Valentine’s Day and Capitalism: The Real Love Story

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February 13, 2023
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By Naomi Bloom
MANAGING EDITOR

We all know the holiday well. Pink and red streamers thrown across the rails and rafters, heart-shaped decorations plastered up on bulletin boards throughout the halls. If that wasn’t enough of a sign that Valentine’s Day was afoot, maybe the other signs would make it clearer: The sudden uptick of PDA, which is nearly impossible to avoid, or the classmate upset about the lack of flowers from their partner.

While Valentine’s Day can be a wonderful occasion to celebrate a relationship, it is one that has become extremely capitalized on, especially over the last couple of years. According to the National Retail Federation, that spending added up to $23.9 billion last year—the second highest to the $27.48 billion spent on Valentine’s Day in 2020. “Capitalism has done what it has done with every holiday,” said Andover High School senior Andrew Magner. “[It made] it into a day that requires gifts and fancy items.”

Unfortunately, that large amount of spending intensifies and is intensified by the societal pressure and expectation to give gifts, mostly to romantic partners. This occurs even in high school. “There should be no expectation to spend money, regardless of age,” said Diya Ganesh, AHS senior. She added that many students may not have jobs or a source of income, and if they do, they may be more focused on saving it for college or their after school plans. “Showing your love through gifts is not the only way to show love.”

Bar graph of Valentine’s Day spending in the US (Source: NRF)

On that note, some students said that the cost of a gift is not the only determining factor of its value. “I think gifts are a really nice way of showing that you love someone, but I don’t think that it’s the price that matters,” said AHS senior Grace Young. “It’s how personal the gift is because it shows that you thought of them.” Magner agreed, saying, “What really matters is the effort put into it.”

Additionally, there are alternatives to gifts that are not only more cost-friendly, but can be just as meaningful. “The magic of holidays like Valentine’s day is that it is really up for interpretation and can be celebrated in a number of ways,” said Magner.

All of the students interviewed agreed that the most valuable gift on Valentine’s Day is spending time with their loved ones. “I think being present and showing active interest in their personal life shows affection,” noted Emma Pantazi, AHS senior. “I am so much more touched if someone asks me how my guinea pigs are doing than if someone gives me a card.”

Ultimately, though, it is completely up to each person’s own love language for what they choose to do, if they plan on celebrating. “My favorite way to celebrate is to go to CVS the day after Valentine’s Day and buy all the chocolate that is on sale,” said AHS senior Rachel Irza. She also noted that people shouldn’t feel ashamed if they opt out of the festivities.

Magner agreed: “As long as you and whoever you spend your time with are doing something you both enjoy, no matter how big or small, it’s a successful Valentine’s Day.”

Andoverview

Articles

NEASC Visit Highlights AHS Goals

April 3, 2026

Anushka Dole || ONLINE EDITOR

Andover High School hosted a re-accreditation visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) from March 16-18, as part of a decennial review process designed to evaluate how well AHS supports student learning and identify areas of improvement.

According to Assistant Principal Alicia Linsey, the process started during the 2023-2024 school year with a visit from the Collaborative Conference team, a group of visiting educators from across the New England area. In preparation for the visit, a team of AHS faculty members and administrators was formed.

“We picked out priority areas and presented those to this visiting NEASC committee … and they agreed with [our priority areas],” said biology teacher Lindsey L’Ecuyer, the AHS committee’s science department representative.

There were five priority areas that AHS pledged to work on starting in the 2023-2024 school year: developing the Vision of a Graduate, implementing consistent curricula throughout all departments, vertical/horizontal alignment across departments and throughout grades, promotion of school pride, and building infrastructure.

The Vision of a Graduate outlines the skills and values that the school hopes to instill in every student by the time they graduate.

Vertical alignment refers to improving coordination between teachers across grade levels to ensure student skills build progressively, while horizontal alignment emphasizes greater collaboration between teachers across departments.

“[The committee is] working on … finding time in the school day for teachers to collaborate more,” L’Ecuyer said, adding that AHS has begun standardizing curricula to support this effort.

“There are committees in the school that have been working on documenting curriculum in a consistent format for our core classes … freshman English, for example, [and] biology,” L’Ecuyer said.

Linsey mentioned that students and parents also play a role in the accreditation process. A team of visiting evaluators—distinct from the Collaborative Conference team—conduct interviews to gather student perspectives on the school climate and learning experiences.

Although the committee leads the reflection process, administrators are then responsible for implementing action plans based on their findings. In accordance with these plans, faculty members must provide evidence of integration of the district goals.

L’Ecuyer emphasized that NEASC accreditation is more about reflecting on and improving school processes than it is about recognition.

“It’s less of a badge as it is opening yourself up to reflecting on and documenting what you do well and what it’s like setting goals for your school,” L’Ecuyer said.

Beyond internal reflection and planning, the “badge” that the reaccreditation process provides does carry additional, tangible benefits for students. It reassures families and colleges that AHS maintains a rigorous academic program, and that it’s constantly working towards improving learning.

“My understanding is that colleges know Andover High School—they know what our programs are like,” L’Ecuyer said. “[Because] of [accreditation] … they know the kinds of students that graduate from here, and what skills that [they] have.”

Accreditation also plays a role in the school’s ability to receive funding.

“NEASC accreditation is required for eligibility to receive some private, state, and federal grants, loans, and other federal funds,” Linsey noted in an email.

Articles

A Paw-Fect Tale

April 3, 2026

Office Maggie Stars in a Children’s Book

Saarvi Deshwal || EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Andover High School’s Officer Maggie now stars in her own children’s book, written by Officer Thomas Paolera and illustrated by senior Olivia Horvath.

Officer Maggie: The Police Comfort Dog introduces a day-in-the-life of the AHS police dog at a preschool to an elementary reading level. The book explains Maggie’s purpose as a police dog and follows her through a workday, from catching bad guys to eating treats.

The idea for the book began at Paolera’s home, where he would regularly read books with his two sons. “We’re reading children’s books all the time,” said Paolera. “I was sitting here looking at Maggie and I said, ‘Let me give this a try.’”

After drafting the initial text, Paolera reached out to Meghan Michaud, an art and graphic design teacher, to help find a student to illustrate the book. Michaud recommended Olivia Horvath, a junior at the time, who had experience with Adobe Illustration software and an interest in graphic design.

“I was equally as shocked as I was not surprised,” shared Horvath on her reaction to being asked to illustrate the book. Given her experience with Adobe software, Michaud felt she was a natural fit for the project.

The process of making the book took longer than expected. It was anticipated that the process would only take a few months, but the project ultimately lasted about a year.

It was “a lot of late nights,” said Horvath. “[I would work] on the book, then go to class the next day, get edits on it, go back and edit it, and just doing that over and over.”

Using Adobe Illustrator, Horvath created vectors—images created from curves, points, and lines rather than pixels, allowing it to be scaled up and down without the risk of it becoming blurry—of all the characters, people, grass, cars, and many other details that could easily go unnoticed by an average reader. She then brought together all the different aspects in Adobe InDesign, where she laid out the text.

“It sounds so much simpler than it is,” added Horvath. Some illustrations were based on real photographs shared by Paolera of him and Maggie, which were then adapted into illustrated versions for the book.

Paolera and Michaud described the process as very “collaborative,” with many drafts and revisions. “[There was] definitely a lot of back and forth,” shared Paolera. “[Olivia] fixed a couple things, put her spin on it, and then I asked to change some small things … we just did some final edits and added some small things here and there.”

In addition, students stopping by the Graphic Design room during H-Blocks or after school offered input on the book at its various stages. “There were always students that were giving feedback—sometimes unsolicited feedback,” commented Michaud. “But there were always fresh eyes on it that were familiar with Officer Paolera and Officer Maggie. So I think that’s a unique thing.”

Just under 200 copies of Officer Maggie: The Police Comfort Dog were printed, and some will be at Memorial Hall Library and AHS for student display. Additionally, Paolera is doing read-alongs at all the Andover Public School elementary schools and at Shawsheen Preschool. Two copies of the book will be donated to each of the libraries at the schools they visit.

Despite taking longer than anticipated, “it came out great,” said Michaud. “I can’t wait to see what kids think about it when it gets out in the public.”

“The best part was just seeing it come together,” commented Horvath. “I think my favorite spread would be the last two pages, where it shows Officer Maggie in the back of a police car driving off after work.” Horvath shared that digital illustration is something she can see herself doing in the future and that she is happy with the outcome of this project.

“I did the easy part. Olivia did all the hard work and she did a really great job illustrating, and it came out awesome,” reflected Paolera.

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Valentine’s Day and Capitalism: The Real Love Story

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