By Mark, Kevin, and Matt

Valentine’s Day is a favorite and a non-favorite holiday for some and is celebrated on February 14th.  Some people believe that it is celebrated in the middle of February for the anniversary of St.Valentine’s death and burial which were around 270 A.D. In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began being popularly celebrated in the seventeenth century.  It is also celebrated in Canada, Mexico, The United Kingdom, France, Australia, and of course here, in the U.S.

 It is a tradition to send Valentine’s flowers and candy.  The holiday is involved with love cards or valentines.  More recently, Valentines have been handwritten on the shapes of hearts or the outline of a winged cupid.  All of these cards have made Valentine’s Day the second highest card sending holiday behind Christmas.

In Roman mythology Cupid was the God of love.  The Romans said that whoever Cupid shot with his magical arrow would fall in love. Cupid was also called Amor, which is Latin.  It was said that Cupid was the son of the goddess Venus.  Venus was the god of love and beauty.  The Romans said that Cupid’s powers were greater than the God of death.

According to one legend, Valentine sent the first “valentine” greeting himself. While inside prison, it is believed that valentine fell in love with a young girl—who had been his jailer’s daughter—who visited him during his confinement.  Before he died he sent a letter signed from your Valentine which has become a common expression.

Valentine’s Day is a very interesting holiday when it comes to how people think about it as a holiday.  When we interviewed people around the school, most kids “sort of” liked the holiday.  They mostly liked the chocolate.  The teachers on the other hand had  different feelings about the holiday.  The male teachers said, “it’s ok” and “there are better ones”.   It seemed that the female teachers were the only ones who really cared about it.  When we interviewed Ms. Comerford and Mrs.Deinlein, they said that it’s a very good day to say, “I love you.”  They also said that “it’s a good day to care about each other.”  However, that was only what a few people thought about it.  What do you think?

This issue was brought to you by:

Lia,jordan

Aimanda, haley, allyson, 

Sophia, Audrey, heather, Jeremy, , calum, Kevin, mark,

micheal,

 

stephanie,

Emily eila and

Chad

 

 

                     Mr. Passetto Reincarnated as a Gym Teacher

                                                            By Lia D

Everybody’s favorite social studies teacher has come back to MV as a gym teacher! The longtime sixth grade social studies teacher and host of the MV geography bee and spelling bee is back as the co-teacher of gym. For those who are new to this school, Mr. Passetto retired last year from his longtime post as the sixth-grade social studies teacher. Mrs. Gillis, the former English teacher, has taken his post. (*sighs* the end of an era.) Surprisingly, the popular former social studies teacher came back to Monument Valley as a gym teacher. Hopefully, he will host the geography bee and the spelling bee as usual this year, as per tradition. The school would have a hard time finding a replacement for him as an announcer for the two bees. As he says, “I don’t need a microphone.” Hopefully, he hasn’t lost his love of the corny jokes he is famous for. I wish  any teachers the best of luck in teaching this year’s social studies classes-Mr. Passetto is a tough act to follow.

    Green Hill Gazette

OCTOBER  2008

                  

The History of Halloween

by Jordan H

    Halloween first developed from an ancient folk festival in the United Kingdom almost 2,000 years ago. The festival was called Samhain which celebrates the lost spirits of the dead. It ended the harvest and marked the start of the dark winter.

    Hallow means saint. Eve is abbreviated as “een” so soon it was named Halloween. The Victorians hid the early beginnings associated with dark spirits. It changed to religious celebrations of All Saints and All Souls days and only the upper class had Halloween parties.

    Between 1870 and 1890 when people came from countries all over the world they added their own cultural traditions to the celebration of Halloween.

    By the 1920s, Halloween was seen as a big problem because a lot of mischief was afoot like setting fires if the trick or treaters didn’t get candy. Some people were tempted to steal. In the 1930s when the trouble was at its worst because there were so many hungry people from the stock market crash and some people even tried to stop Halloween.

    By the 1940s and 1950s times were better and it is said that every year becomes safer. Also when people come from countries all over the world they add their own cultural traditions to the celebration of Halloween.

    Today Halloween is celebrated all over the world. For example, Mexico has its own Halloween called the Day of the Dead that brings alive the lost souls of the dead.

    Everywhere it is one of the most fun holidays for children and adults who love to dress up, pretend, and use their imaginations.