CB Has Heart(s)

Love is always in the air at CB, but the loving vibes are most present around the holiday of love — Valentine’s Day.

During the wonderful day of Valentine’s Day, the Christian Brothers campus is covered in paper hearts. Every student, coach, teacher, and faculty member can find a heart with their name. It’s a highlight of every school year and makes school more bearable that day.

The Valentine tradition started in the late ’90s by half of our dean power duo, Mrs. Cecilia Powers.

“I was the Student Activities Director when it started,” remembers Mrs. Powers.

She came across similar idea in a book she was looking through about spreading spirit at schools. Her leadership class considered shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day or a soccer ball for every student before landing on hearts for Valentine’s Day.

“Teachers or students you know, janitors, everybody — it’s just a really visual fun community thing” says the former activities director.

The hearts on campus have definitely become one of CB’s most beloved traditions. How can a heart with your name on it not fill you with happiness?

Think about it — students take the time to cut out over a thousand hearts and write every member’s of the CB community name one by one.

Erin Donovan (’15) is a huge fan of the hearts.

“I absolutely love them, like just coming to school everything’s plastered with hearts on it,” shares the senior. “That’s what I want to see every day of the year.”

According to Mrs. Powers, when the hearts first came on campus, it wasn’t a huge deal to take them off the walls and wear them. Now it’s a fun game to find and wear your own heart, your friends’ hearts, maybe the heart of your senior crush.

Some people wear one or two hearts at a time and there’s always those few students who completely cover themselves in hearts.

Erin explains her own battle for a coveted heart.

“I think last year I wore my senior crushes heart for a bit, but then I had to give it to someone else because it was a hot commodity. Shout out to Gareth Durham ’14,”

Ryan Perez (’16) is one of the kids who wears many hearts.

“I do wear a lot of people’s hearts because I love a lot of people,” the junior says.

“I choose people I know, I’m not a creep,” Ryan adds as a word of advice. It can offend people when strangers take a heart.

“Last year I was in a relationship and I did not wear his heart because other people loved him, so that was interesting” Erin says bitterly.

But the Talon advises that if you want to wear the heart, just grab it.

Whether or not you’re in a relationship, CB makes Valentine’s Day worth showing up to school.