Friday, February 13, students and faculty celebrated Valentine’s Day with a long standing tradition around campus. The first of which was the singing grams, brought to you by the Darlingtones and the Random Notes. Throughout the week, students could anonymously purchase singing grams for the person and class of their choice for a small price of $5 for two grams and $3 for one. Depending on the song you chose, either the Darlingtones, a girl group of singers, or the Random Notes, the boy group, would perform that song during classes that Friday.
As the day unfolded, the singing grams became one of the most exciting moments of the day. Classrooms paused as the singing groups entered, switching normal class time into a short but memorable performance that brought laughter and smiles among the students.
“The singing grams are fun, because they put the person in the center of the room, and then either have a bunch of guys or girls singing behind them,” sophomore and member of the Random Notes William Jackson said. “It is really funny to see their reaction and to see the person who bought the singing gram. It really brings festivity to our community around Valentine’s Day.”
Behind each performance is week long preparation and song selection. One member of the Darlingtones explains how the song list comes together and which songs have become key to this event.
“For the Darlingtones, every single year, we always do “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley,” junior Sara Jo Pierce said. “That’s just a repetitive thing we do every single year. The other songs, we pick ourselves, and Mrs. [Alex] Johnson finds the compositions for them. So this year we’re doing ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ and ‘So This is Love.'”
Those song choices became part of personal moments for students across campus. For some, the performances turned an ordinary class period into an unforgettable surprise. Sophomore Victor Chin shares his experience of receiving a singing gram.
“I was sung ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ by the Darlingtones during my 4th period AP Spanish class, which I found out that my friend Jackson Craig sent me,” sophomore Victor Chin said. “Even though we were doing presentations, Profe Gonzalez was ecstatic to have hosted the singing grams, so she let us pause class so they could do so. I also sent one for Jackson [Craig] during the same class period, so they sang to both of us at the same time.”
While students receiving the grams enjoy the surprise, the experience is just as meaningful to the performers. For many of the members of Darlingtones and Random Notes, it allows them to share their talent across campus in a festive way.
“I definitely will be a part of the singing grams again next year because I love to sing, and it lets me do that, because I can’t be in chorus because I have a bunch of classes that I have to take. So, it is a way that I can continue to sing, and this is just a really fun experience to go and sing around to people for Valentine’s Day,” Pierce said.
