As we approach the Valentine's holiday I can't help but think back to many happy school celebrations of exchanging cards, eating cupcakes, and attending dances that all occured during the school day.  As a young child I waited with anticipation for the next exciting holiday to arrive so I could celebrate with my classmates.  Back then, we celebrated every holiday on the calendar and everyone's birthday.  Now, however, thanks largely to NCLB, there is very little celebrating going on in  schools which makes me wonder if we have taken all the fun out. As an educator, I understand the value of academic time, focus, and discipline but I feel for these kids, especially the young ones, who don't get to enjoy sharing good times of laughter and fun during the school day.  In the days of afternoon dances and parties teachers had some leverage to use with their students.  Kids looked forward to the next "event".  Some events came in the form of plays or concerts, special guests, and every once in a while a movie.  Not only did it give the kids something to look forward to but it also gave them something to work forward to.   So we, in education, have sacrificed the pure unadulterated fun for boring academics and have tried our best to pass off a game of class jeopardy as an incentive for students but it just doesn't seem to be working. I wonder if, by eliminating all of these fun activities, we have stunted the social growth of our kids in anyway.    Do boys still know how to ask a girl to dance in an appropriate manner?  Do our youth know how to enjoy a theatrical presentation?  Have we taught our students the acceptable behavior for a concert?  Passing out Valentine's used to be a great way to practice generosity and love, have we lost that opportunity?  So maybe these fun activities were more than that, maybe they helped teach our kids about a better way.  Things you can't learn in a book or from a lecture but important all the same.