Valentine's Day for the fifth grade class at Faith Academy was rather eventful. Since Valentine's was actually on Sunday, the school declared Monday "Red, White, and Pink Day" for special festivities. The fifth graders all arrived wearing their own version of the suggested dress code and found stashes of candy and cookies awaiting on their desks. I think the sugar rush began at that moment, before the first pink and red sucker had been licked or the first cookie had been nibbled. Like any good teacher would do, I allowed them to eat one thing as we began the day at 7:30 am.
We suffered through two hours of class anxiously awaiting merienda (snack time). They had already been told what special treats awaited them on this day, but of course information not relevant to the moment quickly slips out of 11 year old minds. So, when the clock finally struck 9:30, merienda still wasn't ready. I continuously peeped my head out the door to check whether the charcoal had reached the perfect temperature yet. That specific level that allows the marshmallows to lightly crisp on the outside and ooze with yummy goodness on the inside. After what seemed like an eternity for excited fifth graders, the surprise was revealed. Mrs. Templin, the teacher, pulled the sought after American marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey's chocolate from the cabinet. "Smores! We're having smores!" the excitement peeked with a shout. Coat hangers recently stripped of plastic were pulled out of thin air, marshmallows stabbed, then out the door they flew like it was Christmas morning. After a few short minutes of roasting over Filippino charcoal, the ooey gooey marshmallows were cautiously sandwiched between a slab of rich chocolate and two perfect graham crackers. Delicious. As the drizzle of rain turned into a steady pour, we moved the funny grill under the eave to protect the precious flames. We were each given the makings of two smores and I, for one, savored every bite. I think the taste buds who savored a bit more than mine however, were Flora's. This was Flora's first experience eating a smore, and of course, her young Korean life will never be the same.
After a few minutes of free time, I instructed the entire class to walk to the covered court, run one lap as fast as they could, get a drink of water, walk back to the classroom, and take a seat silently. That much sugar in such a short amount of time needed a chance to work itself out. Once again, we suffered through ages of class, just waiting for the clock to strike twelve. 12:15 that is. It's not too hard to finish lunch in 15 minutes when you have something fun to do.
Mrs. Templin carefully placed individually packaged boxes of cookies into bags, and the students picked out their favorite Valentine's cards. Previous long hours of strenous labor were required to produce professionally iced cookies and Valentine's Day cards. Umbrellas were then distributed and groups assigned. Miss Jones took the girls, Mrs. Templin took the boys. We were going for a walk...in the rain. Skipping and singing we left the school grounds and parted ways. The girls to the right, the boys to the left. We walked up the side streets, knocking on each gate, and yelling what sounds like "I-O" over and over again. This Filipino greeting usually brings people to the gate, but a bunch of random girls was not enticing so many. We yelled "free cookies" "valentine cookies" and were able to succesfully deliver our allotted boxes to thankful recipients. Dodging puddles of muddy water, getting wacked with umbrellas, yelling like a naive white girl...it was all worth it. We were able to show the people around our school we love them, God loves them. We brought a few smiles and could not erase our own.
This was a successful Valentine's Day at Faith Academy.
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