Goodie bag given by CAPE during Valentine’s Day.
With shattered plates and candied hearts, CAPE had an exciting week lined up for Valentine’s Day.
The festivities kicked off Feb. 11 in the Brodie basement, where the Hulk Smash Rage Room was in full swing. This exhilarating event was in partnership with PRISM, who initially proposed the idea.
“When Rowan shared that this year’s theme is superheroes,” Jaden Hilkemann, director of CAPE, said, “I was especially excited because CAPE often says, ‘Not all heroes wear CAPEs,’ which reflects the idea that you don’t have to be a superhero to make a difference—anyone can be a hero!”
Hilkemann showed great enthusiasm for PRISM and the events, especially the week-long Valentine’s celebration known as Doane is Love. Despite the evening chill, the Brodie basement buzzed with energy as students eagerly hurled plates, making it a memorable night that PRISM is considering reviving in the future.
Hilkemann elaborated on CAPE’s cherished tradition of hosting an event on Valentine’s Day, which serves as a platform to educate students about healthy relationships while distributing educational resources.
“One of our favorite themes is ‘Love Shouldn’t Hurt,’ and every year, we return to it,” she said.
This year, that message came to life through the “Build a Valentine’s Day Bag” event, where students passing through Lakeside could fill their bags with goodies along with vital resources on healthy relationships. The bags brimmed with delightful treats like candy, stickers, pins, temporary tattoos and cards handcrafted by the CAPE team.
The theme of healthy relationships was further explored during CAPE’s Dine09 on Saturday, Feb. 15, cleverly titled “Dip into Healthy Relationships.” As the clock ticked toward 9:09 p.m., students gathered for an evening of fun and learning, beginning with a Kahoot game that invited participants to dissect unhealthy relationships depicted in Disney movies. Hilkemann hoped the event would provide both education and enlightenment. Along with the Kahoot, “totchos” were set to be provided. However, the event used fries rather than tater tots and ran out of them early on, so they switched to chip bags like Doritos or Hot Cheetos.
“A bunch of students just put the meat and cheese inside them, which was still pretty good,” freshman Amani Muisyo said.
As Valentine’s comes to a close, CAPE began to shift its focus toward a busy April. With Sexual Assault Awareness Month on the horizon, CAPE has an array of events planned to raise awareness and foster important conversations.
