Love is in the air this Valentine’s Day, and many students will devote the day to feeling the love and spending time with their significant others. Students just never know. They might be passing their future valentines right here in the hall of THS. Michael Rogers, senior English teacher, met his wife Jennifer during their senior year. They were introduced to each other in the publications room. They first met when Jennifer, in yearbook, needed help posting assignments around the classroom. Michael, in newspaper, jumped in to help.

“I just remember meeting him in yearbook class our senior year and thinking he was pretty cool and being surprised we hadn’t met before because we had a lot of mutual friends,” Jennifer said. “I think that by hanging out and becoming friends in the journalism room (what we called it then), it set the stage for us to keep hanging out over the summer.”

“Basically she needed someone to help put up… assignments for that semester [that] needed to be posted around the room. She needed someone to help do that, so I offered to help,” Michael added. Although they hadn’t met prior to meeting in the publications room, they instantly hit it off, becoming good friends and keeping in touch all throughout the summer. It wasn’t until the fall, however, when they both attended University of Oregon, that sparks began to fly.

“It was kind of a slow progression,” Michael said. “We never dated in high school; then we eventually started dating at U of O. We became friends [at Tigard]; then in college things changed.” They started dating fall 2001as freshmen in college. Eight years later, one fateful day, Mr. Rogers proposed.

“[I knew he was the one because] he is my favorite person to be around, and the person I always want to share everything with,” Jennifer said. “I’ve also always loved his sense of humor.” Throughout the nine years they’ve been married, the couple have both brought out their best in one another and encourage and uplift each other daily. Rogers credited her to making him a better person- from simple everyday things, to life changing ones.

“I think she’s kept me a productive member of society. Without her, I’d probably be living out in the woods, talking to fish and arguing with the trees…” Rogers said. “She’s also helped me recognize that your shoes and belt should always match.”

Along with keeping him a contributing member of society, Rogers also credited Jennifer with helping him endure everything that parenthood has to offer.

“She’s an amazing mom to our daughter.  Our daughter, and the son we’re expecting in April, are very lucky to have her – as am I.”

Throughout their nearly two-decade-long relationship, it’s apparent that both have always deeply cared about each other and have expressed their love for each other through many ways. Through their relationship, many THS students can model and take note this Valentine’s Day.

There is no doubt that one of the most popular treats of American culture is chocolate, and given the fact that Valentines is today, the cravings for chocolate have increased among the residents of Portland.

Chocolate is adored across the nation for its flavor, and its malleability to mix new flavors with it. Alma chocolates, is a great example of a local chocolate company that uses this creativity to its advantage. With a wide array of flavors and ingredients infused into their samples, Alma is truly adventurous and breaks boundaries as a chocolatier. Not only do they have creative flavor choices, but they also use chocolate as an art form, Alma even sculpts their chocolate into intricate and detailed shapes made to resemble religious figures like the Virgin Guadalupe, The Buddha, and variations on the heart. Meaning “soul” in Spanish, Alma aims to create chocolate as it was meant to be, using spices and flavors to bring chocolate to it’s culinary perfection. As for results, the flavors are indeed unique, you have to be expecting it though, not a pleasant surprise when you bite into a bonbon hoping for sweet and you taste spicy. However Alma has its fair share of simple flavors that most customers can get behind. In conclusion it is a very innovative, organic, and authentic chocolate producer with its own unique quirks.

Another (arguably more well known) chocolatier is See’s Candies. Founded in 1921, See’s has been around for a long time, giving it time to grow into one of the most popular chocolate distributors with over 100 locations across the nation. As for their menu, See’s has mind boggling amount of chocolates, toffees, and lollipops so all customers can find what they are looking for. For example, everytime my family goes to See’s we always get a ton of their lollipops, which come in 5 different flavors and are equally adored throughout the family. See’s is a great place to go for chocolates for Valentines or just in general if you just want some sweets.

In the end we have two opposing chocolatiers, the new, fresh Alma, which has bold adventurous flavors and ambitions, and See’s, the rooted, the uniform, but still has enjoyable traditional chocolate. To be honest you could go to either and have a great time sampling, and trying out new sweets. Chocolate is sacred to America, and these are just two of the many ways you can experience it on Valentine’s Day and beyond.