This piece also appears in our February print edition.
