Love is in the air at WS, but amongst a more unexpected crowd. Our teachers are winning when it comes to the most romantic Valentine’s Day plans for this year.

Since the D.C. area is famous for its delicious restaurants, Valentine’s Day is the perfect time for people to show how much they love their close ones by taking them out for a special night. After speaking with multiple WS teachers, it was obvious that Ruth Chris’s Steakhouse and places in Mosaic and Tyson’s are the top places to go and have a romantic evening. 

“Filameno in Georgetown is a really nice Italian restaurant, and the portions are gigantic, but they decorate [for Valentine’s Day] with crazy lace and little Cherubs everywhere. It’s so over the top, and you feel like you’re in a crazy Italian grandma’s home,” said English teacher Alexa Romano. 

However, a nice dinner is not the only big thing that is happening for a few of our teachers this year. Valentines have recently turned into fiancés for three English department staff members: Alexa Romano, Kathryn Tinsley, and Meghan Leon. Two departments also share a joint engagement with Robin Griffin, Family and Consumer Science teacher, and Casey Grubbs, Health and Physical Education teacher. These newly engaged sweethearts now are a part of the long list of WS love stories. 

“It’s all been great since I’ve been with Mr. Grubbs, before him is a different story, but now I look forward to Valentine’s Day. It’s much more fun when you’re in love,” said Griffin. 

Besides adorable matching last names, Grubbs and Griffin also share their love of providing their daughters with wonderful Valentine’s Day memories. They both love to give their daughters little candies and gifts throughout the month to remind them how much they love them. However, when it comes to dinner plans, Grubbs wants to make their “adults only” night as meaningful as possible.

“I have big top secret plan [for Valentine’s Day] that I can’t share with you because Mrs. Griffin needs to be very surprised,” said Grubbs.

Unfortunately, not all Valentine’s Day stories end with as happy of an ending as these ones seem to. 

“When I was a junior at JMU, I had a boyfriend who I had been dating for about five months, and he had never had a girlfriend before. On Valentine’s Day, I came up to my apartment and there’s this big cardboard box there, and when I opened it up, there’s just three family size bags of Cool Ranch Doritos. I was pretty confused, but his response was, “I knew you loved that flavor because you always get it at the dining hall,” said Leon.