Valentine’s Day
Assembly
Introduction
Valentine’s Day – the curse of single people everywhere – is back. This
assembly tells how the story of St Valentine developed and asks, “What is
love?”
Preparation
In preparation you will need to find two or three students with good reading
voices who are willing to help. Make sure they have time to practise. If you
are going to use microphones, then give your volunteers a run through with
them or they could be surprised or unnerved by the sound of their own
amplified voices. Change the reader regularly to help maintain your
audience’s attention.
There is a PowerPoint Presentation to go with the last section that can be
found here:
http://www.truetube.co.uk/media/271876/valentines_day_powerpoint.ppt
Don’t forget to rehearse the reading of the final section with the PowerPoint
so you can get the slide changes in the right place.
This assembly uses “CE” – Common Era - for dates, but substitute “AD” if
you think that might cause unnecessary confusion!
Instructions
Have some suitable music playing quietly in the background to help the
atmosphere – Love is in the Air by John Paul Young always strikes the right
note!
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Begin with a game or two from the suggestions below. String Along could be
used as an example of friendship and co-operation even in a single-sex school.
Balloon Hugging has to be seen to be believed, but you would need to have
boys and girls who are very comfortable with each other. Or single sex pairs
who are extremely comfortable with each other. Coke Can Challenge is revolting,
but very funny. You have been warned. Only attempt it with a group you
know extremely well.
1 - String Along
Ask several pairs of students to come up to the front. You’ll need at least two
pairs. In each couple, one student should have a length of string - about a
metre will do - tied between their hands, attached by a loop around each
wrist. Now they face their partners and another length of string is tied
between the partner’s wrists, but crossing inside the first person’s string so the
couple are loosely attached to each other. Have several lengths of string with
a loop tied at either end in readiness.
Tell the pairs that they have just one minute to untangle themselves without
removing the string from their wrists. It really is possible. Get the rest of the
audience to cheer them on, and stand back as they tie themselves in knots.
The winners are those who succeed in separating themselves without
cheating (unlikely) or the pair that provided the most entertainment – ask the
audience to vote!
The solution is obvious once you know how. One student makes a loop in the
middle of their own string and passes it up through the small loop around
their partner’s wrist. They pass the string over their partner’s hand and back
out. And they are free! Demonstrate this to the audience if none of the pairs
has worked it out. You might like to practice this with a friend before you
attempt it in front of an audience!
Give a prize to the winners – a red rose, or a packet of Love Hearts!
2 - Balloon Hugging
You will need several pairs of students. This works especially well if you have
some known couples in your Year Group. The girl holds a balloon under each
arm and - when you give the word - the boys have to hug their partners until
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the balloons burst. Get the audience to cheer on their favourite couple.
Pinching and stamping are not allowed!
Give a prize to the first couple to burst their balloons.
3 - Coke Can Challenge
For this you will need at least two known couples from your Year Group. You
also need to choose girls who wear socks (the reason will become clear). Invite
the couples up to the front and tell the girls that their menfolk are going to
prove how butch they are and how much they love their girlfriends. Give
each of the boys a can of coke. Tell them that on your command, they have to
open the can, drink the contents and then crush the can in one hand. The girls
should cheer them on, and the first to complete the task is the most manly.
Really emphasise how masculine this will make them look, and how
embarrassing it will be if they fail in front of their girlfriends.
Count them down: “Three, two, one... Stop! Hang on...” Explain that the task
is far too easy. Ask the girls to remove a sock. The boys should open their cans
and place the sock over the top like a tea-cosy. Now they should drink the
contents through the sock. That’s true love. Watch the range of emotions that
pass over the boys’ faces, but call a halt before any of them actually tries to
drink from their can – you don’t want to be blamed for a case of poisoning the audience reaction should be enough! Give them all a prize and ask them
to sit down.
_______________________________________
Now hand over to your volunteers to read the Assembly Script. Make sure you
are ready to show the film and PowerPoint presentation at the appropriate
points.
You could end the assembly by handing out Love Hearts sweets to everyone
(available in large wholesale packs!).
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Film Digest
I Think I know What Love Is (1:32)
Theme: Relationships
Topic: Love and Sex
TrueTube asks the general public to
tackle the tricky subject of love. What is
love? Can it be explained? And do the
younger generations really understand
what love is? A variety of opinions and
viewpoints are shared.
Resources
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Digital projector (connected to the internet or you will need to
download the films beforehand).
Microphones (if needed, or available).
Two or three volunteers to read the Assembly Script.
Enough copies of the Assembly Script for you and for each of your
volunteers.
Music – How about Love is in the Air by John Paul Young?
String for String Along (if you’re playing it) – prepare metre lengths
with a wrist-loop tied at each end.
Balloons for Balloon Hugging (if you’re playing it).
Coke cans for Coke Can Challenge (if you’re brave and playing it).
Love Hearts sweets for prizes or even for your whole Year Group!
The Valentine’s Day PowerPoint which can be downloaded here:
http://www.truetube.co.uk/media/271876/valentines_day_powerpoint.
ppt
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Assembly Script
Before you start...
This script contains some tricky Greek words, so here’s how to say them:
Lupercalia
Eros
Philia
Storge
Agape
is pronounced loo-per-kay-lee-ar (stress the kay)
ear-ross
filly-er
store-gay
a-ga-pay
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The origins of St Valentine’s Day are shrouded in mystery. Although
Valentine is on the Catholic Church’s official list of saints, no one really
knows who he was or how he came to be associated with romantic love.
There are many stories about him, but none of them are very reliable. So what
can we be sure of? Well... not very much. It seems that there was a man called
Valentine, or Valentinus, and he was killed for being a Christian back in the
pagan days of the Roman Empire. St Valentine’s Day is celebrated every year
on the 14th February, which is the anniversary of his death in 270 CE. Or is it?
The 14th February wasn’t named as St Valentine’s Day until 498 CE (nearly 230
years after his execution) and there are theories that the celebration was
invented to “Christianise” a pagan festival that took place in mid-February. It
was called Lupercalia and was dedicated to Faunus (the Roman god of
farming), and Romulus and Remus - the twins who founded Rome. The
Priests would go to a special cave where, according to tradition, Romulus and
Remus had been cared for by a wolf when they were babies. The priests
would sacrifice a goat and a dog to Faunus, asking him to make the crops
grow, keep wolves away from the cattle, and help the women to get pregnant.
The dead goat was then sliced up. Young men would each grab a strip of
goat-hide, dip it in the sacrificial blood and run through the streets, slapping
women with the sticky end. It was a good sign for a woman if she received a
gory smack because it meant that she was more likely to have a baby in the
coming year. Finally, all the unmarried women put their names into a big pot
and all the unmarried men took it in turns to pick one out. Then they would
pair up and hope that the blind date would lead to marriage.
All this slapping and pairing-off was too much for the Christian Church, so
they made the day a commemoration of St Valentine’s death instead. This put
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a bit of a downer on the party atmosphere. But old habits die hard, and - what
with mid-February marking the change from winter to spring and everyone’s
thoughts turning to romance - it wasn’t long before St Valentine’s story was
changed to fit this more amorous mood.
The original story begins when Christians were being persecuted throughout
the Roman Empire. Thousands were captured, tortured and killed. It is said
that Claudius II, the Emperor himself, interrogated a young Christian by the
name of Valentine. Instead of begging for his life, Valentine tried to convert
Claudius to Christianity. The Emperor was so impressed by the young man’s
audacity that he gave Valentine a chance to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ
and worship the Roman gods instead. Or be killed. But Valentine remained
true to his beliefs and so he was put behind bars to await execution. While
Valentine was in prison, he helped other Christians to escape but failed to
break out himself. He was executed and his body was buried on the 14th
February in 270 CE.
So far, not very romantic, but another version of the story introduces a young
heroine: While Valentine was in prison, the jailer’s daughter would come
every day to deliver food. Watching her through the bars of his tiny window,
Valentine realised that she was blind. He prayed to God for her to be healed
and miraculously, her sight was restored. But he was still put to death.
Better, but it’s not exactly Twilight.
A later story tells how Emperor Claudius II passed a law to prevent young
men from getting married. He wanted to build up a strong army and thought
that married men would be worrying about their wives and children, rather
than concentrating on the serious business of killing people. So marriage was
banned and there were depressed young couples moping around all over the
place. They were desperately in love but weren’t allowed to tie the knot. A
young Christian priest called Valentine – remember him? - took pity on them
and performed secret weddings. Claudius found out and had Valentine
arrested, sentenced to death and put in jail. The story then continues along the
same lines with the blind jailer’s daughter, the miracle, the execution and the
burial on the 14th February.
Now we’re getting somewhere: much more romantic, but our hero still needs
some lovin’ of his own. So eventually we get a third version: Claudius II says
no marriage for young men, Valentine performs secret weddings for young
lovers, gets found out, sentenced to death and put in prison as before. But in
this version he not only heals the blind jailer’s daughter, he falls in love with
her too. On the night before he is executed, he writes a letter declaring his
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passion for her, signs it “from your Valentine”, and passes it to his beloved
through the bars of his cell. Unfortunately, he still gets killed the following
day. So much for a happy ending.
However muddled his story, St Valentine has long been linked with love in its
many forms: selfless love, friendship and (most importantly for many people)
romance. The cards, letters, presents, e-mails and text messages that people
send on the 14th February have become known as “Valentines”.
The oldest known Valentine is in the British Museum. It was written by
Charles, the Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower
of London in 1415. Originally, Valentines were hand-written notes or little
presents that you hoped your beloved would keep close to their hearts. By the
end of the 18th Century, ready-printed cards were available to buy and the
business has grown and grown ever since. Today, about one billion
Valentines cards are sent every year. About 85% of them are bought by
women, who are obviously far more romantic than men.
Valentine’s Day celebrates love. But what is love? Here are a few ideas:
Show the film: I Think I Know What Love Is
Show the PowerPoint Presentation as you read this last section...
Slide 1
Part of the problem is that there is only one word for “love” in English. We
use it in different ways and hope that people know what we mean. You can
say, “I love chips”, “I love my Mum” and, “I love Justin Bieber,” and mean
very different things in each case.
In Ancient Greek there are four words, which makes things easier.
Slide 2
Eros is what you usually think of when you think of love: boyfriends,
girlfriends, candlelit dinners, chocolate, roses, kissing, diamond rings, and
songs by JLS.
Slide 3
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Philia is the love of friends, although boys never admit to loving their friends.
They just punch each other’s arms instead. Philia is also the love of things,
such as, “I love ice cream,” and, “I love cake”. It can also be the love of
pastimes and hobbies, such as, “I love football,” or, “I love listening to JLS”.
Slide 4
Storge is the love of family. We can’t choose our families - unfortunately we’re
stuck with them. But we love them all the same. Most of the time. Despite the
arguments.
Slide 5
Agape is selfless love – doing things for other people no matter who they are
and without any reward: giving to charity, organising a fund-raising event,
getting sponsored to run a marathon, being a first-aid volunteer, or even
leaving nice anonymous notes for someone who’s having a hard time. Just
being kind to everyone you meet is agape.
There is famous passage in the Christian Bible which describes this kind of
love:
Slide 6
“Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not
ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs;
love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up;
and its faith, hope, and patience never fail. Love is eternal.”
Slide 7
So, although you’re probably all hoping for a bit of Eros this Valentine’s Day,
let’s face facts, not everyone is going to get it. But you can celebrate the good
things in your other relationships: with good friends, with family and - if all
else fails - with chocolate.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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