By: Safa Touri, Alisa Oden, and Ruth Katte#

2/10/21#

It’s February, and like every year, love is in the air! Unfortunately this year, so is COVID. Here are 5 safe and sweet ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day during the pandemic:

Facetime#

Facetime, Zoom, Skype- you name it! Video calling has become one of the best ways to virtually spend time with friends and family during quarantine. Besides just talking, what else can you do though? Here are some fun video call activities you can try out:

• Play a trivia game! Quiz your friends on random topics such as rom-coms, cities, or whatever your heart desires.
• Sing karaoke! Whether you’re a bad singer or you’re Taylor Swift, this is a great way to have some fun with your friends.
• Make silly powerpoint presentations and present them to each other. They can be about anything, but the more ridiculous, the better!
• Bake together! Just because you’re not in person doesn’t mean you can’t pretend you’re all on the Great British Baking Show!

Gifts#

There is nothing better than to show your love through gifts, especially yummy treats! Here is a favorite of ours, and whether or not you choose to keep them, give them to someone you love, or even donate them, they’ll be sure to blossom a bit of hope and warmth this Valentine’s Day. 

Heart Shaped Cookies #

Credit for Recipe and Ingredients goes to GoodHouseKeeping

*makes 2 – 4 dozen  |  takes about 45 minutes or so

Ingredients: 

• 2 ¾ cups of all-purpose flour 
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder 
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cups of sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Directions: 

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
2. In another large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer. It should be light and fluffy, taking about 3 minutes. Beat in an egg and the vanilla extract.
3. Reducing your mixer speed to a low setting, gradually add in the flour mixture from step 1. Mix until incorporated, or until no streaks are shown.
4. Separate the dough in half, roll each out into a disk between 2 sheets of wax paper until they are 1/8th of an inch thick. Chill until firm. This should be around 30 minutes in the refrigerator or 15 minutes in the freezer. 
5. Heat your oven to 350°F (or 177°C). Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a floured cookie cutter, cut out your cookies. Place cookies on the sheets, taking care to give enough room between each one. 
6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets until cookies are a golden brown around the edges. Let them cool for 5 minutes on the sheets, later transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. 
7. Get creative and decorate them! 

Tips:

• WASH WASH WASH your hands before and after making cookies! Siri gets a bit nervous when you ask her to sing, but if you have Alexa or a Google Assistant, you can simply ask them to sing the ‘Handwashing Song’! In the meantime, we can all just cheer Siri on! 
• Don’t throw away the scraps after cutting out your cookies! You can reroll them and cut them out into the desired shape. If the scrapes become too small to cut into a bigger shape, you can always just pop them into the oven for abstract cookies!
• Need ideas for decorating? You can use sprinkles, use store-bought frosting (or homemade!), edible ink, or even a crumble of another food you love! Let your imagination free! 
• If you have long hair, make sure it’s out of the way when you’re making the cookies! You don’t want anything unsanitary to get in them, especially if you’re serving them to others!
• If you need help, be sure to ask an adult! 

Sending a love letter#

One of the most romantic ways to tell someone how you feel is to send them a love letter. It can be as cheesy or chill as you want it to be, so have fun with it! Here are some tips on writing a good love letter:

• Get to the point. Make sure the person you’re writing it to knows it’s a love letter and not just another piece of mail.
• Include a memory. Something you did together, a funny moment you had together, something they said, etc. 
• Tell them what you like about them. People love hearing compliments, especially if it’s from someone they care about. Just don’t go overboard!
• Finish with a hopeful conclusion (e.g “You are the best years of my life. Love, so-and-so.”)

Of course, your letter doesn’t have to be romantic. You can send one to your friend, your teacher, even your family members, telling them how much you appreciate and care about them. The possibilities are endless!

Write a song/poem#

Express your true feelings by writing your special person a poem or a song! Here are some tips to get you started:

• Find the right words. Note on how they make you feel and put your own feelings into the piece. (e.g “I love the butterfly tornado that comes with your touch.”)

• Be creative. Add touches to make it that much more special. (effects, loving words, etc.)

• Make it personal! Include memories of you and your loved one. (something you guys did, a heartfelt moment, a funny time, etc.)

• Add why you love them (e.g “You make me see the joy in life”.)

• Finish it off and send/record it to them! (Make sure you don’t lose the recording though!)

Like we said, love isn’t all romance. You can use these tips for any loved family member or friend!

What Glasgow is doing (student quotes)#

Glasgow is off to a great start with celebrating Valentine’s Day with treats, gifts, and loved ones! Here are some of the things our fellow students and staff are doing this year: 

• “Valentine’s day can be emails sent to your friends this year! “– Lina Rosenbaum, 6th grade.

.

• “Probably just celebrate by eating chocolate I already have and being with my family, probably at my Gram’s house.” – Caroline Allison, 6th grade

• “Maybe buy some things for my friends and family.” – Diya Sharma, 7th grade

• “Giving everyone a rose.” – Khoreb Melaku, 7th grade

• “I will spend Valentine’s Day with the people I love, my family.” –  Diana Prudius, 7th grade

• “I plan to eat too much chocolate because unless I somehow manage to get a datemate, that’s what Valentine’s Day is an excuse for.” – Sofia Hemmens, 8th grade

• “Make myself a cake and eat it with my valentine also known as Netflix.” – Rebeka Kebede, 8th grade

While some of the most exciting parts of Valentine’s day may be cute presents, don’t forget that the best gift you can give is your time!