Written by: Naqib
Edited by: Jaeho
Visual by: Summer
It’s the season of love, and ISM has bloomed a full bouquet of roses. One way our community celebrated Valentine’s season was through our very own French Honor Society’s (SHF – Société Honoraire de Français) Rosegram event. This annual tradition was set up as a creative way for students to show their appreciation for their special someone, by either getting themselves or sending someone else a rose. They even had a choice of sending them anonymously. Not only was this a celebration of Valentine’s Day, but also a tradition to celebrate French culture within our community.
Our students were able to order roses through an online form created by the SHF which was sent out to the school. They could order up to three roses for themselves or that special someone they had in mind for Valentine’s Day. Students were also able to include a short message of their own or choose from one of the French messages provided by the SHF.
To gain more insight about the Rosegram tradition, BT corresponded with Diana, the Co-President of the club, regarding questions about the tradition, the meaning of the rose in French culture and how this event is held for a good cause annually.
When asked why the Rosegram was an annual tradition and how long it had been going on for in our community, Diana responded, “Ever since I’ve been at ISM (9th grade) SHF has done rosegram sales. Romance and roses are usually associated with Paris – the city of love. Valentine’s day is also the best time to sell them. We also spread the word about French culture and the French language (a goal of SHF) by adding French quotes to the flowers.” One of the clever French pick up lines students were able to include in their Rosegrams were, “Tu t’appelles Google? Parce que je trouve en toi tout ce que je recherche,” which translates to, “Is your name Google? Because you have everything I’m looking for.”
With the goal of spreading love and French culture, the Rosegram event proved to be a brilliant way of combining both. When asked about the importance of the tradition and what it represents in French culture, Diana responded, “This tradition is important to us as it is usually one of our most successful events during the year. With the funds raised we donate them to our service partner ANAK TNK who we’ve been working with since 2019. The rose represents love, not only romantic but platonic, so we deliver roses not only to ‘special someones’ but to dear friends, allowing people to express their admiration and gratitude to their friends”. The SHF’s main service partner, Anak TNK, is an organization that focuses on supporting impoverished children in Manila.
Not only was the Rosegram a way of bringing our community together, but it was also a way for ISM to help the local Filipino community as well. When asked about this, Diana said, “We donate the funds to our service partner. However, this year we might decide on donating to COVID-relief disaster, to aid our community in these hard times.”
Thanks to ISM’s very own French Honor Society, our community was able to celebrate the season of love with a bouquet of roses while still helping out our less fortunate communities around the city. Merci Société Honoraire de Français!